Get Ready for the Apocalpyse with Zombie Preparedness Courses

by  Blane Bachelor | Oct 18, 2012
Zombie
Zombie / FOTOKITA/iStock

Sure, you’re pretty good at tying knots, and you can set your tent up in a minute flat, even in the dark. But do you have what it takes to survive a zombie apocalypse?

A new brand of survival classes and courses, including one from the gear gurus at REI, is aimed at preparing participants for encounters with hordes of hideous creatures clamoring for human flesh. (Or something like that.) Along the way, you’ll pick up some critical survival skills that could come in handy during a severe storm or earthquake – if not that dreaded zombie attack.

REI has apparently caught zombie fever, adding in-store Zombie Preparedness Classes to its already impressive array of courses and programming. The gear giant describes the classes as “not only a fun way to get ready for zombies, they are even more useful for other disasters such as earthquakes and major storms.”

Classes are offered at REI locations across the country, though several are already full. However, the company encourages hopefuls to sign up on the wait list for last-minute openings.

Regardless of whether the doomsday predictions come true, you’ll have some serious bragging rights after picking up skills like how to hotwire a car, suture wounds on actual pigskin, and take down a zombie or any other attacker with your newly acquired Zombitsu martial arts moves at the Zombie Survival Course.

Located on a hunting camp in southern New Jersey, the class is available as a weekend course or full-day session throughout spring 2013. It promises to equip participants with the skills necessary to be “one of the survivors the morning after” a zombie apocalypse or natural disaster. Day classes are open to adults and children 15 or older accompanied by an adult, while the weekend course is only open to participants 21 and older.

The zombie frenzy has also hit the fitness scene, at least in Chicago, with ZombieFit: a workout designed to develop robust strength and agility to, you know, fight off the undead clamoring for your brains.

The program’s goal is pretty straightforward: surviving Z-Day, as it refers to a zombie takeover, by being able to life and throw heavy things, running quickly and for long distances, and navigating obstacles in urban environments.

Classes are a high-intensity mix of cardiovascular training, squats, push-ups, and sprints, and after a few of them under your (ever tightening) belt, you’ll probably boasting a figure to die for. (Even if, at first, you might feel like the walking dead yourself.)

Looking for something a little less active? Check out our Top 10 Zombie Film Locations, which lists the real-life places where these macabre monsters have come to life (death?) in some of pop culture's most popular zombie movie films and shows.

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