Reducing 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 younger people in greater numbers every year.

Many risk factors contribute to the development of heart disease, or atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).  So what is the main culprit to the increasing numbers to this Heart Disease epidemic?  Is it high cholesterol?  About 50% of heart attacks and strokes occur in people with normal cholesterol levels.  This suggests that many people at risk are presumably "healthy" because they have normal cholesterol levels. 

What I've found is that there is a huge correlation between inflammation and heart disease.  Did you know that inflammation in the arteries, not necessarily cholesterol, contributes to heart attacks and strokes?

Inflammation is involved in all stages of atherosclerosis, and triggers heart attacks and strokes. Simply stated, without inflammation being present in the body, there is no way that cholesterol would accumulate in the wall of the blood vessel and cause heart disease and strokes. Without inflammation, cholesterol would move freely throughout the body as nature intended. It is inflammation that causes cholesterol to become trapped.

What is inflammation?  Inflammation is not complicated -- it is quite simply your body's natural defence to a foreign invader such as a bacteria, toxin or virus. The body can easily and efficiently handle acute cases of inflammation from bacterial and viral invaders. However, if we chronically expose the body to injury by toxins or foods the human body was never designed to process, a condition occurs called chronic inflammation.  This chronic inflammation can then lead to major health issue including heart disease.

What are the biggest culprits of chronic inflammation? Quite simply, inflammation is the body's response to the overload of simple, highly processed carbohydrates (sugar, flour and all the products made from them) and the excess consumption of omega-6 vegetable oils like soybean, corn and sunflower that are found in many processed foods.  Basically, inflammation in our blood vessels is caused by the low fat diet recommended for years by mainstream medicine.

Take a moment to visualize rubbing a stiff brush repeatedly over soft skin until it becomes quite red and nearly bleeding. you kept this up several times a day, every day for five years. If you could tolerate this painful brushing, you would have a bleeding, swollen infected area that became worse with each repeated injury. This is a good way to visualize the inflammatory process that could be going on in your body right now.

Let me restate that, the recommended mainstream diet that is low in fat and high in polyunsaturated fats and carbohydrates, has been causing repeated injury to our blood vessels. This repeated injury creates chronic inflammation leading to heart disease, stroke, diabetes and obesity. So when you savor the tantalizing taste of a sweet roll, your body responds alarmingly as if a foreign invader arrived declaring war.  Foods loaded with sugars and simple carbohydrates, or processed with omega-6 oils for long shelf life have been the mainstay of the American diet for six decades. These foods have been slowly poisoning everyone.

The proof is in the pudding, over the last 20 years the American diet has decreased its fat content, and replaced it with processed sugars and sweeteners yet the rates of obesity, heart disease and diabetes have sky-rocketed.  Don't believe me?  Research for yourself (and let me know what you find out).

What can you do about it?

My research has shown that there are 3 things you can do immediately to help lower the inflammation in your body:

1. Stop smoking. Smoking causes inflammation in the body (due to the inhaled toxins) and hardens the arteries.  Research shows you can reverse all of the damaging effects smoking causes within 5-10 years.

2. Change your diet.  Minimize the processed foods in your diet, eat fruits, nuts and vegetables regularly.  Researchers have shown that people who stick with a Mediterranean-style diet—based on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and olive oil—can lower their levels of inflammation.   This may not correlate with your current diet around the firehouse but we (as a firefighting community) need to change our culture.  (You can get my FREE Guide "The SOPs to Eating Lean in the Firehouse" by clicking HERE).  You can also decrease inflammation by  reducing saturated fat and trans fats and eating more foods rich in alpha-linolenic acid—like flaxseed, walnuts, and canola oil—and omega-3 fats.   Personally, my father has decreased his cholesterol, increased his energy and lost weight by adding a krill oil supplement.  You can read about krill oil HERE.

3. Get active.  Exercise is a great way to lower inflammation without any side effects associated with medications.  Aim for five days a week, for guidelines check out the 28-day FireRescueFitness Quickstart Workout (you can get it for FREE Here). 

For more great Firefighter Fitness Information check out www.FireRescueFitness.com

Additional Resources

Hansson, G. K. (April 21, 2005).  Inflammation, Atherosclerosis, and Coronary Artery    Disease.  N Engl J Med retrieved April 16, 2010 from: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra043430

Kotz, D. (November 11, 2008). 6 Ways to Reduce Inflammation—Without a Statin or a Heart Test. Retrieved on April 17th, 2012 from: http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/heart/articles/2008/11/11/6-ways-to-reduce-inflammation--without-a-statin-or-a-heart-test


Lundell, D. (March, 2012).  Heart Surgeon Speaks Out On What Really Causes Heart Disease.  PreventDisease.com.  Retrieved April 18th, 2010 from: http://www.sott.net/articles/show/242516-Heart-Surgeon-Speaks-Out-On-What-Really-Causes-Heart-Disease


Ross R. (1999).  Atherosclerosis - An inflammatory disease. N Engl J Med. 240: p115-126.

Walsh, B. (December, 2011).  Video Presentation (Click here to watch video).

Controlling Cholesterol in Firefighters

High Cholesterol...

Choose healthy carbohydrates, lower your cholesterol.

Cholesterol comes from eating too many eggs, bacon, and other animal foods high in fat and cholesterol, right? Not always. First off, cholesterol works as a building block for all the cells in the body, as well as your body's repair mechanism for damaged cells, especially the ones in your blood vessels and digestive tract. So when you consume foods that are high in additives, preservatives, colorings, and other toxic processes it leads to damaged cells. Often times the foods that cause this damage to your cells are your refined and processed carbohydrates. So your body's response to damaged cells is to release more cholesterol into the blood stream to repair them!

Can stress, family history, alcohol consumption and lack of exercise lead to high cholesterol? Absolutely.

But in the end, what may be the main reason for your elevated cholesterol level? An excess consumption of low quality carbohydrates.  To learn more about good quality carbohydrates, sign-up for your FREE copy of The SOP's to Eating Lean in the Firehouse.

TRIVIA: Since Vegans often times have 80% of their calories coming from some type of carbohydrate, now you know how they can still have high cholesterol without consuming animal meats high in fats!

Remember, You are a FireRescue Athlete, you must fuel your body correctly to be able to efficiently and effectively perform your job. 

"Train like an athlete, fuel your body like an athlete."

Firefighter Fitness- Combating the Obesity Epidemic in Firefighters

This is scary...We need to change.

Rates of overweight and obese individuals in the fire service are higher than those found in the general public, according to a new study.

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Researchers looked at the body composition of both career and volunteer firefighters across the nation, with overweight and obesity rates ranging from 73 percent to 88 percent.  About two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese on a general, national level.   The research demonstrates that a large percentage of firefighters do not meet minimal standards of physical fitness, according to the study conducted by the NVFC National Volunteer Fire Council-- "Addressing the Epidemic of Obesity in the United States Fire Service" looks at the impact of obesity, the scope of obesity in the fire service, and why obesity has become an epidemic.

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The report also adds that "as firefighters gain more weight, research has found that cardio respiratory fitness plummets and the risk of cardiovascular disease increases."  "There is solid evidence that suggests physical fitness is related to job performance and the performance of simulated firefighting tasks (e.g., hose and ladder carry, donning SCBA, climbing three flights of stairs, rescue and body drag, etc.). "The fact that so many firefighters are not fit is troubling. This situation may be at least partially due to lack of agreement over fitness and body composition standards in the fire service and the fact that few departments engage in regular monitoring of body composition and physical fitness in their firefighters."

The research found that occupational factors may place firefighters at high risk for weight gain, including:

• Shift work

• Sleep disruption
• Unhealthy eating patterns in the firehouse
• The absence of fitness standards for firefighters

This report should urge everyone from national fire service leadership, to department chiefs, to individual firefighters to think creatively and join in efforts to reverse the negative trends of unhealthy body weight and poor physical fitness.  Now is the time to begin a national conversation regarding obesity in the fire service.

We as Firefighters, EMTs, and Paramedic's need to start changing our unhealthy culture around the firehouse.  Instead of grabbing a sugary treat like a cookie or cake, we need to reach for something healthy.  We as FireRescue Athletes must also start to act like athletes and remember that food is a fuel that allows us to more efficiently and SAFELY perform our duties.

Among the recommendations the report makes for the fire service to combat obesity and increase fitness are:
• Fire departments should consider conducting annual fitness assessments.
• Minimal fitness recommendations for all firefighters should be a priority.
• An effective fitness program can be implemented by fire departments at minimal cost and using existing facilities.

Take the first step toward reducing your chances of heart attack, back injury/ strain and get into the best shape of your life by JOINING the FireRescue Athlete Nation and starting the FREE FRF 28-day Quickstart Workout program which includes the SOP's to Lean Eating in the Firehouse. 

"The time for action is now. It's never too late to do something."  -Carl Sandburg
 
Reference

National Volunteer Fire Council. (2011).  Addressing the Epidemic of Obesity in the United States Fire Service--A Report Prepared for the National Volunteer Fire Council.  Retrieved February 14th, 2011 from:   http://www.nvfc.org/files/documents/Obesity_Study.pdf   

The Best Core Exercise for Firefighters, EMTs and Paramedics...

As a trainer (and as a firefighter in the workout room), I hear people saying, I want “abs” I want to help people achieve this. However, I frequently see people performing the least productive exercise for their abs. This is the crunch performed while lying down on a mat with the head and neck supported. This will not get you results. If you want to see the abs you feel during this exercise, change your diet! This is another topic. You cannot spot reduce.

The plank, for a modiefied (easier) version start on your knees

The crunch exercise will shorten and strengthen your rectus abdominus (six pack muscles) and obliques (especially if you twist) from a position that is useless for the majority of daily and sporting activities. Any exercise doesn’t totally isolate one muscle and has consequences for other muscles. The crunch exercise leaves you with weak neck muscles and shortened muscles of inspiration (breathing). You’re thinking, so what? I’m thinking poor posture that doesn’t look good, especially as one ages, greater tendencies for muscle tension headaches and whiplash due to an imbalance of torso strength to neck strength, and poor breathing.

So now you’re thinking but I read about doing crunch exercises in my favorite health or fitness magazine and it said it would strengthen my abs. It does, but it doesn’t teach them to perform. If you eat right, you will have a “dumb” beautiful muscle. But, your body knows nothing of muscles, only movements. This too is another topic. We all have a nervous system that communicates with our muscular system.

Our “abs”, or our torso (containing many muscles and nerve connections from the spinal cord) performs many functions. It flexes forward and back, to the side, as well as rotates or twists (especially on the fire ground and rescue scene), and primarily stabilizes the spine to provide an anchor for our limbs to produce force and hold us up against the forces of gravity. It does one or more of these functions simultaneously with the input from our nervous system. These ideas relate to the body knowing movements rather than muscles. Rarely, in daily activities or sport do the abs repeatedly flex a couple of inches off a flat surface. Therefore, it makes a lot of sense to teach the “abs” to stabilize rather than flex from the floor!

The “abs”, torso, or the “core” is a complex area to train. Yet, there are many exercises that can effectively train this area in a safe and functional manner. One of these exercises is the prone plank.  This exercise (or a version of it) should be a staple in every firefighters, EMTs and Paramedics workout program. See how long you can hold the "correct" position--start with 30 seconds and work your way longer.

To perform the prone plank rest on your forearms or hold yourself up in a push-up position with your toes pulled up towards your shins and hold for as long as you can while maintaining the natural curves of your spine. The trick is not to allow your hips to either sag, shift, or twist to any side. Also, keep your neck in alignment. A common error during this exercise is letting the head drop towards the floor. This exercise teaches the abs to stabilize by performing an isometric (without movement) contraction that will enhance the posture, provide a lean elongated looking torso, and a foundation of strength for all sporting or daily movements.

Other forms of the Plank:

Performing the plank on a stability ball  makes the core and shoulders work harder

To add more challenge to the core you can  add "pulses" by lifting the hips. This exercise can be performed in reps instead of a static hold.  Give it a try

Heres a video to demonstrate the Plank with pulses.

This movement along with other core movements should be a part of your workout program...don't have one, you can get one Here for FREE.

Firefighter Fitness and Metabolism ... Part 2

How to Make Your Body Burn More Calories.

Here is the low down on weight gain/loss. 
Metabolic Rate is the rate at which the body burns up calories. A body that consumes 2500 calories a day, and burns 2500 calories a day will stay at the same weight. A body consuming 2500 calories daily but burning only 2000 will gain weight at the rate of about 1lb a week.

This may explain why that ‘lucky’ person across the table from you does not get fat from all that junk food; they consume less calories than they burn.

You can do quite a lot to speed up your metabolism – the secret of burning calories lies in knowing what determines your metabolic rate and what you can do to influence it.

1) Basal Metabolic Rate (Metabolism or BMR) — This is the amount of calories you burn just by being alive – even when you are lying down, doing nothing. BMR accounts for approximately 60% of the calories burned for an average person.

2) Burning Calories with Activity- This is the energy used during movement – from lifting your arm to driving your car to cleaning the windows. This accounts for approximately 30% of the calories burned by an average person.

3) Dietary Thermogenesis — The ‘thermogenic effect’ described as meal- (induced heat production – the calories burned in the process of eating, digesting, absorbing and using food.


You can influence all these factors, and speed up your rate of burning calories using some, or all, of the following tactics:

1) Build Muscle—Increase the amount of muscle in your body. For every extra pound of muscle you put on, your body uses around 50 extra calories a day. In a recent study, researchers found that regular weight training boosts basal metabolic rate by about 15%. This is because muscle is ‘metabolically active’ and burns more calories than other body tissue even when you’re not moving. If you need help getting on track with a fitness program, you can download my FREE 28-page FireRescue Fitness Quickstart Program here.  

2) Move More-Although the average person burns around 30% of calories through daily activity, many sedentary people burn around 15%. Simply being aware of this fact – and taking every opportunity to move can make quite a dramatic difference in the amount of calories you burn. Aerobic exercise should also be performed regularly not only to burn calories but also to work the heart.  Try this, wear a pedometer around the station, see if you can get above 5000 steps in a day.

In addition to the actual amount of calories burned during exercise – studies have shown that after sustained, high-intensity exercise (like that in the 28-page FRF Quickstart Program) you burn more calories for several hours. Try the program here.

3) Eat Smaller and Often-There is some evidence to suggest that eating small, regular meals will keep your metabolism going faster than larger, less frequent meals. There are two reasons why meal frequency may affect your metabolism. First, levels of thyroid hormones begin to drop within hours of eating a meal, and metabolism slows. Second, it may be that the thermogenic effect of eating several small meals is slightly higher than eating the same amount of calories all at once.  Provided your small meals don’t degenerate into quick-fix, high fat, high sugar snacks, eating little and often can also help to control hunger and make you less likely to binge.

To find out how many calories you are burning each day, and how many you are eating - try to log your food. There are plenty of websites that allow you free access to calorie databases. All you need to do is create a profile. I have used www.Fitday.com which is a free website that has some great options to help you chart your daily progress.  You can also download many free apps on your phone.  Try to log a couple of days, I think you would be surprised at what you find out about how many calories your consuming.

Firefighter Fitness and Metabolism

What is Metabolism?

You may often here around the firehouse someone say "I have a slow metabolism."  Usually these individuals are a little on the larger size and often like to joke about their size.  Unfortunately these people are at a very high risk to keep the trend of heart related Firefighter fatalities in tact.  I'm not saying that larger individuals cannot perform the job, in most cases they are great firefighters.  What I am saying is that there is more to the picture than a "slow metabolism."

There are a large number of individuals that believe the reason they are overweight has nothing to do with their appetite, and/or level of activity. They assume it is an inherent problem with their “metabolism”. So today I wanted to clear the air around the firehouse (and other houses) about what metabolism really is.

Taber’s Medical Dictionary defines Metabolism as: The sum of all the physical and chemical changes that take place within an organism; all energy and material transformations that occur within living cells.

My definition: The bodies use of nutrients and oxygen to produce energy; measured in calories.

What is RMR or BMR?

BMR or RMR is the number of calories the body needs to maintain basic bodily function. This represents 55-60% of a person’s metabolism. The other 30-40% is the energy cost of being active and the remaining 5-10% of Metabolism is Thermo-genesis, which is the body’s response to changes in the environmental temperature.

Metabolism varies between individuals due to:

• Body Composition (Fat vs. Muscle)

• Body Weight

• Age

• Gender

Metabolism can and will change as a result of weight loss, caloric restriction, change in body composition (body fat) and exercise. When one loses weight their metabolism will typically decrease. Remember one of the variables in metabolism is weight. The engine (your body’s vital organs) must work harder for a heavier individual.

Aerobic exercise burns calories but does not have a long-standing effect on metabolism; it is temporary. Lean body mass (muscle) is metabolically more active even at rest. Please note this is not saying that aerobic activity is unnecessary in the process of weight management. In fact, research now shows that the combination of resistance training (building muscle) and aerobic exercise (burning calories) is the most effective means for losing weight.

This is as simple as it gets:

FOOD INPUT (calories) is either  used as energy or stored as fat.

The more active you are the more your food will be used as energy, not stored as fat. Point being, get active and stay active. If you aren't currently following a fitness program I recommend trying the FireRescue Fitness 28-day Quickstart Progrm, you can get it here for FREE.

“ And what is man without energy? Nothing- nothing at all.” – Mark Twain

Core Training for Firefighters, EMTs and Paramedics

          FireRescue athletes are at a very high risk of back injury as a matter of fact almost 50% of all firefighters will experience some type of back injury during their career.  Effective core training brings about a proactive approach to protecting your body and joints (especially your back) from injury. Core strength consists of hip, shoulder, and trunk stability. It is the foundation of efficient movement and vital to optimizing performance and your career as a FireRescue athlete.

          When should we work our "core" and how often.   In my FREE 28-day Quickstart program I recommend performing your core  routine after an active warm-up.  This should occur towards the beginning of the workout...Why?  Because its easier to skip if you leave it to the end of the workout.  I know, I've been there, you do your strength training, maybe a little cardio then 'promise" that you would do some core exercises at home (or the next day).  

The Video below demonstrates 4 basic core movements that all Firefighters, EMTs and Paramedics should be able to do (or incorporate) into their workout.  Give them a try.