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Be mobile, Reduce Injury, and Improve Performance with this 4-minute Routine
Mobile and flexible athletes move more efficiently and can be less likely to suffer injury. Unfortunately, from my research I have found that stretching is the most often “skipped” part of an athlete’s workout. For one, it’s done at the end of the workout when you just want to be finished. And, for two, it can be boring. To combat these “excuses” I created these simple and efficient 4-minute stretch routines. These routines should be performed in conjunction with some foam rolling. All you need for these is a small area, an interval timer or watch and a mat or some padding (optional). The routines are divided into 12, 20 second stretches done in succession for a total of 4-minutes. So, you are only holding 12 different positions for 20 seconds each. I like to use the interval timer to keep me honest (I tend to stop early) and on-track. …
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Fit Firehouse Recipe- Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken
Simple, easy and tasty chicken recipe for your crew and/or family. SLOW COOKER SALSA CHICKEN All you need are 2 simple ingredients to make this slow cooker shredded chicken — good salsa and chicken! TOTAL TIME: 4- 6 hours (depending on temperature cooked) PREP TIME: 5 minutes MIN COOK TIME: 2-3 hours on high, 4-6 on low SERVES: 6 INGREDIENTS: (serves 4-6) -6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 3 lbs total)* *You can really use just about any cut of chicken for this recipe. For easy shredding though (so that you don’t have to mess with bones), I recommend boneless chicken breasts or thighs. This should be about 3 lbs of chicken total for 6 people. -2 cups favorite salsa (I like Newman’ Own Mango Salsa) -Spices (salt and pepper, your choice) -Low-fat mozzarella cheese DIRECTIONS: Place chicken breasts in a slow cooker and cover with spices and salsa. Toss…
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Easy Fat Loss Trick for the Firehouse (or any house).
Use this trick to help you manage your nutrion and lose fat. Healthy Eating Habit: Eat slowly and STOP EATING when you are 80% full. To understand why this works, let’s look at the science to support this notion. The brain is always behind the stomach in signaling that we are full. Hunger and satiety cueing are based on the release of hormones within our body. It takes about 15-20 minutes for the body to signal the brain that you are full. If you are eating too quickly while watching TV or distracted then you won’t even sense these subtle changes going on internally. Then, you go back for a second (or third) helping because you still feel hungry. A couple of minutes later you discover you are too stuffed! This is a common occurrence in most firehouses. Eat too fast and miss the “stop” sign our body sends us and…
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Create a Fun and Effective Workout for Your Crew…
Training on-shift with your crew can be challenging for many reasons. Calls, lack of motivation, crew members are at different levels of fitness…. the list goes on. You also have to take into consideration the fact that you must leave some “gas” in the tank and don’t want to burn out and bonk on a call. So, what is the solution- how can you get your crew involved, get a fast and efficient workout and still cater to different levels of fitness? FRF Crew/ Fireground Interval Workouts Over the last couple of years, I have toyed with various workouts on shift; high intensity, heavy lifting, stretching only, and even some yoga. I have found that these crew interval workouts are not only very effective but a great way to incorporate fire ground movements and good way to build crew camaraderie. They also work with all levels of fitness, during the…
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Firefighter Bodyweight Challenge Workout.
No Equipment, No Problem. Perform this workout when you cannot get to the gym or firehouse. It can be very difficult to try to stay “fit for duty” on vacation, during the Holidays, or if you don’t have access to a lot of equipment. You could always go for a walk, do some stretches and/or maybe run some stairs. All good options. You could also do this great bodyweight workout. I actually performed this workout a couple times on vacation in a small condo with only a towel and a little floor space. The objective of the workout is to complete all the assigned reps of each bodyweight exercise (total of 500 reps). **You can substitute out any of the exercises if you would like. Beginners can bounce around from exercise to exercise until all reps are completed. For a more challenging workout you should try to complete all the reps of one…
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Easy to Follow Nutrition Tips for the Firehouse (or any house)…
Cooking in the firehouse for a bunch of hungry firefighters is not easy, trust me I know. In most cases we sacrifice health for taste to avoid complaints and heckling. But, in order to change the culture of the fire service (to a healthier one) cooks and food choices need to get better. Here are 3 easy and healthy tips that can help. 1. Assemble 5 simple and healthy recipes that can be easily tweaked to create different dishes.– Learning new recipes are fun but isn’t best done in a busy firehouse. We all know, the more times we make a recipe, the faster, easier and possibly healthier it gets–It becomes a routine, like putting on your gear. There are a lot of resources to find healthy recipes, pick some out and use them as your staples. Need healthy recipe ideas and some extra guidance on nutrition? Right now every…
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Do This to Stay Fit In (and Out) of the Firehouse
It seems like fitness information is coming from every angle these days. Experts tell us that we need to “do yoga, do crossfit, do low intensity, do high intensity, do weights, don’t do weights.” It can get to be very frustrating and in some cases overwhelming. My goal with FRF is to sift through all the so-called research and experts predictions to give you solid resources that will get you “fit for duty.” today I want to give you 3 (actually I threw in a bonus 4th) things you can do to stay fit in and out of the firehouse. These are very easy tasks and will help you get your fitness on-track. Click the video below to discover the 3 Things you Need to Do to Stay Fit in the Firehouse. Try to do these things every shift (and every day). Stay hydrated. Water is the source of…
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Firefighter Challenge Workout for your Crew
Great Crew Total Body Challenge Workout for the Firehouse (or any gym). Here is a great assessment and/ or workout to challenge your entire body. The workout does not require a lot of equipment so you can do it at the firehouse (or your house). You can substitute these exercises if you want based on your available equipment. You must perform the active warm-up first. This warm-up will increase your core temperature, improve range of motion and get you ready for the workout. (Click here for a quick overview of the warm-up exercises). Perform 2 circuits of the following 5 exercises: 1. Chops (5-10 reps) 2. Knee Hugs (5-10 reps each) 3. Spidermans (5-10 reps each) 4. Knees side to side (5-10 reps each) 5. Quadraped Rotations (5-10 reps each) After completing the warm-up go right into the workout. The goal is to perform as many reps as possible of…
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The Essential Rules of “Good” Firefighter Nutrition
Eat This. Don’t Eat That. Eating healthy or figuring out how to eat healthy, can be a very frustrating thing. So today, I wanted to give you some great rules (and a golden rule) to help you simplify “healthy” eating. First of all, there are a couple of basic rules of healthy eating that every firefighter, EMT, medic, mom, dad, Chief…person, should focus on. Healthy Eating (or Drinking) Rule #1. Stay Hydrated: Drink Lots of Water. Whether your body is turning food into fuel or working away at your fat reserves, it needs water to efficiently burn calories. If you are not fully hydrated, your metabolism will slow down and you won’t be burning calories as efficiently as you can. Hydration also plays a role in performance, the better hydrated, the better you perform. And, staying hydrated can reduce your chances of sudden cardiac arrest and stroke! Try to drink…
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