Capability: a body that can cope, hands that know what to do

Capability is the readiness you carry in yourself: a body that can lift, walk and climb stairs when it has to, and hands that know first aid and how to cook without power. The five Ready Body tests take ten minutes and tell you honestly where you stand.

Why your body is kit

Every real UK emergency looks the same up close. Carrying water home when the taps are off. Walking 5 km because the trains have stopped. Ten flights of stairs because the lift is out with the power. Helping an older neighbour up. None of it is dramatic; all of it is physical. A cupboard full of supplies still has to be carried, and no torch walks you home.

This is the pillar no other UK preparedness site covers, and it’s built on the least controversial standard there is: the NHS guideline of 150 minutes of moderate activity a week plus strength work on at least two days. We organise that guidance around what emergencies actually ask of a body — nothing more exotic than stairs, shopping bags and a park.

These pages describe NHS guidance and our own clearly-labelled standards. They are not medical advice: check with your GP before starting if you haven’t exercised for some time, or have a condition or concern.

Where to start

Take the five Ready Body tests: carry, walk, get up, climb, hang on. Ten minutes across a week, no kit beyond shopping bags and a bar in the park, and an honest answer at the end. Whatever you score, each test comes with a four-week plan that starts where you are.

The skills side is just as unglamorous and just as useful: basic first aid, cooking a meal on a camping stove safely, keeping food cold without power. Once each is enough to know you can.

The capability rules

• Test, don’t guess. Ten minutes of honest testing beats a year of good intentions.
• The NHS guideline is the ceiling and the floor. We add nothing beyond it and accept nothing less than it as the goal.
• Skills are practised once before they’re needed. A camping stove you’ve never lit is cupboard clutter.
• Check with your GP first if you haven’t exercised for some time.

Changelog

• 26 August 2026 — page created; launch set of capability guides published.