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3 Exercises to Improve Firefighter Performance and Reduce Injuries…
There are certain parts of the body that we, as fire rescue athletes, are more likely to injure. If you look at the statistics of firefighter injuries you would see that they most commonly effect the back, the shoulders, and the knees. Also, as society continues to become more sedentary and glued to TVs and mobile devices, our posture continues to diminish. This poor posture can also lead to frequent injury and pain to the shoulders and back. We can all agree that sometimes injuries cannot be avoided, we work in some taxing environments and injuries will happen. But, there are some things (exercises) that you can do to help minimize your chances of injury and improve your posture. So, today I wanted to introduce you to the stick up, thoracic rotations and the single leg bridge. These exercises may be a little unusual but can really help your posture, reduce…
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Motivational Monday- How FRF Got Started.
My name is Aaron Zamzow. I’m a Firefighter, Training Officer, and EMT in Madison Wisconsin, and a certified and degreed Personal Fitness Trainer and author. I am the owner of Fire Rescue Fitness (www.firerescuefitness.com) a company dedicated to creating products and blogs focused on keeping Firefighters, EMTs, and Paramedics in the top physical condition and “fit for duty.” First and foremost, I am a firefighter/ EMT and have been for almost 15 years. I have also been working in the fitness industry as a Personal Trainer and author for 25 years. I’ve been fortunate to train with elite athletes for the NBA, NHL, and NFL and have studied under some of the top trainers in the world. I created Fire Rescue Fitness 15 years ago because I was discouraged by my own level of fitness during my first academy and the lack of resources available on firefighter fitness. At that…
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Firefighter On-duty Interval Workout…
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 “Sunday Funday” 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. Chops Step back…
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Firefighters- Are You Exercising or Training?
Yes you read that correctly! Before I worked as a firefighter, I was a trainer in both large and small health clubs. During that time I would see a lot of people exercising consistently and with good intensity but only make a limited amount of fitness progress. Why? Because we are all creatures of habit in the gym and out. These “snail paced progress” gym goers were all doing the same thing… exercising, not training. And yes, their is a difference. What is Exercising? Exercise… is a physical activity performed for the effect it produces today — right now. Each workout is performed for the purpose of producing a stress that satisfies the immediate needs of the exerciser: burning some calories, “blow off steam,” relieve mental stress, pump up the biceps, etc. Exercise may well involve doing exactly the same thing every time you do it, as long as it accomplishes the…
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Firefighter Bodyweight Workout to Boost Metabolism and Performance
Total Body “Progressive” Bodyweight Challenge Workout. 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 FRF Fat Loss for Firefighters Workout Program (click here to read more about this workout used by thousands of firefighters). It 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). It also incorporates the essential components that a fire rescue workout must have. The active warm-up will improve your flexibility and movement efficiency, the included core exercises will help reduce injuries, and the full-body movements and interval will jack up metabolism and improve your cardio. Want to lean up and gain functional strength, give this workout a try! You must perform the active warm-up first. The overview sheet below…
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Firefighter cancer prevention- 5 Ways to give cancer “the finger. “
Cancer- I think almost everyone in the fire service knows of someone that has had it or is currently fighting it. Over the past few years cancer has been one of the most often discussed topics in the fire service. There has also been a tremendous amount of research dedicated to deciphering why we are more likely to get cancer. The facts- Before I talk about ways to combat it, I think it is very important to understand the facts about the numbers. There seems to be some very extreme statistics out in social media about the instances of cancer in the fire service. There are no hard, fast numbers when it comes to cancer and fire fighters. There have been numerous studies done each having different outcomes based on the study group. The one study most people reference is the NIOSH study of 2010 of approximately 30,000 fire fighters…
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Every Firefighter, EMT and Medic Needs this Fitness Tool…
People tend to measure how effectively they’ve worked out by how sore they are the following days. Let me ask you: How good is a workout that leaves you so sore that you can’t workout for the next 3 days? What most people don’t realize is that your body improves and adapts to stress on the days you rest. The better and more rapidly you recover, the more quickly your body adapts.This is especially important for the Fire Rescue Athlete, a hard workout on Monday, followed by a difficult shift on Tuesday can lead to an injury on Wednesday. Have you heard about the foam roller? We all know that our job is dangerous and that we as Fire Rescue Athletes are more likely to get injured on the job than any other profession. So this brings me to the question, what is the best way to combat against this potential for injury?…
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Portion Control Strategy for the Firehouse (or any house).
Cooking in the firehouse is pretty difficult. One of the biggest fears of every firehouse chef is not preparing enough food for the crew. This fear usually leads to an excess of available food and larger portions around the table. So, today I wanted to give you a quick and easy “trick” you can use to get your crew to take smaller servings. This post was inspired by a conversation had with one of the great people in the fire service, retired FDNY Chief Salka . Click the video to hear and learn from his experience on eating in the firehouse. To elaborate on the points made in the video. Take a look at the picture below and answer this question: Which is the larger black circle – the left or the right? Does the one on the right side look larger to you? Yes? If you said that the…
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Firefighters- Improve your Performance with this Movement.
I have a confession to make…sometimes I skip my active warm-up exercises when I workout. We are all guilty of it (admit it). Let’s face it, sometimes you hit the gym or the workout room in the firehouse and are tired or short on time and will “sacrifice” the warm-up and stretching. I do not recommend EVER skipping your warm-up. If you have read my posts in the past you understand how important the active warm-up and flexibility portions of the workout are. Need a refresher, click here for a great post about active warm-ups and flexibility. So, today I wanted to give you a very quick active warm-up movement option that can be used as a substitute or as an addition to your normal active warm-up. You can use this movement to warm-up before your workout or drills and throughout your shift to increase flexibility and…
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