Tag Health

Originally posted: http://www.therlsh.net/public-forum-f8/appearances-may-be-deceiving-but-should-always-be-presentable-t3570.htm
By Silver Sentinel
Have you ever seen Geist? In his photographs, and his videos, he’s flashy, he’s impeccable, and he looks just damned cool! He has spent a lot of time, and effort, crafting his appearance, and his public persona. But what message would he be sending people if he smelled like he hadn’t bathed in two weeks? Yeah, that would definitely detract from his carefully crafted image. (Fortunately, I’ve been told, he does not have an odor problem. I merely use him as an example here.)
Whatever our appearance may be when in our dramatis personæ, we should always maintain ourselves in a clean and presentable manner. Our costumes should be clean, and well maintained. The parts of us that are exposed should be well groomed, and clean. And we should be free of offensive odors. This not only adds to our public image, but to our self confidence as well.. which in turn adds to our public image even more.
If you expect to remain active on a long patrol, or perhaps participate in a day long event in the hot sun, carefully consider the use of deodorant, or even carry an extra uniform to change into should the need arise. For myself, my body seems to react badly to spandex, making me smell like a funky monkey after a few hours, so I have to take extra precautions, such as talcum powder, and changeable under layers.
Your image is part of your command presence. When you appear presentable and confident, you automatically command a certain degree of respect. If you suddenly needed to give emergency directions, such as, “Everyone please proceed calmly to the nearest exit”, or, “Remain calm. The ambulance is on the way”, people are more likely to respond favorably to you.
Waving your arms like a lunatic, looking like a crackhead, and shrieking on the edge of hysteria, will most likely make people think you’re nuts, and fail to obey you, even if it’s in their best self interest. You do not want to distract people from the seriousness of a situation. You want to carefully guide them to safety, and rational behavior.
A positive and confident appearance will automatically attract attention in a good way. Swaggering, boisterous behavior, and general bossiness will attract attention in a bad way. Carefully maintain your appearance in public, and amongst your peers. Let your composure and behavior reflect your message, and your beliefs. Let people know that what they see is what they get. That you can be trusted, that you can be taken seriously, and that you act professionally in this thing you do.
 

By Adam Sinicki
With permission from http://www.the-biomatrix.net/.
All over the internet there are hundreds of bodybuilding articles that tell you how to add an inch to your arms or chest and there are hundreds of crazy new training systems that promise awesome results, but there aren’t so many articles that tell you how to get to a decent size to start with. How does Joe Blogs get himself to a stage where he’s ready to try out this crazy shit? How does he go from having the body of a normal fella to having the beginnings of a body worthy of a bodybuilder? How does our average Joe go from ‘zero’ to ‘hero’?
I don’t know. I’ve always been awesome, that was just a rhetorical question.
Nah not really! That would make a very short article otherwise! I do know how and infact I’ve outlined how in, as the title suggests, 5 easy steps. Why five? Well I like five okay? These 5 stages will set you on your way in the world of bodybuilding and assuming you’re currently in average shape you should be able to achieve the body of an amateur bodybuilder in 6 months to a year, although you’ll start seeing results way before then (unless you’re blind or a vampire (the reflection thing)).
The training zero: Step 1 – Full body routine of bodyweight training
Step 1 sounds like a good plce to start and it’s just the ticket for getting yourself into a decent shape. At the moment you may be unused to training so you want to start off gently. Your supporting muscles are all fairly weak so you don’t want to injure yourself with heavy weights and as a beginner you may have no equipment. The solution? A full body routine focussing on calisthenics (bodyweight training) 4 times a week. For each session you will attempt to hit the whole body and the key part of your workout will be press ups and variations of them. You will also use the sit-up, the dip (using the edge of a bed or a chair), the pull up (purchase a ?5 bar for your door frame), the chin up, leg raises (from the pull up bar), the squat-thrust, the lunge, the calf raise (one legged on the edge of a step) and the horse stance (standing as though you are sitting in a chair and holding the position).
Each workout should be approximately 45 minutes and should use any combination of 5 exercises from the list above (and variations) that hits the whole body. You should train 4 days a week, having your resting days whenever is convenient but not two in a row. Every exercise should be performed in sets of three and as you progress you should increase your repetitions.
You should also begin to cut down the carbs and fats in your diet and begin eating generally healthy. If you manage to stick to this routine for a month or two you should begin to see improvements in your strength and in your endurance. This means you are ready my son.
The okay-but-a-bit-pants bloke: Step 2 – Resistance machines and dumbells
This step is fairly self explanatory. You should continue with your routine but introduce resistance machines and/or dumbells into the mix. The resistance machines will be found at a gym, or if you’re loaded you can buy yourself a multi-gym (I’d like one too if you’re stuck for christmas ideas for me).
This will greatly increase the number of exercise moves available to you for training and you can start hitting your muscles from new angles. With the dumbells you can now do shoulder presses, weighted lunges, curls, tricep kick backs, bent over rows and much more. With the machines you can start using the pec dec, chest press, lat pull down, hamstring curls and anything on offer which will target very specifically certain muscles (usually indicated on the machine itself). Don’t forget those bodyweight exercises though, they brought you this far and should stay with you until you quit the iron.
You should now begin to increase the amount of protein you eat. Don’t go over board, but once you start seeing the muscles you should strive to add a little more tuna and egg to your diet. As you begin to improve you can up the weights on your dumbells and machines and maybe train 5 days instead of 4. Still not enough? Then move onto the next step.
The athlete: Step 3 – Free weights and the big three
Free weights just means weights not supported by a machine. You’ve already done some of that with the dumbells but now it’s time to go hardcore. By the big three I mean the benchpress, the deadlift and the squat. These are ‘compound’ movements that hit a lot of muscles and improve overall power like no other exercises. You’ve had practice on the resistance machines but this is the real thing. Simply by adding these to your workout you will begin to see massive improvements. You can use the barbell for other movements too – upward rows or barbell curls for instance.
You will find that with all these movements that you are finding it difficult to fit them all into a workout, and that you feel tired and lethargic the next day. For this reason you should break down your training a bit, probably across two days to begin with. One way of doing this is to do your lower body, legs and abs on one day, and the upper body, arms and torso, on the next. Alternatively you can do ‘pull’ days and ‘push’ days.
By now you will be training hard enough to warrant the usage of a protein shake. Go easy to start with and up the dosage as you begin to see results. Again though you’ll begin to see dimminishing returns before eventually your workout fails to offer you a challenge. Move on my friend. Move on.
The iron warrior: Step 4 – Splits and high intensity
When you started this gig you probably found it difficult to find moves easy enough to sustain for a decent set of reps. These days you’re probably looking at quite the opposite problem and are struggling to find new ways to challenge yourself and shock your body into action. Fear not! Bodybuilders bigger and stronger than you have faced this problem and come up with many varied and interesting solutions.
There are lots of ways to increase the intensity of your workouts. You should now be hitting each muscle group with as many as 10 sets of either the same exercise or different movements using supersets (alternating between sets of two different movements), dropsets (lowering the weight each time you can do no more then continuing without a rest), pyramid sets (going up in weight then down again), and other techniques to squeaze every last drop of effort out of your muscles. Each set as well should be performed to failiure using forced reps, cheats (engaging other muscles to help in the exercise), half reps and more to really feel the burn. By now you should instinctively be able to feel whether you’ve done enough on a certain muscle group.
Obviously doing 10 sets of every muscle group in one workout would take ages and is impractical. It would also be very ill advised to work out a single muscle group on such high-intensity for more than one day in a row. Therefore you need to split your workout across even more days using a ‘split’ (clever name huh?). Basically you will now dedicate each workout to just one or two muscle groups, allowing them to rest while you train the others. Depending on your seriousness and available time you might want to train 6 or 7 days of the week.
You’ll probably find that you want to up your protein intake even more by now, and may want to try using other supplements like creatine to give yourself more energy in the gym.
The training hero: Step 5 – Experiment
There are many, many more techniques out there. Hundreds of advanced and strange and experimental ways to go the extra mile to get that competition-winning physique. As I said, there are many articles out there that will guide give you all sorts of crazy advice. But more importantly you now know yourself the basics of training. You know what works for your body and what doesn’t and you have the strength and experience to follow the good advice and reject the bad.
You’re finally strong enough and experienced enough to start using those articles and even better, trying new things out yourself. The difference between an average bodybuilder and the outstanding bodybuilder is the willingness to experiment, to break the rules and to be creative. It’s time to start inventing some of your own routines, diets and constantly keep the body guessing. Do the research, put the time in down the gym and the sky is literally the limit (mostly true of planes and birds).
So there you are, you’re a hero now, just like Hercules. You’ve got the moxy, brains and spunk, from zero to hero – a major hunk (from the song… never mind). To follow the above correctly I recommend 6 weeks on each stage and 1 week between each to give your body a break. That means in total it should take roughly 35 weeks until you’ve reached heroic level, although this will vary greatly from individual to individual and only you will know when you’re ready to progress. Unless you tell someone and then they will also know.
This is a very simple guide and doesn’t provide anywhere near enough information on its own, but with a little adaptation and research it should provide a safe and efficient framework to get anyone to the top of the sport. So go and become a hero!
Source: http://www.the-biomatrix.net/zero-to-gym-hero.html

Message from Razorhawk:
A friend of mine, whom some members of the GLHG know as well, asked me to participate in a great charity event for Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. It is the Briggs & Al’s Run & Walk for Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, or simply “Al’s Run”. I agreed instantly because I am well aware of the good that this hospital has done. However, several people involved know me and aren’t aware that I am The Watchman. Therefore, I will be participating in this one as my-civillian-self. I have gotten a few other folks who are involved in the RLSH community in some form on board as well. Despite doing this one sans masks, we are hoping that all of you will contribute what you can. Don’t be fooled by the name, the good done by Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin is not limited to one state. Many people come from all over the country for the care provided by this hospital.
Here is just is an example provided by the leader of the team I’ll be walking for:
_____ _____ ______ _____ _____ _____
Hello Everyone-
For a little background story – our daughter Katie, who is now 3, was diagnosed in utero with hydrocephalus, a condition in which the cerebrospinal fluid does not flow correctly out of the brain, through the spinal cord, and then eventually is excreted from the body. Hydrocephalus blocks this flow from the brain, resulting in increased intracranial pressure, which can quickly lead to brain damage, coma, and if left untreated long enough, death. Hydrocephalus is a serious neurologic condition, and many people with it have life long effects with mental disabilities and motor skill impairment.
Katie was born at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin , and was a patient in the NICU there. She had a shunt put in at 2 days old which diverts the excess fluid from her brain, and drains it into her belly. She was discharged home from the hospital 2 days later, and has lived an absolutely normal and happy life, with none of the mental or physical handicaps that we were told she would almost certainly have.
Katie’s life was great until January of this year when she began experiences frequent, severe headaches. To make a long, long story a little shorter, it culminated in Katie have 6 surgeries to revise her shunt in just a 6 week period of time this year, from March 31 – May 20. Without her shunt and Children’s Hospital managing her care, Katie could be severely handicapped right now, or even worse. A person with hydrocephalus cannot survive this condition without a shunt and sometimes frequent medical care.
Children’s Hospital is obviously very important to us – they have saved or child’s life and have greatly increased her quality of life. Things could very easily be quite different for Katie. Chances are, if you live in Wisconsin or even Illinois , you probably know some child that was helped through Children’s. This is not just for us and our child, but this will benefits thousands of children throughout the country. Families even travel from throughout the United States and even other countries because the care at Children’s is so awesome.
Here is some info on the walk, and if you cannot attend please donate to our donation site, it doesn’t matter how little the donation is – anything will help. We have an ambitious goal of $1000 for our first year – please help us meet that goal for the kids!
Event Info:
Join us for the 32nd annual Briggs & Al’s Run & Walk for Children’s Hospital Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009.
START LINE: 12th Street and Wisconsin Avenue on the Marquette University campus
Wheelchair: 10:15 a.m.
Only self-propelled manual wheelchairs. Assemble in front of the start line.
Runner mass start: 10:30 a.m.
Elite runners line up at the front of the pack. All other runners, line up according to your estimated pace.
Walkers: Immediately follow runners
_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____
One part that she did not mention is that there was a balance amount of over $6,000 which her family’s health insurance didn’t cover for the multiple nuerosurgeries. Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin wiped it clean so they owe nothing out of pocket. They do the same for many other famillies.
We at the GLHG have also set up a donation page so if you’d like to help out, and we hope you all will, go to:
http://www.firstgiving.com/razorhawk
She has a goal of raising $1,000 between members of her team, but she’s not counting on us. Let’s see if we can beat that.

Message from Razorhawk:
A friend of mine, whom some members of the GLHG know as well, asked me to participate in a great charity event for Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. It is the Briggs and Al’s Run & Walk for Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, or simply “Al’s Run”. I agreed instantly because I am well aware of the good that this hospital has done. However, several people involved know me and aren’t aware that I am The Watchman. Therefore, I will be participating in this one as my-civillian-self. I have gotten a few other folks who are involved in the RLSH community in some form on board as well. Despite doing this one sans masks, we are hoping that all of you will contribute what you can. Don’t be fooled by the name, the good done by Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin is not limited to one state. Many people come from all over the country for the care provided by this hospital.
Here is just is an example provided by the leader of the team I’ll be walking for:
_____ _____ ______ _____ _____ _____
Hello Everyone-
For a little background story – our daughter Katie, who is now 3, was diagnosed in utero with hydrocephalus, a condition in which the cerebrospinal fluid does not flow correctly out of the brain, through the spinal cord, and then eventually is excreted from the body. Hydrocephalus blocks this flow from the brain, resulting in increased intracranial pressure, which can quickly lead to brain damage, coma, and if left untreated long enough, death. Hydrocephalus is a serious neurologic condition, and many people with it have life long effects with mental disabilities and motor skill impairment.
Katie was born at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin , and was a patient in the NICU there. She had a shunt put in at 2 days old which diverts the excess fluid from her brain, and drains it into her belly. She was discharged home from the hospital 2 days later, and has lived an absolutely normal and happy life, with none of the mental or physical handicaps that we were told she would almost certainly have.
Katie’s life was great until January of this year when she began experiences frequent, severe headaches. To make a long, long story a little shorter, it culminated in Katie have 6 surgeries to revise her shunt in just a 6 week period of time this year, from March 31 – May 20. Without her shunt and Children’s Hospital managing her care, Katie could be severely handicapped right now, or even worse. A person with hydrocephalus cannot survive this condition without a shunt and sometimes frequent medical care.
Children’s Hospital is obviously very important to us – they have saved or child’s life and have greatly increased her quality of life. Things could very easily be quite different for Katie. Chances are, if you live in Wisconsin or even Illinois , you probably know some child that was helped through Children’s. This is not just for us and our child, but this will benefits thousands of children throughout the country. Families even travel from throughout the United States and even other countries because the care at Children’s is so awesome.
Here is some info on the walk, and if you cannot attend please donate to our donation site, it doesn’t matter how little the donation is – anything will help. We have an ambitious goal of $1000 for our first year – please help us meet that goal for the kids!
Event Info:
Join us for the 32nd annual Briggs & Al’s Run & Walk for Children’s Hospital Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009.
START LINE: 12th Street and Wisconsin Avenue on the Marquette University campus
Wheelchair: 10:15 a.m.
Only self-propelled manual wheelchairs. Assemble in front of the start line.
Runner mass start: 10:30 a.m.
Elite runners line up at the front of the pack. All other runners, line up according to your estimated pace.
Walkers: Immediately follow runners
_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____
One part that she did not mention is that there was a balance amount of over $6,000 which her family’s health insurance didn’t cover for the multiple nuerosurgeries. Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin wiped it clean so they owe nothing out of pocket. They do the same for many other famillies.
We at the GLHG have also set up a donation page so if you’d like to help out, and we hope you all will, go to:
http://www.firstgiving.com/razorhawk
She has a goal of raising $1,000 between members of her team, but she’s not counting on us. Let’s see if we can beat that.
 

To make a donation, please visit the Great Lakes Heroes Guild donation page at: http://firstgiving.com/razorhawk
Message from Razorhawk:
Pledge to make a difference
I am participating in the Briggs & Al’s Run & Walk for Children’s Hospital on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009 because I want to make a difference in the life of a child. Please help me reach my pledge raising goal by making a tax-deductable donation today. Your support will help Children’s continue to provide the top-notch care kids deserve. Briggs & Al’s Run & Walk for Children’s Hospital is the oldest run & walk in the state of Wisconsin and one of the largest combined 8K events in the United States. Because of outstanding community support, corporate sponsorships and active pledge raising, the event has raised more than $10.3 million over the past 30 years.
Children’s is growing up
Pledges raised this year will benefit our west tower addition. As one of the nation’s busiest pediatric hospitals, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin is growing faster than expected. Children’s needed additional beds and clinic space to continue to provide the best care for kids. The12-story tower opened in March 2009 and includes 60 new private rooms, with space for additional rooms in the future. It also allowed us to convert ALL patient rooms to private spaces. In planning the tower, Children’s recognized the need to make each room warm, comfortable and welcoming. The new patient rooms have many features designed to make each family’s stay as easy as possible.

HELLO SQUEEGEEFANS!
THINKING OF BUYING BRITNEY’S HAIR? WELL, WHY WASTE ALL THAT MONEY WHEN YOU CAN HAVE A PART OF AN EVEN MORE IMPORTANT PERSON?! WHAT ABOUT AN IMPORTANT SUPER PERSON? THAT’S RIGHT, BUY SQUEEGEEMAN’S FACIAL HAIR! PLACE A BID AT[email protected]
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFecHONfVog
 

I get some road cash at a ATM & head out up enterprise road.
There on the sidewalk is a guy parked in a Hoveround with his chin on his chest out cold.
“Oh S**T!” says the Superhero. “He must have had a seziure or something!” I whip the vette around and pull up to him. Now he’s awake & putting away up the sidewalk. I lean out the passengers window & say “Hey buddy! you ok?”
He swings his head around like he’s one of those bobblehead things you set in sports collectible stores & says “I’m fine man…”
Holy S**T! says the Superhero “He’s drunk!” So I decide to make a citizens arrest.
As I’m reaching for my door handle it dawns on me…
Yeah he’s drunk
But he’s on the sidewalk
He’s driving
But he’s not in a car.
“What the Hell do I do?”
So I did what every red-blooded American Superhero would have done.
I stuck my head out the window said “Ok sir you have a good night” and Drove off.
Is there such a thing as DUI Hoveround?
 
 

Flow with the shadows: How to move silently.
By: Supreme
Well to start off with… most importantly, make sure your bones are cracked. Get all the kinks out now. You don’t want to be in the shadows with your own body making noises.
Do not wear pants that’ll swish together or make a creasing sound. Ordinary jeans tend to be silent and move without hassle. Take it from me… do not, I repeat, do not wear leather pants or motorcycle pants. They are so damn noisy. Granted the moto pants give great protection.
Use malleable soft style knee pads. Don’t wear hard shell knee pads. They clank when you kneel and they give off a shine. Also you might want to wear them under your jeans to deflect any shine it may have.
An all black Under Armour ‘rash guard’ style shirt is very silent and moves well with the muscles. Don’t wear a shirt that has buttons or any metallic style threads.
Don’t wear a leather or pleather jacket for they also tend to make a creasing sound.
Your boots should be comfortable in a crouching position. This is important. You don’t want them to make a sound when you kneel forward from the crouching position.
An all black uniform is desired. Remember, you’re going for stealth and you need to move with the shadows not against the shadows.
Also, you may want to use a hydration pack when you are only doing recon work. It’s just a suggestion. You may be in one spot for some time. Be prepared to wait. Have extreme patience. If you’re going to live in the shadows and remain stealthy, I suggest you try it out several times before officially using it in patrol.
Good luck!
– Supreme
Below are the steps to moving silently. The art of stealth doesn’t have to be followed exact because you will need to fight and you shouldn’t wear soft shoes when fighting.
1: Get soft footwear. The harder your footwear, the louder the noise. The best type of footwear is socks or leather moccasins. When at all possible, avoid bare feet (feet generally sweat and on flat surfaces, this creates lots of noise, as they stick to the floor) and hard-soled boots (because of their bulk and material, boots are more difficult to walk quietly in).
2: Wear sparse, tight clothing. When walking, one’s legs and clothes rub together creating noise. Minimizing your gear will prevent this
3: Unless congested, take slow and measured breaths from the nose. If congested open your mouth wide and take deep controlled breaths
4: Watch the next place you will take a step. Be mindful of objects you are stepping on.

• • Outside, try to walk on bare dirt or live grass. Dead foliage creates a perceptible “crunch” even when lightly stepped on. If you encounter an area where forced to walk through foliage, then pick the clearest path and proceed slowly, possibly bending over and removing obstructions from the location of the next step.
  • Inside, stick to carpet or other flooring with padding underneath.

5: Match the cadence of the person you are following (i.e. when the person steps with his or her left foot, you use your left foot). This will help mask any noise your feet may make. Remember that sound travels at 340 meters per second (1116 ft/sec), so you might need to adjust your walk accordingly: Note the delay between the visual step and the sound of the step from the one you are following, and try to use the same delay for your steps, only the other way around – you must step slightly before the person you are following.
6: Place the heel or toes of your foot down first and roll your foot slowly and gently onto the ground. If moving swiftly, run/leap from location to location. Avoid landing flatfooted. For moving backwards, this is reversed, so that the ball of the foot is placed down first, and then the heel lowered to the ground.
7: Be sure your footwear fits properly; if your foot slides at all in your footwear it can produce a squeaking noise, especially if your feet are sweaty.
8: Walk on the outer edge of your feet, rolling your foot from heel to pinky toe, if you want to get very close to the target. Though very silent, this technique is also uncomfortable and should only be used for short distances. The hips can be rotated slightly to make this technique easier.
9: Stand 90 degrees to the direction you want to go with your feet spread slightly, then take the foot on the other side of where you want to go, and while balancing on your other foot, move it across, making an X with your legs. Take your other foot and swing it out from behind to the start position. This method allows you to walk with some speed silently, even when wearing jeans which usually make lots of noise.
10: Bend low at the knees. The first part of your foot to hit the ground should be the heel. “Roll” forward on that foot until you’re on the ball of your foot (the padded part just behind the toes). Just before you’ve rolled all the way onto the ball of your foot, put your other foot down, heel first, directly in front of the first foot, almost touching it. You should be able to smoothly roll from the first foot to the second. Continue by rolling on the second foot, until you’re almost at the ball, and repeat by putting the first foot in front of the second. This should all be done fluidly.
TIPS:

• Running on the balls of one’s feet (‘digitigrade’) helps with speed and quietness, but be careful; this requires more strength in the feet and lower legs, and greater flexibility in the ankle and foot joints. It also requires better balance than normal movement, and creates a greater impression on softer surfaces (due to the weight being spread over a decreased surface area).
• When climbing items such as trees and cliffs, be mindful of where your foot lands. Try to place the toes and front padding of the foot in between branches and on crevices of the cliff. If you are forced to step in the middle of a branch or push up the side of the cliff, do it slowly and proceed with caution. A little force may dislodge a shower of debris or break a twig alerting watchers.
• When walking through a house with wood floors, stick close to the wall to minimize creaking floorboards. The same is true for staircases.
• Avoid shifting your weight until your forward foot is quietly and firmly on the ground. This will require a considerable degree of balance and practice.
• When opening doors, apply pressure upwards on the handle to avoid squeaks. Also turn handle so the bolt is completely withdrawn before applying any pressure to the door. Keep the handle pushed down while passing through the door, close the door, push it against the frame so the bolt will fit without snapping, then quietly release the handle.
• If unable to wear tight clothes, try to step without your pants rubbing together or rubbing against your skin as this can create noticeable noise in quiet situations. Wool clothing is quietest.
• Make sure your footwear is completely dry, not only can it squeak, damp spots on the floor can alert someone to your presence.
• If you have problems with dragging your feet, then try walking around slowly with your shoelaces untied and dangling to create noise if you don’t raise and lower your feet. Warning: Do not attempt to do this quickly or carelessly, as you could trip and fall. Keep it slow, steady and measured.
• You don’t just walk with your foot; your whole body is involved, from arms and head for balance, to hips and torso for driving the leg movements, to the legs themselves for creating the distance. ‘Play around’ with your movements so that you build a picture of what works for you and what doesn’t.
• Try Zig-Zagging as you walk: step with one foot then step forward and to the side. Step the other direction. Repeat. This way you keep more of your balance.
• Start on the outside of your heel and roll your foot diagonally, but don’t overdo it and roll it just from the outside in.
• Before you start your walking, roll both of your feet around at the ankles a few times. This will make sure to get any ‘pops’ from your ankles out of the way. These ‘pops’ are the result of synovial fluid moving under the joints, similar to the action and sound that your knuckles make when you crack them. If you don’t make sure to crack your ankles first, you may end up making some noise later on when you need silence.
• If you must make noise, perhaps because of loose clothing, try to make it as “natural” as possible. Short, sharp, or repetitious noises that characterize human movement can be broken into unrecognizable segments by varying your cadence or by dragging out the noise, making it more fluid and less human. This may be more applicable in urban environments where frequent background noise can mask your movements, allowing you to, in-effect, hide in the “shadows” of ambient noise.
• If your clothes make noise that cannot be helped, wait a moment before you walk, and try to take advantage of another distracting noise. Choose to move when another sound is more present, to mask your own noise.
• Though not noise-related, if you are walking up directly behind someone be mindful of the shadow you cast. If there is a light-source behind you, your shadow will lead you, and be perceived instinctively. Using the crouched walking position will greatly minimize this.

Be safe out there!
– Supreme
Flow with the shadows: How to move silently.
By: Supreme
Well to start off with… most importantly, make sure your bones are cracked. Get all the kinks out now. You don’t want to be in the shadows with your own body making noises.
Do not wear pants that’ll swish together or make a creasing sound. Ordinary jeans tend to be silent and move without hassle. Take it from me… do not, I repeat, do not wear leather pants or motorcycle pants. They are so damn noisy. Granted the moto pants give great protection.
Use malleable soft style knee pads. Don’t wear hard shell knee pads. They clank when you kneel and they give off a shine. Also you might want to wear them under your jeans to deflect any shine it may have.
An all black Under Armour ‘rash guard’ style shirt is very silent and moves well with the muscles. Don’t wear a shirt that has buttons or any metallic style threads.
Don’t wear a leather or pleather jacket for they also tend to make a creasing sound.
Your boots should be comfortable in a crouching position. This is important. You don’t want them to make a sound when you kneel forward from the crouching position.
An all black uniform is desired. Remember, you’re going for stealth and you need to move with the shadows not against the shadows.
Also, you may want to use a hydration pack when you are only doing recon work. It’s just a suggestion. You may be in one spot for some time. Be prepared to wait. Have extreme patience. If you’re going to live in the shadows and remain stealthy, I suggest you try it out several times before officially using it in patrol.
Good luck!
– Supreme
Below are the steps to moving silently. The art of stealth doesn’t have to be followed exact because you will need to fight and you shouldn’t wear soft shoes when fighting.
1: Get soft footwear. The harder your footwear, the louder the noise. The best type of footwear is socks or leather moccasins. When at all possible, avoid bare feet (feet generally sweat and on flat surfaces, this creates lots of noise, as they stick to the floor) and hard-soled boots (because of their bulk and material, boots are more difficult to walk quietly in).
2: Wear sparse, tight clothing. When walking, one’s legs and clothes rub together creating noise. Minimizing your gear will prevent this
3: Unless congested, take slow and measured breaths from the nose. If congested open your mouth wide and take deep controlled breaths
4: Watch the next place you will take a step. Be mindful of objects you are stepping on.

• • Outside, try to walk on bare dirt or live grass. Dead foliage creates a perceptible “crunch” even when lightly stepped on. If you encounter an area where forced to walk through foliage, then pick the clearest path and proceed slowly, possibly bending over and removing obstructions from the location of the next step.
  • Inside, stick to carpet or other flooring with padding underneath.

5: Match the cadence of the person you are following (i.e. when the person steps with his or her left foot, you use your left foot). This will help mask any noise your feet may make. Remember that sound travels at 340 meters per second (1116 ft/sec), so you might need to adjust your walk accordingly: Note the delay between the visual step and the sound of the step from the one you are following, and try to use the same delay for your steps, only the other way around – you must step slightly before the person you are following.
6: Place the heel or toes of your foot down first and roll your foot slowly and gently onto the ground. If moving swiftly, run/leap from location to location. Avoid landing flatfooted. For moving backwards, this is reversed, so that the ball of the foot is placed down first, and then the heel lowered to the ground.
7: Be sure your footwear fits properly; if your foot slides at all in your footwear it can produce a squeaking noise, especially if your feet are sweaty.
8: Walk on the outer edge of your feet, rolling your foot from heel to pinky toe, if you want to get very close to the target. Though very silent, this technique is also uncomfortable and should only be used for short distances. The hips can be rotated slightly to make this technique easier.
9: Stand 90 degrees to the direction you want to go with your feet spread slightly, then take the foot on the other side of where you want to go, and while balancing on your other foot, move it across, making an X with your legs. Take your other foot and swing it out from behind to the start position. This method allows you to walk with some speed silently, even when wearing jeans which usually make lots of noise.
10: Bend low at the knees. The first part of your foot to hit the ground should be the heel. “Roll” forward on that foot until you’re on the ball of your foot (the padded part just behind the toes). Just before you’ve rolled all the way onto the ball of your foot, put your other foot down, heel first, directly in front of the first foot, almost touching it. You should be able to smoothly roll from the first foot to the second. Continue by rolling on the second foot, until you’re almost at the ball, and repeat by putting the first foot in front of the second. This should all be done fluidly.
TIPS:

• Running on the balls of one’s feet (‘digitigrade’) helps with speed and quietness, but be careful; this requires more strength in the feet and lower legs, and greater flexibility in the ankle and foot joints. It also requires better balance than normal movement, and creates a greater impression on softer surfaces (due to the weight being spread over a decreased surface area).
• When climbing items such as trees and cliffs, be mindful of where your foot lands. Try to place the toes and front padding of the foot in between branches and on crevices of the cliff. If you are forced to step in the middle of a branch or push up the side of the cliff, do it slowly and proceed with caution. A little force may dislodge a shower of debris or break a twig alerting watchers.
• When walking through a house with wood floors, stick close to the wall to minimize creaking floorboards. The same is true for staircases.
• Avoid shifting your weight until your forward foot is quietly and firmly on the ground. This will require a considerable degree of balance and practice.
• When opening doors, apply pressure upwards on the handle to avoid squeaks. Also turn handle so the bolt is completely withdrawn before applying any pressure to the door. Keep the handle pushed down while passing through the door, close the door, push it against the frame so the bolt will fit without snapping, then quietly release the handle.
• If unable to wear tight clothes, try to step without your pants rubbing together or rubbing against your skin as this can create noticeable noise in quiet situations. Wool clothing is quietest.
• Make sure your footwear is completely dry, not only can it squeak, damp spots on the floor can alert someone to your presence.
• If you have problems with dragging your feet, then try walking around slowly with your shoelaces untied and dangling to create noise if you don’t raise and lower your feet. Warning: Do not attempt to do this quickly or carelessly, as you could trip and fall. Keep it slow, steady and measured.
• You don’t just walk with your foot; your whole body is involved, from arms and head for balance, to hips and torso for driving the leg movements, to the legs themselves for creating the distance. ‘Play around’ with your movements so that you build a picture of what works for you and what doesn’t.
• Try Zig-Zagging as you walk: step with one foot then step forward and to the side. Step the other direction. Repeat. This way you keep more of your balance.
• Start on the outside of your heel and roll your foot diagonally, but don’t overdo it and roll it just from the outside in.
• Before you start your walking, roll both of your feet around at the ankles a few times. This will make sure to get any ‘pops’ from your ankles out of the way. These ‘pops’ are the result of synovial fluid moving under the joints, similar to the action and sound that your knuckles make when you crack them. If you don’t make sure to crack your ankles first, you may end up making some noise later on when you need silence.
• If you must make noise, perhaps because of loose clothing, try to make it as “natural” as possible. Short, sharp, or repetitious noises that characterize human movement can be broken into unrecognizable segments by varying your cadence or by dragging out the noise, making it more fluid and less human. This may be more applicable in urban environments where frequent background noise can mask your movements, allowing you to, in-effect, hide in the “shadows” of ambient noise.
• If your clothes make noise that cannot be helped, wait a moment before you walk, and try to take advantage of another distracting noise. Choose to move when another sound is more present, to mask your own noise.
• Though not noise-related, if you are walking up directly behind someone be mindful of the shadow you cast. If there is a light-source behind you, your shadow will lead you, and be perceived instinctively. Using the crouched walking position will greatly minimize this.

Be safe out there!
– Supreme