10 Fitness Tips for the Fire Rescue Athlete

Every year around this time I am asked for the "best" fitness tips to make the new year a healthy one.  Over the years this list has changed and evolved but for the most part if you are a Fire Rescue Athlete you need to be doing these 10 things.

10 Fit Tips for the Fire Rescue Athlete

Use these "Tips" to make 2013 a Fit, Healthy and Lean Year.

1.           Set a goal- Set a goal, write it down, make it specific, tie an emotional reason to the goal and give it a deadline.  The goal can be as easy as "working out every shift" or losing 10 pounds of fat.  

2.           Live YOUR goal- Believe that you can and will achieve your goal.  Discover the hurdles that have been restricting you of your goal…..forget them, and GO LIKE HECK.  Don't be afraid to share your goal with your crew and loved ones, they can help you get there.

3.           Drink water, lots of water- Water is the essential element our body needs for basically every metabolic process.  Try to consume half your body weight in ounces.  So if you weigh 180 pounds, try to get 90 ounces of water.

4.           Eat often- Eat 5-6 meals per day.  Utilize smaller meals and snacks to help keep your metabolism and muscle building going throughout the day.  Space the meals every 3 or 4 hours.  Eating smaller meals boosts metabolism, makes you feel satiated and helps build lean muscle.  This step takes some planning, especially if you have a busy shift, try to pack some nuts or fruit in case the day gets busy.

5.           Get a good ratio of “real” nutrients- Try to eat a protein and a good low GI (Glycemic Index) carbohydrate for each of your 5-6 meals.   You also want to have 2 servings of healthy fats each day or eat fish 3 times per week.  The good combination of protein, low GI carbohydrate and fat will help your body’s immune system and help boost metabolism and build muscle.  To simplyfy this step even more think of it like this, if it has only one ingredient.....you can eat it.  Try to eat as many natural foods as possible, fruits, vegtables, meats and nuts

6.           Have a Pre- and Post-workout meal-   Remember proper pre- and post-workout eating routines can greatly enhance both the intensity and stamina during the workout and the recovery after. Utilize shakes and snacks for pre- and post-workout nutrition.  You never want your body to be in a fasted state, especially when you workout.  You especially want to make sure you get the proper nutrients to your body immediately following.  This is especially important for the fire rescue athlete, you never know when your going to be "called"  so be ready.

7.           Take control of your nutrition- The number one reason people don’t eat properly and sabotage their fitness programs is because of poor planning.   Be an educated shopper; read labels and plan ahead.  You should know what makes up the food you put in your mouth.  Utilize a calorie calculator to figure your energy requirements and log your food once in a while to insure you are eating the right amounts.  Make better choices and be a better shopper.  Most of the foods that are acceptable are found on the outer edge of your grocery store.  Stick to the outsides…and prepare ahead of time.  Oh yeah, take a day off too.

8.           Warm-up and work your Core properly- You need to thoroughly warm-up and perform core exercises 3 times per week before resistance training.  The warm-ups will increase your flexibility and prepare the body for the workout.  The core exercises will help prevent injury and “yes,” give you definition in the mid-section. 

9.           Perform short, effective, full body strength workouts- To build a strong and lean body you need to strength train consistently and efficiently.   To work efficiently, you must incorporate exercises that challenge the entire body and rest intervals that challenge the heart.  Strength training MUST be performed with proper form and with a moderate lifting tempo.

10.             Burn fat with cardio intervals- The key to cardio burst (interval) training versus traditional “cardio” is that it maximizes your effort and minimizes your time.  Interval training can boost metabolism, not just for the duration of the exercise, but for the entire day.  Unlike traditional cardio workouts, cardio bursts focus on quality not quantity.  No need for long, boring bouts of cardio!  Intervals also mimic the work on the fireground so get creative with them.

Bonus #11, Join the Fire Rescue Fitness Nation and get FREE workouts and fitness tips created to meet the demands of the Fire Rescue Athlete.  Join by clicking HERE.

Cardio Workouts for Firefighters

Cardiovascular fitness is obviously a very important concern for the fire rescue athlete (firefighters, paramedics and EMTs).  Lately I've been researching, creating then performing a lot of 10-minute interval overhauls and wanted to share them with you today.  You can do one of these separately after a strength workout or combine all three for a good cardiovascular workout.  These only take 10-minutes but you sweat (and burn calories) a lot longer than that.  Give these a try.

1.  The Uphill Grind.  This is a great treadmill interval, if your just getting started with a fitness program (click HERE to get the FRF 28-day Quickstart Program) you want to decrease the speed and incline to a level that is a little more obtainable.

Start minutes 0-2 with a warm-up at 3.5mph and 3.5% incline
next 30 seconds crank it up to 8.0 mph at 8.0% incline
rest 30 seconds (I stand on the side rails of the treadmill)
repeat 7 more times for a total of 10 minutes

**My goal is to be able to perform this interval with a weighted vest on....eventually.

2. Bottle Shock.  This purpose of this interval is to help you control you breathing, like you were on air.  You need to find area in your gym or firehouse where you can sprint for 10 yards.  Once you've covered the distance, pause just long enough to inhale and exhale once through you nose.  Sprint back and pause, this time inhaling and exhaling twice through your nose.  Continue with the drill- breathing normally as you sprint and adding an additional nose inhalation and exhalation when you pause--until you can no longer breathe through your nose.  At that point, rest 30 seconds then start over.  Continue the exercise for 10 minutes total.  You will be surprised how much more effort it takes to focus on your breathing.

3. The Cardio Pyramid.  You can substitute any exercise you like as long as it gets your heart going.  Personally, I like to do the first pyramid with jump rope, the second with mountain climbers and the third with stairs.  Here is how it works, do as many reps as you can in 10 seconds then rest for an equal amount of time.  Next do as many reps as you can in 20 seconds then rest 20 seconds.  Then do 30 seconds of rest followed by 30 seconds of rest.  Now work your way back down the pyramid with 20 seconds then 10.  Once you finish the final 10 seconds rest, add another 30 seconds of rest and repeat again with the same exercise or a different one.  You will perform a total of 3 pyramids (10, 10, 20, 20, 30, 30, 20, 20, 10, 10) with 30 seconds in between them for a total of 10 minutes.  ENJOY this one.

Give these a try, please leave some comments about how you LOVE or HATE these intervals.

Stay Safe and Healthy,
A. Zamzow

Cardiovascular Training for Firefighters, EMTs and Paramedics (FireRescue Athletes)

I heard someone once say running long and slow teaches your body one thing, how to run slow. If that's all you're after, you can stop reading; I don't want you to be late for your water aerobics class.  But in our profession you need to move quickly and with purpose, I’m not saying that long and slow cardio is totally worthless, I’m saying it has its place.  In fact, I recommend performing a lower intensity, longer cardio workout at least once a week to flush the muscles.  But, what I am talking about here is training your body and your heart to function under higher intensity.   The cardio intervals not only prepare you for the fire ground but also blast away a lot of calories and body fat (as an added bonus).

The purpose of any firefighter’s cardiovascular program is to help them work more efficiently under the stresses encountered every day on the job, be it on the fire or rescue ground.  Intervals raise our maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max), which, simply put, is the greatest amount of oxygen our bodies can use during maximum aerobic effort. Firefighters who can work longer before they reach their VO2 max will be able to accomplish more on the fire ground.   Intervals also help the body to more efficiently flush muscles of lactic acid.  We develop a build-up of lactic acid and hydrogen ions that are associated with the burning sensation we feel in our muscles when under heavy physical stress. It has been shown that trained individuals will clear lactate faster than those who aren’t trained and will therefore feel less pain when undergoing physical exertion. The bottom line: We want to build a cardiovascular training program that enables us to work longer and harder with less physical pain when it really counts.

So what are intervals? In their simplest form, they're short bursts of high intensity exercise separated by periods of lower intensity effort. Keep in mind; it's not just high intensity training. Running a PR for a 5K is great, but not an interval workout. You need those lower intensity periods as well, not just sustained effort.  Without the recuperation of the low periods you'll never have the ability to make the tough parts as high intensity as they need to be. It's those high intensity periods that bring the results.   

Here's an example of a interval workout that you can perform on a stepmill or StairMaster:

5 minute warm-up at 60 steps/ minute

1 minute at 90 (or 100) steps/ minute

1 minute at 60 steps/ minute 

(repeat this 9 more times for a total of 20 minutes)

5 minute cool-down at 50-60 steps/ minute

5 minute stretch and foam roll

** For a more challenging workout make the work intervals 90 seconds and the rest intervals 30 seconds.  You can also perform this workout with a weighted vest and/or SCBA on to really challenge yourself.

ENJOY and as always please give me some feedback and comments.

For more interval idease please download my FREE 28-day FireRescue Fitness Quickstart Program and Lean Eating in the Firehouse Guide