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Get Leaner, Stronger and Moving Better on the Fireground with these 10 Tips.
These 10 tips will not only help your uniform fit better this year, they will also improve your performance on and off the fire/rescue scene. Would you agree that a leaner athlete is a better athlete? I know this is a “loaded” question. A lot of the answer has to deal with the sport in which the athlete is participating. One thing that research shows is that a leaner athlete is a “more efficient” athlete. When it comes to firefighters, EMTs and medics, this is a valid finding. If you are leaner (and stronger) you will move better on and off the fire/ rescue scene. Efficiency in general terms, describes the extent to which time, effort, or cost is well used for the intended task or purpose. So, a more efficient Fire Rescue Athlete will be able to do more work with less physical effort. This is especially important since most of our…
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Get Fire Rescue Fit with this Firefighter Workout Option.
I get a lot of requests for example workouts from the various Fire Rescue Fitness Programs. This is one of the workouts you will find in the NEW FRF “Fit for Duty” Fat Loss for Firefighters Workout Program (now with the FRF Workout App) This is a great Firefighter Body weight workout that doesn’t require a lot of equipment and is very efficient (like you need to be on a fire/rescue scene). Give this a try! 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)…
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How to Resist the Sweets in the Firehouse
If you are “jonesing” for some sweets, you might think it’s best to have just a tiny bit. Don’t! You will only wind up craving more. A study published by Obesity showed that we tend to associate food with internal feelings, like anxiety, stress or happiness. Or external stimuli, like the sirens or bells. Whenever we feel these emotions or situations we automatically crave the foods we associate with them. so each time you give in and have that sugary snack at the firehouse- which you probably do often, you start to condition your body and brain to expect and crave it. What’s the solution? Remove the stimulus! Don’t keep the junk food in a visible place like on the table and or counter. Better yet, when you feel a craving coming on, don’t go to the kitchen or a place where junk food is lurking. So, if you are…
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FRF (Fire Rescue Fitness) Thanksgiving Workout to burn some calories…
Happy Thanksgiving! Here is a great “FRF” way to celebrate. This is a little workout that will burn some early morning (or afternoon) calories, ignite your metabolism, and make room for some good Thanksgiving food. I always like to do some morning workout or fun run with the family on the Holidays, I find that I feel better all day and don’t eat as much. Please give this a try! Try to do as many circuits as possible in 15 or 20 minutes. Remember to perform an active warm-up before you begin. Do the suggested reps of each exercise then proceed to the next, rest as little as possible between exercises. Click on the video. Start with these active warm-up exercises. Perform each exercise for the prescribed number of reps. You only need to perform each one of the active warm-up exercises one time. Step forward lunge with twist (5…
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Is The Keto Diet Good for Firefighters?
If you believe the buzz, ketosis — whether via the almost-zero-carb ketogenic diet or via ketone supplements— can curb appetite, enhance performance, and cure nearly any health problem that ails you…. Sound too good to be true? It probably is. Today I wanted to address the keto diet and give some insight to those fire rescue athletes that are contemplating trying the diet. Though not a new diet, the ketogenic diet has in recent months become more and more popular as a means for promoting weight loss. The ketogenic diet has been used for many years, mostly in clinical settings like hospitals, as part of the treatment protocol for children and adults suffering from epilepsy. The ketogenic diet is extremely strict and requires following specific guidelines of about 5-10% of your calories from carbohydrates, 20 to 25% of calories from protein and the remaining 70-80% from fat. Why eat these ratios? …
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One of the Best Exercises for Firefighters- The Carry
We as fire rescue athletes are generally moving in unbalanced positions. Whether its climbing a ladder, pulling hose, or ventilating, we are usually in an unbalanced, split stance. Therefore one area of focus should be the deep balancing muscles of the core. These muscles play an important role in holding and stiffening the pelvis to prevent it from bending and can be challenging to train in normal bi-lateral lifting and pulling exercises. In addition, we as fire rescue athletes are routinely required to carry heavy loads and equipment. The farmers carry (and other carry variations) addresses these issues, it engages the core, improves balance and at the same time improves grip strength. It’s a simple movement, grab some fairly heavy objects, engage the core by bracing your abs and slowly walk (chest up, good posture). The longer and heavier you go the more you challenge the core and your grip.…
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Fire Rescue Fitness Workout to Honor Veterans
Today I have a special Firefighter Challenge Workout to honor America’s true heroes….our Veterans. Thank you for your service and sacrifice! This workout is 11 minutes of strength exercises followed by an 11 minute cardio interval (11-11 for Veterans Day). The exercises can be changed based on available equipment and level of fitness. Of course, make sure you thoroughly and actively warm-up before starting the workout. Active Warm-up (perform the suggested reps for 2 rounds) Chops (10x) Inverted Hamstrings (5 ea) Spidermans (5 ea) Knees side to side (5 ea) X-overs (5 ea) Perform 2 rounds or circuits then progress to the 11 minute strength portion. Click below for an overview of the FRF 11-11 Veterans Day Workout The strength portion of the workout consist of 4 exercises performed for 2 minutes (as many reps as possible) with 1 minute of rest between them. To add to the…
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Better Nutrition with these Healthy Hacks…
Do you want to know how fit fire rescue athletes make nutritious meal choices? Here are some shortcuts, go-to recipes, cooking suggestions and go-to snacks for making the life of a fire rescue athlete a little healthier. Eating healthy with a demanding job can be difficult. Add in the fact that the firehouse is usually full of non-nutritious choices like cakes and baked goods and its no wonder that obesity, diabetes and heart disease are huge concerns in the fire industry. Yet, as any busy person, or appointed firehouse cook can attest, whipping up a healthy nutritious snack or meal at the end of a long shift can be time consuming and stressful. In fact, research by the American Sociological Association found that cooking can make many people stressed, anxious and unhappy. However, cooking and eating around the firehouse doesn’t need to be so stressful. Producing healthy meals and making the…
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