Welcome to the FRF Blog
Please scroll through our 200+ posts.
Saving Firefighters Lives…
Its been very well documented that the leading cause of firefighter-on-duty deaths is related to heart disease. Therefore any information regarding decreasing the chances of heart disease are very valuable to the firefighting community. I’ve recently been researching the correlation between cholesterol and heart disease and have found some interesting correlations. The long-established dietary recommendations of yesterday have created epidemics of obesity and diabetes, the consequences of which dwarf any historical plague in terms of mortality, human suffering and dire economic consequences. Despite the fact that 25% of the population takes expensive statin medications and despite the fact we have reduced the fat content of our diets, more Americans will die this year of heart disease than ever before. Statistics from the American Heart Association show that 75 million Americans currently suffer from heart disease, 20 million have diabetes and 57 million have pre-diabetes. These disorders are affecting younger and…
Read More
Add this Exercise for Firefighter Strength…
Balance, coordination, power, strength, cardiovascular recovery….all essential fitness traits of the “fit for duty” Fire Rescue Athlete. If you are a Fire Rescue Athlete (or not) you need to plan your workouts to address each of these traits. One of the most overlooked is balance and coordination. As a trainer, I get asked how and when is the best time to train for balance? And, as a firefighter I get asked why do I need to train for balance? Well, the last thing you want to happen as you climb a ladder or lift a patient is to lose your balance; this often leads to injury or possible death. You can easily modify current exercises to challenge your balance by changing your stance (going from two legs to one), standing on a balance board or BOSU, changing your angle of movement (incline or decline), and/or using a stability ball instead of a stable…
Read More
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…
Read More
Firefighter Workouts- The Importance of a Proper Warm-up
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 by: Increasing physical efficiency and performance Can you do this? 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…
Read More
Eating Lean in the Firehouse- Rule #1
Cooking for a group of hungry firefighters is not easy– if you don’t cook something tasty you will hear about it from your crew…for a long time. To help firefighters, EMTs and Medics get their nutrition in check, I created the SOPs to Eating Lean in the Firehouse. Here is one of the Rules to Eating Lean in the Firehouse. Limit or eliminate all liquid calories – fruit juices, soda pop, Gatorade, and alcohol. Of course in this day and age you won’t be drinking in the firehouse but it is something to minimize when off the job. Alcohol provides nothing but empty calories and provokes bad choices (about food and other things). If you’re going to drink beer, wine, or liquor, just keep in mind it will add calories and could keep you further away from getting fit for duty. BUT, we’ve got to have a little…
Read More
How to Reduce Heart Disease in Firefighters…
Its been very well documented that the leading cause of firefighter-on-duty deaths is related to heart disease. Therefore any information regarding decreasing the chances of heart disease are very valuable to the firefighting community. I’ve recently been researching the correlation between cholesterol and heart disease and have found some interesting correlations. The long-established dietary recommendations of yesterday have created epidemics of obesity and diabetes, the consequences of which dwarf any historical plague in terms of mortality, human suffering and dire economic consequences. Despite the fact that 25% of the population takes expensive statin medications and despite the fact we have reduced the fat content of our diets, more Americans will die this year of heart disease than ever before. Statistics from the American Heart Association show that 75 million Americans currently suffer from heart disease, 20 million have diabetes and 57 million have pre-diabetes. These disorders are affecting younger and…
Read MoreGET PAID TO GET FIRE RESCUE FIT!
Over $1000 in cash and prizes will be given away to Firefighters, EMTs and Medics! Don’t wait, get started today! The purpose of the contest is to motivate firefighters, EMTs and Medics to change the unhealthy culture of the fire service. Statistics show that the obesity rate in firefighters is higher than the general population. Sadly, firefighters are more likely to die from a heart attack or stroke than in a fire related incident. WE MUST CREATE a HEALTHY CULTURE IN THE FIRE SERVICE as lives, communities and our families are counting us! Take the “fit for duty” challenge, get others in your department involved and help change the fire service industry! See the complete entry instructions below. Deadline to submit your entry: April 15th, 2015 Good luck! Rules of the 2015 FRF “Fit for Duty” Challenge Contest The FRF “Fit for Duty” Challenge Contest is FREE to enter (see rules and regulations). Important Dates: 1.…
Read More
ON Shift–To Workout or Not?
Do you workout on shift? Should you workout on shift and what is the best workout to perform? This is a major concern for the fire rescue athlete. On one hand we know we should be working out to stay and get fit for duty. Yet , if we burn out in the gym we won’t be able to perform when it really matters. I recently posted an interval workout (Click Here to Read it) that received a lot of hits and emails. Most of the emails dealt with this question more importantly asked “what is the best form of exercise to perform on duty?” Here is my take on the question. We all know that when the bell goes off the fire rescue athlete MUST be ready to perform. With that in mind, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to perform a grueling workout on duty. I personally prefer some lighter…
Read More
The Spectrum of Firefighter Fitness, Where do You Fit In?
This post is long overdue, I’ve been fortunate to present to firefighters throughout the midwest and talk to others from all over the world. A common question that comes up in these conversations is “what is the best workout for me to follow?” This is a loaded question and one that is not easily answered. The answer depends on numerous factors: what is your current level of fitness? What are your goals? What equipment do you have? What is your experience? How much time do you have? Are you on shift?….And the list goes on… As you can see there are a lot of factors to consider in choosing the “best” workout program for fire rescue athletes. There is no “best” workout program for recruits, just as there is no “best” way to force a door. Going into a situation, a well prepared firefighter should have a plan in the…
Read More