The midst of the deep dark winter seems a strange time to be thinking about the battles and wars to be fought months ahead in the summer, however, now is the time to start preparation with physical conditioning. How may times do you hear "I think I’ll start getting ready for the War" in July? By then, it’s too late! Good physical conditioning takes 3-4 months, and the sooner you start on a program the better. For war conditioning, you need endurance. A recommended schedule for endurance conditioning is a 30 minute work-out 3-4 times per week. Make sure you do good stretching, warm-up and cool-down during each exercise period. Running, fast walking, biking, stair-climber are all good forms of exercise to build endurance. If you are exercising hard enough, you should have an increased heart-rate, respiratory rate, and will probably work up a sweat. You should not exercise so vigorously that you are so out-of breath you cannot speak easily. Once you can maintain the 30 minutes of exercise, push up the intensity and/or increase the duration. If you start now building up gradually, you will find that by the time Pensic rolls around, you’ll be able to out last the majority of the fighters on the field!
Standard disclaimer: If you have any medical problems, please check with your personal physician prior to beginning any exercise program.
 

© 1997 Galen of Ockham (MKA Keith E. Brandt, M.D.)  May be used in SCA pubications as long as content is not modified and proper credit given. For all other uses, please contact the author at [email protected] .

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