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Firefighter Fitness- Do this to REDUCE Injuries…
Flexibility is often the most overlooked aspect of a an effective firefighter workout. Participating in an appropriate warm-up and cool down and stretching program has shown to help firefighter performance and reduce injuries by: Increasing physical efficiency and performance Increasing neuromuscular coordination Decreasing risk of severity of injury Decreasing risk of lower back pain Decreasing delayed onset muscle soreness Decreasing stress and tension What are the best ways, types and times to stretch (very important)? This is the first of a couple of posts about flexibility. Today I want to talk about the Active Warm-up. If you are like most of us, you were taught how to stretch in your high school weight lifting class and you’ve likely continued with pretty much the same routine ever since. Science, however, has moved on. Researchers now believe that some of the old school workout warm-up regimens are not only a waste of time but…
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Trick or Treat….Why Sugar is Bad
If your firehouse (or house) is anything like the one I work in its full of leftover candy and sweets. Now I must admit, I like a good treat now and then but often I have a very difficult time stopping with just one. Why? Sugar. Its everywhere in almost everything and too much of it can cause some serious health issues. Some foods, such as fruits and carrots, naturally contain sugar, but watch out for foods with added sugars, such as baked goods, cereals, crackers, even sauces and many other processed foods (many of which are around the firehouse). A typical American can consume between two to three pounds of sugar every week. As mentioned earlier, sugar is everywhere and is being processed in many foods we eat. These foods are not just sweets. Sugar in large quantities can be found in peanut butter, mayonnaise, bread, ketchup and many other…
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FRF Crew Challenge Workout
Total Body “CREW” Challenge Workout. 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 each exercise in 2 minutes. Rest 1…
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Start your Next Firefighter Workout with This…
Are you still warming up for your workout by jogging or biking or maybe not at all? Each one of your workouts should start with specific active stretching movements. In the past you may have skipped this part, but I assure you these exercises will help strengthen and even tone your body. In fact, if you had just 15 minutes to workout I would want you do an active warm-up routine (or one like it). Every FRF Workout program (click here for information) begins with a specific active warm-up. Nothing else provides so much value in so little time. Active warm-ups prepare the body for movement, boosts your heart rate, core body temperature and increases blood flow to your muscles. These movements also improve the function of your nervous system. The main goal of active warm-ups is to improve the long-term mobility and flexibility of your muscles. By doing these exercises, you will be able…
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10 Simple Rules for Firefighter Fat Loss…
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, this is a valid finding. 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 “more intense” work as Fire Rescue Athletes comes when breathing air via an SCBA. The Holidays can be a challenging time to keep your weight in check. Here are 10 (actually 11) great tips to help you get stronger and leaner in the next…
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Healthy Eating 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 some extra guidance on nutrition? Get into “Ultimate” shape with this program…Eating…
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The Most Important Firefighter Fitness Trait….
I often get asked by Firefighters, EMTs and Paramedics to evaluate their current fitness programs and to possibly give some suggestions. I always try to explain to the individual or group that in order to evaluate the program we must understand the physical demands of the job. Research conducted by York University (Ontario) about the physical demands of Firefighting stated– The most commonly encountered applications of strength and endurance were lifting and carrying objects (up to 80 lbs), pulling objects (up to 135 lbs), and working with objects in front of the body (up to 125 lbs). The most demanding firefighting operations required a mean VO2 of 41.5 ml/kg.min-1 with peak lactate concentrations of 6 to 13.2 mM. Ninety percent of the demanding firefighting operations that were studied required a mean VO2 of 23 ml/kg.min-1. These aerobic energy requirements corresponded to 85 and 50% VO2max, respectively. Therefore a…
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The Ultimate Fire Athlete 9-11 Tribute Challenge Workout
Every year around September 11th I like to take a moment and reflect on the significance of the day and honor those that sacrificed (and continue to sacrifice to this day). I encourage you to do this workout, share your results and challenge others to do the same, at least once a year (on September 11th). This “tribute” workout is difficult but has a great significance to September 11th. You will climb 110 flights of stairs and perform 343 reps of various strength exercises. Before you begin this workout, like every workout, perform an active warm-up (click here for a video overview of the warm-up.) Active warm-up (perform for 30 seconds or 10 reps of each exercise for 2 circuits wit no rest between exercises) Standing Chops Standing Knee Hugs Spidermans Knees side to side Cross overs (X-overs) (Repeat for a total of 2 circuits) Now that your body…
Read MoreThe Best Core Exercise for Firefighters
I hope I got your attention with the title of the post. This is a debatable topic- The best core exercise for firefighters. There are literally hundreds of different core exercise options but one thing we all can agree on is that a strong core is essential for “strong” movement. And, that every aspect of firefighting involves either mobility or stability of the spine–A strong core means a strong fire rescue athlete. Here is a great core exercise (the best…maybe) that challenges your core and shoulder stability- it takes the traditional plank and adds some instability and motion. Try to incorporate the Plank- Stir the Pot into your next workout. Here is how you perform the Stability Ball Plank- Stir the Pot exercise: Assume a prone position with elbows bent on top of a medium stability ball. Keep elbows positioned under your shoulders. Draw your abdomen inward toward your spine…
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