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"Pull" for Better Firefighter Fitness
The muscles of the back are used for almost every motion on the fire and rescue ground– pulling hose, moving patients, climbing ladders and stairs (grabbing the hand rails) to name a few. Here is an exercise you need to add to your Fire Rescue Workout to insure you are strengthening theses valuable muscles. I honestly believe the inverted (body) row is extremely underrated. Besides being a great pure muscle-builder, the inverted (body) row is valuable because it strengthens your rear shoulders and upper back. These often neglected muscles directly complement the muscles used in most pushing exercises which can help prevent shoulder injury, chronic back pain and slumped posture. The reason most people blow these off initially is that they just seem too easy… However, I urge you to try them first before jumping to that conclusions. You can elevate your feet on a bench or a stability ball to increase…
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Firefighter Fitness- 4 Reasons Why You are Not Seeing Results…
Its the dead of winter, football season is over and spring seems so far away. This is also the excuse season, the time of the year where most people fall off the fitness wagon and start to make excuses. Its especially easy to make excuses and miss workouts if your not seeing results. So, today I wanted to give you a little guidance and motivation (check out the FRF Fit for Duty Challenge) to help you stay on track and make some fitness progress. If you’re working out, you should be progressing. If you’re not, there’s something wrong with your program (or lack of a program). Simple. Right? What’s not so simple is understanding why you’re not progressing as you’d like and whether or not your expectations are realistic. Sometimes what feels like a plateau is simply a time of consolidation preparing you for the next leap in your skills.…
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Tips for Healthy Snacking at the Firehouse
Everyone (especially around the firehouse) loves a good snack. But what actually is a “good” snack. If you ask some, they will define a good snack as something that tastes great but doesn’t fill you up like a meal. If your stomach starts rumbling and lunch is still two hours away, you’re going to need a snack to make it through the day. What we as fire rescue athletes (firefighters, EMTs and medics) must remember is that the foods you eat at snack time can make a big difference in your energy level, decision making, performance, and overall health. Choose the wrong snack, and you’ll feel dragged down, tired and cloudy. Choose wisely, and you’ll get the boost and performance you need. Choose your snacks wisely, you never know when you will need the exra energy. Before your next snack break, think twice about what you are about to eat and…
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Post Superbowl Firefighter Workout…
Its now Monday, post superbowl, I hope you enjoyed the game, wings, cocktails and treats that go with it. I do not hope you carry the extra weight and lethargy that can occur after a Superbowl weekend. We all have a tendency tendency to overindulge and workouts seem to take second place during the days following the Superbowl. To combat the accumulation of post-Superbowl pounds and feelings of sluggishness I created this FRF Metabolic Workout… This workout requires minimal time, maximal effort and will give you an extreme calorie burn (throughout the day). Intermediate/ Advanced athletes should use weights that they can handle for 15 reps (even though you will only be performing 10 reps) while beginners will use body-weight for each exercise. Each rep should be performed with control (safety first) and good form. You must perform 2 circuits of the warm-up. After the warm-up follow the appropriate circuit (beginner…
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Cardiovascular Training for Firefighters, EMTs and Paramedics
I heard someone once say running long and slow teaches your body one thing, how to run slow. If that’s all you’re after, you can stop reading; I don’t want you to be late for your water aerobics class. But in our profession you need to move quickly and with purpose, I’m not saying that long and slow cardio is totally worthless, I’m saying it has its place. In fact, I recommend performing a lower intensity, longer cardio workout at least once a week to flush the muscles. But, what I am talking about here is training your body and your heart to function under higher intensity. The best way to do this is with intervals- alternating between very intense bouts of exercise and low intensity exercise. Why intervals? Would you agree that the purpose of any firefighter’s cardiovascular program is to help them work more efficiently under the stresses…
Read MoreFirefighter Fitness Motivation…
Here is a video I created as an intro my some FRF (Fire Rescue Fitness) presentations. the goal is to get fire rescue athletes to understand the importance of treating their bodies like an athlete. Eat right, train right and be fit for duty. My motivation for staying fit is that I never want to tell my crew that my fitness let me (or them) down. Please take a look and Get FRF!
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Firefighter Tabata Cardio Workout
Have you heard of Tabata? This is an unusual style workout floating around a lot of gyms and firehouses lately. I wanted to explain what it is and how we, as fire rescue athletes, can incorporate it into an effective workout. “Tabata” is the name of a particular type of workout program that provides increased fat burning and oxygen efficiency in a short period of time. Instead of hours upon hours of exercise, Tabata can be completed in just 4 minute cycles. Tabata training was developed by a Japanese researcher named Dr. Izumi Tabata who was working with Olympic speed skaters. In his study, he found that a control group using his training method of 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest, for eight intervals, saw greater VO2 Max improvement than the other group that trained with 60 minute sessions. The real question that you want to know is: “How can this…
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Nutritional Myths around the Firehouse…
Today I wanted to post about nutrition, more importantly on some of the biggest nutritional myths floating around firehouses (and other houses). Eat this, don’t eat that…there is so much misinformation on nutrition that it can get to be overwhelming and frustrating. Take a look at 4 of the biggest nutritional myths, hopefully they can clarify some things for you. Myth #1 “Eat fewer calories and you will lose weight.” The Truth: Low calorie diets completely damage your metabolism and never result in long term weight or fat loss.. As a trainer I routinely heard clients say “But I barely eat all day and I still can’t lose weight!”. Starving yourself results in a loss of muscle mass, which results in a slower metabolism, which results in weight and fat gain. The truth is that it’s more important where your calories come from. Just simply reducing your calories may result in no weight loss…
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The Best Firefighter Workout?
This topic is near and dear to mine and your hearts and careers–Workouts for Firefighters and Fire Rescue Athletes. Over the last couple of months I’ve been researching, talking, tweaking and writing about some of the more popular workouts seen in firehouses across the world. You can read about them here and here or listen to a great radio interview about this topic HERE. I’ve received a ton of feedback about those articles both good and bad (please keep it coming) and used all of this information to create what I believe is one of the BEST Workouts for Firefighters-The Ultimate Fire Rescue Athlete. Why is it one of the best? Because it contains these five vital components that are essential for the Fire Rescue Athlete. Does your current program include these components? #1. The program must be planned using sound periodization and science (click here to read more). The program must be planned using sound periodization and science. Training should follow…
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