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Firefighter Fitness Myth- Never Let your knees go past your toes during a squat.
Every once in a while I will get a question about fitness that stirs up some great conversations. One question I get asked often is about squat form and if we, as fire rescue athletes, should never let our knees go past or over the toes when squatting. Here is a great answer to that question. The claim: Allowing your knees to move too far forward during exercises such as the squat and lunge places dangerous shearing forces on your knee ligaments. The origin: A 1978 study at Duke University found that keeping the lower leg as vertical as possible during the squat reduced shearing forces on the knee. The truth: Leaning forward too much is more likely to cause injury. In 2003, University of Memphis researchers confirmed that knee stress was 28 percent higher when the knees were allowed to move past the toes during the squat. But the…
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Eating out Guide for Firefighters, EMTs and Medics…
Eating Out Guide for Fire Rescue Athletes Maybe it’s for business, maybe it’s for school, maybe it’s a date, maybe it’s a special occasion or maybe you and the crew don’t have time to prepare food. It doesn’t matter. The last-minute restaurant meal will likely occur at some point. Instead of sabotaging your health, here are some good guidelines that will help you keep your meal selection on the right track. Let me note that it is alright to indulge (I try to do it 2x per week) but if you need a good, healthy meal while eating out, here are some tips. When menu-scanning, you can use several strategies. Select any one of these options for your meal (not all of them): Order a good protein–Is there: grilled chicken breast, lean beef, shrimp, tuna, beans, etc.? Start with the protein, then add veggies (such as a side salad instead…
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Stretches that will Improve Firefighter Performance.
Stretching and flexibility are often taken for granted. The older I get (over 40) the more I realize how valuable the flexibility and mobility components of a workout are. Often skipped, I believe that a solid flexibility program (active warm-up, stretching and foam rolling) can greatly improve your performance on and off the fire ground. Today I wanted to give you a 5 Simple Exercises that can improve your performance. These exercises can be performed at the completion of a workout or a shift or even during your shift. You want to hold each stretch for at least 15 seconds if not 30 seconds. Repeat the circuit as many times as possible. Remember to breathe and maintain good posture throughout each stretch and don’t force the stretch. Ease into each position and if it hurts…stop. Here is a video overview of the stretches. Here are the individual Stretches. Downward…
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Functional Firefighter Crew Workout Option…
I get a lot of emails asking for good workout options for the firehouse when on-shift. Working out on-shift is a major concern, you want to make sure you keep your body in good “fit for duty” condition but also want to make sure you have enough “left in the tank” to respond and perform in an actual response. 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 interval workouts are not only the most effective but a great way to incorporate fireground movements (steps, crawls, sledges, drags, lifts, carries, and some core). Here is an example of a on-shift workout that I did with my crew. Active Warm-up Perform 2 circuits. Set an interval timer for 35 seconds of movement with 5 seconds between to transition (click the red link below…
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Josh Fulk lost over 100 pounds with FRF…
Heart disease, obesity, cancer, diabetes are all huge health issues facing the fire service. Depending on which report you read, the fire service is facing epidemic levels of these issues. I do feel that there is progress being made on combating these issues and the fire service in general is becoming more health conscious. The mission of Fire Rescue Fitness is to help members of the fire service get more fit and healthy by providing resources and support. Over the past year, FRF has sponsored the Fit for Duty Challenges where we provide motivation, prizes and guidance to help firefighters, EMTs and medics lose weight, tone up and gain strength to ultimately get more “fit for duty.” One individual has used these challenges and workouts to transform his health. Josh Fulk has lost over 100 pounds and is now motivating other in the fire service. Please click the video below…
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Intermittent Fasting for Firefighters
FRF (Fire Rescue Fitness) was created to help transform, motivate, and educate firefighters, emts and medics to get “fit for duty.” One of the things I truly enjoy is researching creative ways to do this! Along with researching about fitness, I am also a firefighter (like you) so. I understand how difficult it can be to workout regularly and eat healthy on our schedule and with the fire service culture. One thing I have been experimenting and researching lately is a new eating pattern that I think can have some great benefit to fire rescue athletes. Have you heard of intermittent fasting? Intermittent fasting (IF) is a term for an eating pattern that cycles between periods of fasting and eating. It is an eating pattern and does not address which foods you should eat, but rather when you should eat them. In this respect, it is not a “diet” in the conventional sense. It…
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How to Reduce Obesity in Firefighters…
This is scary…We need to change. Rates of overweight and obese individuals in the fire service are higher than those found in the general public, according to a new study. Researchers looked at the body composition of both career and volunteer firefighters across the nation, with overweight and obesity rates ranging from 73 percent to 88 percent. About two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese on a general, national level. The research demonstrates that a large percentage of firefighters do not meet minimal standards of physical fitness, according to the study conducted by the NVFC National Volunteer Fire Council– “Addressing the Epidemic of Obesity in the United States Fire Service” looks at the impact of obesity, the scope of obesity in the fire service, and why obesity has become an epidemic. The report also adds that “as firefighters gain more weight, research has found that cardio respiratory fitness plummets and the…
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How do you Define Your Why?
Why do you workout? Why do you, or should you make healthy choices? The answers to this question are different for different people. For me, personally, I workout and stay fit because I never want to tell my crew, my family or my department that; “I was not fit enough to accomplish my task.” I like to take pride in my work and want to do everything I can to be ready to serve… this includes staying fit. I started Fire Rescue Fitness because I really wasn’t in good shape (for firefighting) and was training improperly. You can learn more about that story by clicking the video below. How did Fire Rescue Fitness begin? Click below to find out. Sometimes, we may lose track of “why” we should stay fit. Sometimes, we may lack motivation to workout. Personally, when I am lacking motivation I like to assess my current situation,…
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Workouts that Incorporate Fireground Movements and Boost Metabolism…
I believe that interval training is very applicable to what we do on the fire ground. What are intervals? In their simplest form, they’re short bursts of high intensity exercise separated by periods of lower intensity effort. One of the unique components of all FRF workouts are, what I call, afterburners and/or interval overhauls. They are interval options performed at the end of the strength workouts. These interval overhaul or “afterburner” options are a combination of the fireground movement exercises that challenges your total body, allows you to work on firefighter skills, and can simulate the work intensity of the fire ground. And… they can really “jack-up” your metabolism too! You can do them in gear, in the firehouse, or in the gym, or even do them at home. You also don’t need a lot of equipment, the only required piece is a good interval timer (which you can get…
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