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. (Get eating and workout guidelines 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, at least.

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).

Firefighter fitness- Does P90X Measure Up? The Cons

A few days ago I posted on the pros of the P90X fitness program for firefighter fitness.  I recieved some great emails (please keep them coming) from firefighters that have used P90X, some with success some without.  The purpose of these posts is to not tell you wether P90X is the "best" program for firefighter fitness (shortly, I will post on this) but to give you the pros and cons so you can make an educated decision if its right for you.  So, now that you know some of the pros, let's look at the cons of P90X.

--Time Investment: The schedule requires at least 60 minutes a day for 6-7 days each week. Weight and abdominal workouts are 75 minutes combined. The yoga workout lasts 92 minutes.

--Teaching Technique- The videos show people performing the exercises but doesn't spend a lot of time actually teaching the proper form. This is especially a problem because many of the exercises include lower-body movements (such as squats, dead lifts and lunges) that can be especially dangerous if they're not done properly.

--Risk of Injury: This workout is extreme with plenty of warnings given at the beginning of each video. Tony repeatedly instructs users to "bring it!" Especially determined individuals with type A personalities are more prone to “bring it” too far to the point of injury. Increase resistance and reps gradually to reduce the risk of injury, and take care to use proper form.

--Sales Pitches- Beware of plugs for P90X nutritional supplements, says Comana. "Regardless of how safe they think their dietary programs and products are, people need to recognize that supplements are not regulated by the FDA." Lastly, at the end of some (if not all) of the videos, the parent company likes to slip in advertisements for their back-end nutritional products. Pathetic. Tony's even a little guilty of going a bit over the line "hawking" these products during the video. I came to work out guys - not to be pitched on something.


--Not for everyone-- If you have a previous injury or are imbalanced in anyway, this program may not be for you. There are some movements that can potentially lead to overuse injuries (shoulder and knee tendinitis, low back pain).


--The speed of the workouts-- P90X workouts follow a specific format which means you have to keep up with the videos. while this insures a good workout it can sometimes lead to improper form and "rushed" reps along with an overwhelming feeling of "trying to keep up."


--While I like Tony's personality, I can see why he might get on some people's nerves. He does talk a lot. I guess this works out since there are other people I the videos that appear to be afraid to talk.


--The Nutrition guide-- he nutrition guide was just about as helpful as the fitness book. This plan I am sure would help me lose weight - but I am not going to follow it. I'm sure I would lose weight if I ate berries and oats for the rest of my life, but it doesn't mean I want to. Again, the design of the book is nice; I just see a lot of people wanting to follow this plan.

--Forget About Your “Beach Muscles”--The P90X program refers to the shoulders and arms as your “beach muscles” which is something that I’m sure will motivate many people. However, Firefighters, EMTs and paramedics need to have more than beach muscles. Here lies another problem, some of the workouts focus on particular muscle groups instead of full body exercise. These types of workouts don't seem to match the demands of our job, almost every movement we do on the fireground or ems scend requires compound full body functional movement.


--Muscle Confusion doesn't necessaryly mean muscle adaptation-- It’s difficult to make significant gains in strength without eventually increasing exercise resistance beyond body weight. Although the P90X program does suggest using dumbbells for some exercises, even this can be limiting unless one buys a complete set which can be quite expensive and take up a lot of space. The plyometrics workout is hard on the knees and joints, so exercise caution with this workout and modify as necessary

This is not an all-encompassing list of the cons of the program, I know that I missed some. I'm not going to get into whether or not I find it valuable for all firefighters...that post will come shortly. For now, absorb these cons (and pros) and of course make some comments. I welcome all comments and emails with open arms and an open mind.


Stay safe and remember to "Train like a life depends on it."

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Firefighter Fitness-- Does P90X Measure Up?

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" don't we?  

The purpose of this blog post today is not to give my thoughts on whether or not P90X is right for firefighters (that will come on another blog post...stay tuned).  Today's blog will list the pros (cons to come soon) of P90X (just like I did with CrossFit) to help you decide for yourself if P90X measures up.

Let's take a look at the pros of P90X

--Use it anywhere - You can easily use this system at home or the firehouse.  All you need is a DVD player, some weights and a little room to move.  

--Great Workouts-- The P90x workouts are challenging, regardless of your level of fitness.  If you follow the program you will definitely get leaner and more cardiovascularly fit.

--Emphasis on Proper form - One mistake that many people make when trying to get into shape is not using the proper form with their workout exercises. With this program, you will easily be able to maintain the proper form just by using the videos and doing exactly what they ask you to do for the exercises.

--Energetic Workouts-- Tony Horton is a fun, energetic trainer that seems to keep you motivated and focused during the training sessions.  He keeps you engaged which helps with adherence to the program.

--Workout Format-  The workouts always start out with a quick warm up and stretch and finish with a cool down.  Even if you dislike stretching, the videos somehow make stretching not so painfully boring. 

--Complete workout system - If you purchase the entire system, you will get a complete system that is designed to workout your entire body and not just certain areas. The program includes workout logs, tips and a nutritional program.   All this is included tools help get results, especially the nutritional plan, its easy to follow and provides menus and guides.

--The program itself seems to be fairly sound from a physiological point of view and progresses at a good pace to prevent injuries.

--P90X provides a wide variety of workouts which prevents boredom, boosts metabolism and increases muscular strength and endurance through strategic muscle confusion. 

If you follow the workout you will see an improvement in your level of fitness.  Does it measure up to be a great fit for firefighters?  Check back soon to see the cons of P90X and please leave your experiences with P90X.

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Firefighter Fitness Motivation

As FireRescue Athletes we must remember that our level of fitness may save a life...perhaps even our own.  This should be motivation enough to stay in top shape and continue to strive to stay "fit for duty" but sometimes we may need more.  Today's post is all about motivation (actually I've got some great requests to create more motivational posts).  What motivates you?

Fun Runs, Tough Mudder, and Triathlons
The fitness plateau, chances are that if you have worked out regularly then you've probably experienced one.  A plateau is a point where you don't seem to be making any progress...regardless of what you do.   At one point during my personal trainer days, I was training over 100 people (not every day but through out the week).   One of the challenges of training that many people was finding something to motivate them and to keep them from hitting the dreaded plateau.  The best way that I found was to encourage them to join a fun run (5k, 10k, etc) or to enter a triathlon.  We would then plan their training to prepare them for the event. 

As a firefighter it is imperative that you find a way to get over the dreaded plateau, a charity run, triathlon or some type of competition may be just the thing to help you get on track (and to help a worthy cause in the community). 

One particular firefighter is a big source of motivation for me.  His name is Rob Verhelst (www.FiremanRob.com) and he is attempting to break the World Record for most Ironman distance triathlons in one year. Now Rob is not doing this just for his health but to raise awareness and funds for the Code 3 for a Cure Foundation.   Code 3 for a Cure Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit public charity organization that supports firefighters diagnosed with cancer, encourages early cancer screenings among firefighters and the public, and honors and remembers firefighters who have lost their lives to cancer. A main goal of the Foundation is to provide financial relief to firefighters diagnosed with cancer who are facing a financial hardship. For more information about Code 3 for a Cure, visit their website: www.code3foracure.org.  I am honored to call Rob a friend, you can follow his journey and learn more about his cause at www.FiremanRob.com.



Not all of us need to compete in Ironman Triathlons to stay in-shape but the main point is to find something that motivates you and to stick to it.  Remember we as firefighters need to:  "Train Like a Life Depends on it."


Here is a clip of Rob finishing the 2011 Ironman Wisconsin