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FRF Birthday Challenge Workout…
I like challenge or out-come based (OCB’s) workouts because: #1 They are tough, #2 They are a great way to measure your level of fitness. The last 3 years I have completed this special “Birthday” workout to help me measure my fitness and determine where I need improvement. This particular workout doesn’t require a lot of equipment and can be done at home or at the gym or firehouse (even if its 22 degrees below zero). I encourage you to do this workout (or a similar one) every once in a while to help keep you motivated and to gauge your level of fitness. This “Birthday” workout is difficult but can be scaled to meet your available equipment and level of fitness. Before you begin this workout, like every workout, perform an active warm-up. Active warm-up (perform for 30 seconds or 10 reps of each exercise for 2…
Is P90X an Effective Workout for Firefighters?
It’s often said that any movement is better than no movement at all. I personally have to agree with that statement, I think its imperative that everyone (especially FireRescue Athletes) are active. The big question milling about in the Fire Rescue field is what is the most effective type of activity for firefighters? Ideally, we should be performing movements that support, enable, and enhance our physical skills and add to the quality of life. Our exercises should make us stronger, faster, and more capable of accomplishing just about any physical feat a “job” throws at us. One of the more popular programs floating around firehouses these days is P90X. P90X is the extensive fitness program from Beach Body fitness created by Tony Horton that claims it can get you “ripped in 90 days….guaranteed.” Does it work? Maybe, but as Firefighters, EMTs and Paramedics we need to be more than just “ripped”…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…