Ok humor me... don't ask how you got in this situation, just trust me that you are:
So you're standing there, and you hear a dog barking; you turn, and see a huge, mangy, foul breathed, brennal colored, behemoth of a junkyard dog layed out at a sprint headed toward you. Now...depending on what type of exercises you do, there may be a couple of outcomes to this scenario...
#1: You turn to run...the dog catches up with you, and bad things happen until a Good Samaritan happens by and pulls it off.
#2: You turn to run...and you actually make it across the yard to a tall wooden fence...you try to jump to catch the top and hoist yourself up...but you don't get high enough and the dog gets you.
#3: You turn to run...and you actually make it across the yard to a tall wooden fence...you try to jump to catch the top and hoist yourself up...you successfully grasp the top of the fence with both hands...but you can't pull yourself up and the dog gets you.
#4: You turn to run...and you actually make it across the yard to a tall wooden fence...you try to jump to catch the top and hoist yourself up...you successfully grasp the top of the fence with both hands...and pull yourself to safety. Standing atop the fence, you taunt the dog for a moment, then jump down on the other side and carry on about your merry way.
#5: You're exercising your God given right of self defense and were carrying a handgun... you square up to the dog ...and open fire...the end.
(for the purpose of this post though, we'll pretend you were unarmed)
Now obviously, any of us would want to be "#4." Being in excellent physical condition can possibly turn a potential tragedy into nothing more that a funny story which you tell friends after the fact.
So how do you exercise in such a way that you could up your chances of a successful getaway in a scenario like this?
1. Do sprints. Walking is great, but God made our bodies to move quickly. Something simple like a few 50 yards sprints a couple times a week will do wonders for your workouts, but also keep your body from forgetting how to move in this very natural way.
2. Do box jumps. Practice jumping onto things. Steps, tires, curbs, etc. In this society, we never have to use this valuable explosive movement, and our bodies forget how to do it. Jump!
3. Do pull-ups. If you can already do pull-ups, keep it up! If you can't, practice until you can. God made men and women to be able to pull up their body weight. Anyone who's ever said that women are not capable of developing the upper body strength to do pull-ups... is full it. Don't listen to them. If you're too heavy right now, lose the weight until you can pull up... you're body is capable of SO much more than you think it is. Practice, practice, practice. Grab a trainer and ask for help... but by all means, get to where you can pull yourself up. It's so good for you.
So...get creative. Imagine an uncomfortable scenario, think of what you'd have to do to get out of it, then tailor a workout to where you are forced to work on those things.
It's fun!
Oh, and, "beware of dog"!
