Essential Firefighter Workout Components

ATTENTION FIREFIGHTERS, EMTS, AND MEDICS. does your current workout program address these components?

Without proper planning, your fitness program may be setting you up for failure. Read the article below and see if your fitness program includes these components.

This blog topic is one near and dear to my heart and your career--Workouts for Fire Rescue Athletes. I've been in the fitness industry for over 25 years and in the fire service for over 15 years. This experience has given me the opportunity to write for some of the best trade magazines and present at big conferences (you can/ see read my story here). The most common question I get (either via email or at these conferences) is "What is the best workout for Firefighters, EMTs and Paramedics (Fire Rescue Athletes)? And, more importantly what are the components of the best Fire Rescue Athlete Workouts?

Read below to find the answer (drum roll please)...

First, there is no single perfect program for every fire rescue athlete (there is one that is close though... click here to find out). We all know that, as fire rescue athletes, we work in very uncertain situations and circumstances and must be ready for almost anything...

We can also agree that fitness is very important for performance on the fire/ rescue scene. Here are the five common components that all firefighters, EMTs and medics (Fire Rescue Athletes) need to address and include in their fitness programs.

Have a plan! You must be balanced with your fitness, make sure your program emphasizes balance, core and strength. And, don't skip legs!

The program must be planned using sound periodization and science. Training should follow a developmental approach or progression. This means there should be a hierarchy of training.

It is essential for the fire rescue athlete to develop a training base that should increase the body’s functional capacity. Once this is accomplished, the intensity of the exercise can be increased to emphasize strength and muscular development. In more general terms, your workout program should work to develop stability, then strength, and finally power.

Regardless of what the training program looks like, it cannot not violate this developmental approach. For this reason, I am not a fan of the WOD (workout of the day) programs and fitness app. They give you a workout to make you sore and fatigued and, in most cases, do not consider the goal or the next workout. Firefighters, EMTs and medics are getting injured in workout rooms and gyms because they do not have a plan, resulting in muscle imbalances from too many presses, pulls or jumps.

Every firefighter, EMT and medic’s fitness goal should be to improve performance, reduce injury, and improve career longevity and every workout should work towards accomplishing these. Does your workout program do this?

The program MUST place a large amount of focus on core strength and balance. Based on statistics, over 50% of the firefighters, EMTs and medics reading this will have a back injury at some point in their career. Low back pain is the number one reason firefighters retire early. For a fire rescue workout program to be effective, it must utilize exercises that focus on the developing the glutes, shoulder girdle, hamstrings, hips and abs which all encompasses the “core.” Notice that I didn't say anything about a "six pack" of abs. Programs must place an emphasis on performing exercises like planks, side planks, glute bridges and balance work. These are great options to build a solid core and must be done consistently.

The program needs to focus on cardiovascular conditioning and recovery. When you think of cardiovascular conditioning most people think of running or biking, which in most cases emphasizes aerobic conditioning. Fire Rescue Athletes need to have a good level of aerobic fitness but cannot overlook the value of challenging the anaerobic systems. If you've ever humped a "charged" hose line up some stairs or dragged a victim or vented a roof with an axe you realized the importance of anaerobic fitness. An effective Fire Rescue fitness program will set a good cardiovascular base then challenge the cardiovascular system with intervals. Intervals are one of the best ways to simulate the high level of fitness required on the fire ground.

Intervals are great for the heart....

The program must (at some point) contain full-body functional strength exercises. Functional strength exercises increase balance around the joints and helps prevent injuries by stimulating stabilizing muscles. There are no isolating movements on the fire ground, therefore, functional training for the fire rescue athlete must take a full-body approach. And, functional, full-body training stimulates the core and are effective in athletic injury rehab and prevention.

Functional strength movements like the push-up, goblet squat, lunge, pull-up strengthen all joints of the body in numerous planes and should be staples in any fire rescue workout.

Great exercise for firefighters, EMTs and/or medics! Are you doing this exercise?

5. Programs must include and emphasize mobility exercises. The more efficiently and better an athlete moves transfers to better performance. One of the biggest mistakes I see fire rescue athletes make is not properly warming up and stretching. It’s great if you can bench press 300 pounds but if you cannot move your shoulders in all planes of motion, you will get injured and possibly leave your crew in jeopardy.

Active warm-ups are essential during the workout because they raise your core temperature increasing blood flow to the muscles and tendons thus improving range of motion. These movements also improve the function of your nervous system. Think of this component as taking a few minutes to warm-up a car that has been sitting outside in cold temperatures all night. Properly integrating active warm-ups and post exercise stretching exercises will improve the long-term mobility and flexibility of your muscles. The more flexible the muscle and joint around the muscle; the better the fire rescue athlete moves and the less chance of injury and greater the performance.

This is not an all-encompassing list, but it will give you enough information to help decide if a program has what it takes to be effective for the fire rescue athlete. Look at your current program and see if it contains these components?

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Stay Safe and Get FRF!

Aaron “Zam” Zamzow

Fire Rescue Fitness is dedicated to getting firefighters, EMTs and medics "fit for duty." Each one of the FRF workouts include the above components and are guaranteed to get you stronger, leaner and moving better on the fire ground. Programs also include eating guides, recipes, FRF workout app, coaching and access to our private group. Look at the great results FRF programs produce!