How to Avoid Being Killed in a War Zone

by Rosie Garthwaite

  /PREPARE FOR THE WORST AND LIVE DEFENSIVELY

  Aftershocks, newly broken riverbanks, a returning hurricane – all these things could happen. So stay away from potentially collapsible buildings if there has been an earthquake. Pitch your tent on high ground if there is the threat of a flood. And if there’s a hurricane approaching, you need to seek shelter wherever local authorities are recommending. Basements are not always a good idea if there is a risk of flooding or your building collapsing.

  As a general rule, avoid getting into arguments with voodoo priests. Mary O’Shea

  10/ Staying Fit and Beating Stress

  During a particularly exercise-happy phase, I took my dumbbells on a trip to Eritrea. They pissed off my cameraman and hiked up my luggage overweight and didn’t get used once. But at least the thought was there! Jane Dutton

  ‘Hajia, Hajia!’ This was my name for a month before I left Iraq. It means ‘old woman’, and was given to me because I developed a back problem that left me bent double like an ancient crone.

  As I slid from my 50°C bed into a taxi every morning, longing for air conditioning or a shower that I’d gone without for up to six days, exercise was the last thing on my mind. I hadn’t done anything to keep fit, and now my back, which I had broken four years earlier when I was 18, had broken itself again. With all my stomach muscles gone, there was nothing left to take the pressure off my spine. I regretted every step not walked over the last few months, and every muscle-using opportunity missed as I lay for 17 hours groaning in the back of a saloon car all the way from Basra to Amman to get myself home to a hospital.

  Like most people, I’d used all the usual excuses for not exercising, but this time included cultural sensitivity. As a woman in a Muslim country, it is difficult but not impossible to keep yourself fit. You can’t just pop out for a run, even if you are covered from head to toe. You will be stared at or even followed in a car, as was my experience in relatively cosmopolitan Amman in Jordan. Gyms for women are rare and usually single-sex. It is just not expected that women will want to work out.

  When I returned as a producer for Al Jazeera four years later I had learnt my lesson. I took one look at the stairs in my hotel in Baghdad and vowed to run up and down them every morning. Exercise helps with sleeping. It helps to burn off all those calories you eat and drink. It also helps to stop the body creaking, though it was tricky when you’re not allowed to move more than a few metres from two charming bodyguards. (Bodyguards, by the way, can make excellent fitness instructors if you can keep up. I can’t.)

  For most people exercise is also invaluable as stress relief. It gives you a rush of that happy hormone endorphin. It burns up unused adrenalin that nutritionists say will end up giving you a fat tummy when it converts itself to sugar and sticks to your torso.

  Ideally you should aim to be as fit as the people who are running the war zone – soldiers. You need to be able to move as fast as them. In an emergency evacuation you might find yourself carrying a lot of weight for miles on end, or flying in an army plane for 16 hours, or bumping over a long, long road. Damage will be done if your back isn’t in top order. Also, what happens if you need to carry a friend to safety? It isn’t your job to be that fit, but it will help you.

  /SIMPLE WAYS TO STAY FIT

  As your body prepares itself chemically for fight or flight, you should prepare it physically too. You can come up with all the excuses in the world – and I have used them all – but 15 minutes a day spent looking after your body will make a huge difference to how you are able to deal with your job.

  Getting out of breath is the only way to keep your heart fit. Try to get your heart rate up and a sweat going three times a week for half an hour, or every day for 15 minutes. BBC correspondent Caroline Hawley has found her own way of achieving this: ‘For entertainment and exercise when confined to a small area, I definitely rate ping pong. You can work up a surprising sweat if you move around the table enough!’

  Stairs are your friend. Run up and walk down, unless you feel like running both ways. But be careful not to hurt your knees by overdoing it. Running uphill is great for your tummy muscles. We spend far too much time sitting down, so skip lifts whenever possible.

  Fitness machines are great if you have them. Just make sure you use them, and don’t let yourself get into a dull routine. Make it different each time. Your body will stop responding if it becomes predictable.

  Skipping is easy. Do one minute skipping and one minute of another exercise 10 times and you will be done for the day.

  Leg lunges strengthen your legs. They’ll be most effective when you have run out of breath already. Make sure your knee doesn’t go forward of your foot and your tummy is pulled in. Add weights (see box overleaf) in your hands if it is getting too easy.

  Step exercise can be done with a bench, chair or stairs. Start with both feet on the floor and step up to your chosen height, being careful to keep your back straight and your knees no further than 90 degrees from your torso. Bring the other foot up and stand straight on your bench or whatever, then step down again. Go as fast as you can without losing control, and switch legs every 10 repetitions.

  Shadow boxing is also pretty easy. Keep your legs still, one foot forward of the other. Look straight ahead at a point on the wall and start punching, keeping your arms at that height. Now try moving your legs back and forth too.

  EXERCISE EQUIPMENT ON THE CHEAP

  Samantha Bolton recommends Kegel exercises: ‘These strengthen the pelvic floor and can be done sitting down – just pull in as if holding in a wee, tighten the butt muscles, then release. Do it 20 times. Good for both men and women are yoga sun salutations and sit-ups; also tricep dips for the backs of the arms, which you can do while sitting on the toilet, bath or bidet [see here]. Dancing is also good exercise, as is having a good laugh!’

  /STEPPING UP THE PACE

  In this section are basic Pilates exercises, which are easy to follow without expert help being at hand. Once you’ve mastered them, a quick search on the Internet will throw up plenty more complicated ones to keep you interested.

  Go through the exercises as slowly as possible. It is not the number or size or speed of repetitions that will help. It is keeping your tummy ‘zipped up’ (held still with your core muscles) that will maximize the effect.

  The key is to keep your core still and tight throughout. Feel those muscles you hardly ever use at the bottom of your stomach. Pull them in and imagine they are trying to touch your spine. You should be able to feel they are tense to your hand, but don’t suck in your stomach. You need to be able to breathe and have your muscles engaged throughout. When lying down, your spine should be as flat to the floor as you can make it without it being uncomfortable – anchored not pressed. Don’t let that feeling go while you work your core muscles in these exercises.

  All of the following exercises can be done in the privacy of a small room – on the space of a towel in fact – preferably on a carpeted floor so that you don’t get a bruised bottom.

  Unless stated otherwise, you should aim for about 10 repetitions of each exercise. Just be careful – if it hurts, stop.

  Don’t forget to breathe!

  Keep breathing slowly and evenly during each exercise, and try to exhale whenever you lift a leg or move your body away from the floor in any way. However, with lunges and press-ups you should exhale as you move towards the floor.

  Stomach and back exercises

  I cannot emphasize enough the importance of keeping your back healthy when you spend days or weeks on end hunched over a computer or stuck in a tiny hotel room watching TV. However, being confined is no excuse for not exercising, as Monique Nagelkerke reminded me: ‘Watch the movie In the Name of the Father and pay close attention to what Daniel Day-Lewis does when locked up in a cell for years. He got a great six-pack. You can do that, but you will need to rearrange the furniture, though!’

  Leg circles

  Lie on the ground and raise one leg at right ang
les to the body. The aim is to keep your body still as you make circles with one leg, then the other. The size of the circle is determined by what you can do while keeping the rest of your body anchored to the ground. I can do only grapefruit-sized circles, but you can go as large as you like provided you aren’t rocking one way and another. Reverse the circles after 10 reps.

  Single leg stretch

  This is a great one to do in the morning while you are still warm from bed – a good soft stretch for your lower back. Lie on your back and keep your neck lifted, then bend one knee and pull it towards you, hugging it to your body. Leave the other leg suspended a few inches off the ground. Then switch sides. The body should be still, anchored and even as you move through the exercise. Start slowly holding the leg for a couple of seconds, but then fall to whatever your natural rhythm might be as long as your core is still held tight. It is a slow exercise, though – you are not aiming to build up a sweat.

  Straight leg stretch

  A good stretch for highly strung hamstrings, this is the same as the single leg stretch but with two straight legs. Hold your leg just below the knee on your thigh as you look at your leg. Keep it straight and pull it close until it’s at a right angle to your body. Don’t hold on too tight. It is an exercise for your core, not your arms. Move in a natural rhythm, changing legs after 10 reps. But again, don’t aim to go fast. Your body should not wobble. This is the most effective way of doing the exercise.

  Elbow to knee twist

  Proceed even more slowly with this one. Support your head with the tips of your fingers. Slowly, slowly, keeping your lower torso anchored to the ground, raise your upper back and touch your right elbow to your left knee. The movement is a lifted twist, not a lift. Do the same with the left elbow and right knee. Follow the twisting movement with your eyes, first to the left, then to the right. The straight leg should be active – the muscles kept tight to keep you from rocking from one hip to another.

  Cocktail stick

  With legs tight together and as straight up in the air as possible, make slow, even circles, as though stirring a cocktail glass. Keep the torso still, circling only as far as you can without moving it. Aim to do beach ball-sized circles.

  The hundred

  Lie on the floor with your stomach zipped up and your arms by your sides. With your head and shoulders raised slightly, raise your legs at right angles to your body, then lower them as far as you can without losing control of the core. Mine stay straight up in the air even though I have been doing this exercise for years. If it hurts like this, bend your legs.

  Hold this position, breathing slowly, and start pumping your arms like a seal out of water. They should be moving about 20 cm up and down. Count to 50 while doing this, and if you are still feeling that your stomach muscles are properly engaged, go all the way to 100…hence the name of the exercise.

  Gradually lowering your legs will make this exercise harder, but in the end it will make your muscles stronger. When lowering your legs, make sure your back doesn’t come away from the ground.

  Rag doll

  Sit with your legs apart, heels pushed out: they are your new anchor. With arms straight out to your sides, twist your body around to touch the right hand as near to your left toe as possible. Don’t bounce or push too far – go just as far as is comfortable. Now do the other side. Keep those stomach muscles strong and engaged.

  Twist

  This is the same as the rag doll, but without leaning down. You can actually feel air being forced out of your lungs as you twist around with a strong lower back and no movement in your anchored hips and legs.

  Buns of steel

  This is as simple as it looks. The only important thing to remember is that your stomach needs to be lifted off the floor, supporting your lower back. If you let it drop, you will hurt your back. Stick to 10 reps for one leg, then move to the other. Relax your shoulders away from your ears.

  Bridge

  Avoid this one if you have a bad back, wrists or knees. Otherwise, lie on your back with your knees up, hip-width apart. Lift your bum off the mat and support your hips with your arms, straight up and directly under each side. If this feels like you are pushing yourself up, stop immediately. If it feels comfortable, imagine you are being held up by a swing under your bum. That swing should be still as you lift first one leg, then the other. Again, go only as far as you can without moving that swing. Keep those stomach muscles strong.

  Side kicks

  Imagine you are a model lying on a car bonnet, casually leaning on your elbow: if you move your torso, you will fall off. Your top arm positioned out in front of you acts as a balance rather than a support. The torso remains still as you perform a series of kicks. Start small with your movements until you can go big without collapsing the top half of your body. Once you have the body sorted, try the following:

  • Move your straight top leg forward and then behind your bottom leg – as far as you can go without losing control of your top half. It’s like walking with one straight leg, except you are on your side and going nowhere.

  • With the toe pointed, move the leg up and down.

  • Make apple-sized circles a few inches above your bottom leg.

  • Make slow bicycling movements – 10 reps each side, then switch.

  Arm exercises

  The plank

  This is your starting position for all the following exercises. Look back at your feet: is your bum in the air or your stomach on the ground? They shouldn’t be. Your body should be straight, in the basic press-up position. Now move your neck to a neutral position, looking straight down. If your wrists hurt, move onto your elbows, fists straight out in front of you.

  Leg lift

  Start in a strong plank position and, without wiggling from side to side, lift each leg a little off the floor – never above bum height. Hold for about two seconds and then switch.

  The crab

  This is the same as the leg lift, but in reverse. This time there should be a straight line down from your chest to your toes. It is a backwards press-up position.

  After you have finished this exercise, try bending your knees and your elbows a little and walking around like an awkward crab. A few steps forward, back and side to side. It’s great for your triceps.

  Exercise your chest – stress tends to build up there. Push-ups, racket sports…just moving your arms around a lot will help. Marc DuBois

  Press-ups

  There should be a straight line from your head down to your ankles – no bottom sticking up or tummy scraping the ground. If you struggle in a straight press-up position, as many people do, bend your knees and put them on the ground, or stay on your toes and move your top half up so it is at an angle by leaning on a window ledge or the wall. Use this trick only until you build your strength up. Vary the distance your arms are apart to work different muscles.

  Tricep dips

  Sit on a seat, bed or ledge with your hands holding onto the sides. Move your feet forward and drop your bum over the edge. Now your tricep muscles on the back of your arms are supporting you. Dip down and up again, keeping an even weight on both your arms. Keep going until failure.

  Front weight lifts

  Take your weights (see Exercise equipment on the cheap) and lift them up to chest height while keeping your shoulders down. Lower them and repeat.

  Skiing nowhere

  Keeping your stomach muscles strong, move your arms from bent to straight in line with your body in deliberate movements, not a swing.

  Shoulders together

  With your arms falling towards the floor, move your shoulder blades together. This is a great reliever of repetitive strain injury (RSI) if you have been sitting hunched up at a computer all day.

  Exercise is very important. It’s stress relieving. Even in the middle of Darfur, you find logisticians who built their own homemade gym. It helped them and it will help you. Dr Carl Hallam

  /SLEEPING IN TIMES OF STRESS

  For many peop
le under pressure, the first things they turn to when they want to relax, sleep or forget the horrors of war are alcohol or drugs. While these might work to get you off to sleep, the body is just sleeping off the effects of them rather than getting the rest it actually needs. The same goes for your mind too. Scientists all agree that the brain processes the events and thoughts of a day during the deepest part of a night’s sleep. That means you can file away all the awful things you have seen, delete unnecessary worries and find calm space…but you need to hit that deep level of sleep first.

  My friend Hoda Abdel-Hamid knows all about this: ‘You always sleep badly in a war zone. I cannot sleep without my lavender oil, which I sprinkle on my pillow at night. And I take my own pillow too if I can. It feels so luxurious.’

  Lack of sleep plus a hangover will:

  • Worsen depression.

  • Lead to accidents.

  • Make you more vulnerable to illness.

  • Make you less productive.

  • Make you irrational and grumpy.

  • Kill your appetite for sex.

  • Make you fat as you overeat to compensate.

  • Make you thin because of all the extra hours spent awake.

  All these things make you less able to cope in an emergency.

  Remember too that lack of sleep can be as dangerous as being drunk or drugged on the job. Make it a priority to get some proper shut-eye.