You may be ready and able to swing a blade, such as the one pictured here, to kill a zombie.  You may have the shoulder strength to eliminate 3 or 4 out of a horde.

But are you adequately trained to swing the blade sufficient times at sufficient speed to continue the process 19 or 20 times? It's not as easy as it sounds.

Step 1 in being able to swing an axe, machete, etc. repeatedly and for an extended duration is jump rope.  This trusty, inexpensive fitness device is more than child's play--it has long been used as a conditioning tool for boxing, which requires tremendous shoulder strength and endurance.  Similarly, it will help you develop the speed, power, and endurance to do battle with the undead.

This week, acquire a jump rope, and work your way up to a full minute of jumping.  Once you can do a minute, follow the program below:

1 minute jump rope
:15 rest
1 minute jump rope
:15 rest
:45 jump rope
:15 rest
:30 jump rope
:15 rest

Following this method preps your cardiovascular system, nervous system, and musculature to simulate a fight, then a rest, then a fight, then a rest, and so on, in similar fashion to what you would experience in a real-life scenario.

Battle 2 or 3 zombies, take a breather while the others come closer. Pick one off, take a breather, kill another, take another break.

And don't forget--the killing AND fitness equipment you need are available in the ZATA Amazon Store.  If it's not there, it's not ZATA-approved.

Getting into a running groove is good. It's good for your heart, it establishes a nice rhythm...but it won't help if you're scouting food & supplies in a post-apocalyptic scenario.  Here, it's more important to be able to run, stop, forage, run, pick up a can of meat, run, pick up a chainsaw, run, stop, dismember a zombie...and so forth.

To that end, here's your assignment:

Here, Russ Craber whistles for approaching zombies. He prefers a straight fight to all this sneaking around.

The Workout o' the Week is a 3-minute drill.  Go through it 3 times, and you've still exercised less than 10 minutes!

Minute 1
20 sec pushups (from knees, eventually)
20 sec situps (by the end, you'll just be trying to get your shoulder blades off the ground)
20 sec shrugs

Minute 2
20 sec mountain climbers
20 seconds band curls
20 seconds jumping jacks to your heels (on the down stroke, touch your heels, not your thighs)
Minute 3
60 sec surfer pop-ups.  Lie down on your stomach with your right hand forward and your left hand against your left hip.  Pop up quickly into a standing position, and immediately lie back down.  Switch hand positions after 30 seconds.

Now go...quickly! Before the zombies get here.