Krill Oil vs. Fish Oil

KNOW ANYONE ON CHOLESTEROL LOWERING MEDICATIONS?

Most firefighters know about the correclation between heart disease and on-duty deanths (if not read about it here).  Often times firefighters and other individuals taking prescription medications can become depleted of important nutrients in the body. In the case of Statin medications (Lipitor, Crestor, Zocor, Pravachol, etc) which help to lower LDL levels in the body, can also deplete the body of an important element called Co-Enzyme Q-10. A deficiency in Co-Q 10 can lead to heart failure because it's an enzyme that provides energy to the heart. Other studies have shown that a body deficient on Co-Q-10 can lead to the inflammation of your tendons and ligaments, a decrease in collagen and elastin, as well as a weakening of other muscle tissues throughout the body. Co-Enzyme Q-10 can be found in supplement form and anywhere between 200-1000mg is recommended. Ask your doctor if this is something that applies to you!

On a similar note, I've been doing a lot of research on fish oil vs. kril oil. I've found that fish oils (in a lot of cases) miss the boat (no pun intended) and they usually come with the dreaded "fish burp." I think that krill oil is one of the best sources of Essential Fatty Acids.

Krill Oil may also:

Help protect your heart
Improve your memory
Strengthen your immune system
Minimize the damage caused by free radicals
Reduce joint pain and PMS symptoms
Aid the fat loss process

CLICK HERE to check out what I think is a great way to naturally lower cholesterol and hopefully prevent you from being another Firefighter statistic.

PS - Again, there are all sorts of lousy supplements on the market. But a solid Krill Oil product is NOT one of them. It's an extremely powerful nutritional product with extraordinary benefits. For the best quality Krill Oil get Prograde Nutrition's EFA Icon
PPS - Prograde also includes the research studies on Krill Oil. Just click on one of the links above to check those out. You'll find them at the bottom of the page.

PPPS - My Dad has been taking the krill oil for about 8 weeks and has noticed a difference in his energy and lowered his cholesterol.

Stay Safe and Healthy,
A. Zamzow

Firefighter Fitness Exercise Upgrade- DB Chest Press

Fire Rescue Athletes as asked to work in various unstable environments.  Firefighters, Paramedics and EMTs are often times lifting and moving heavy loads in very awkward positions.  In order to prepare for these scenarios fire rescue athletes must focus their workouts on training not only on and in stable positions but unstable as well.  Here is a great exercise upgrade to engage more stabilizing and core muscles.

Please note that this exercise requires a lot of core strength and shoulder stability, lower your weights until you feel comfortable with the exercise. 

Please check out www.FireRescueFitness.com for more firefighter fitness exercise upgrades.

Firefighter Fitness- Hill Training to Increase VO2 Max

VO2max is a measure of the maximum rate at which an athlete's body is able to consume oxygen when performing a specific activity, adjusted for body weight.   This is a very important for the fire rescue athlete, a higher VO2 max means that the firefighter can do more work with less oxygen.  This comes in extremely helpful when doing fire operations (on air) of course.  VO2 max can be calculated many ways, the easiest is to use a treadmill or track (read more about calculating VO2 max by clicking here.)

From a fire rescue fitness program perspective, the program should not only focus on sstrength and flexibility but also on increasing VO2 max.  This brings me to today's topic.  Last year I personally focused on training for the Ironman, which is a very endurance based event, even though I completed the event (you can read about my journey here) I still felt that I was lacking recovery on the fire ground. This year I have focused on increasing my VO2 max by performing more intervals and by hill training.
There are two major factors that contribute to a high VO2max. One is a strong oxygen transport system, which includes a powerful heart, hemoglobin-packed blood, high blood volume, high capillary density in the muscles, and high mitochondrial density within the muscle cells. The other is speed, or the capacity to contract a large number of muscle fibers simultaneously, as the more muscle tissue is active at any given moment, the more oxygen the muscles demand.  Running up hills helps to improve both of these factors.
Close to the firehouse we have a pretty big and steep hill, along with my regular interval training, I've been trying to run the hill for at least one session each week.  

Hill Intervals



Try to find a hill that takes anywhere from 20 to 90 seconds to get to the top.  Because running hills can be very stressful on the body and joints you want to make sure to warm-up properly. 
Before I run the hills I perform this warm-up:
Walk for 5 minutes around the park (including one walk to the top of the hill and zig-zag down). 
Perform 10 air squats (slowly)
10 overhead to ground chops
10 walking quad stretches

Head for the hill
If your new to running hills, start slowly, try to jog up slowly and gradually increase your speeds. 

My workout today was to run up the hill (about 40 seconds) then zig-zag back down to catch my breath 5 x for a total workout of  20 minutes.  My goal is to increase one hill each week.
Give it a try and let me know what you think.  I can tell you from experience it will be a love/ hate relationship.
Stay safe and healthy,
A. Zamzow

How Do You Define Firefighter Fit?

Are You Firefighter Fit?

Most people, when asked this question, will normally think about how much weight they can lift or if the are overweight or not.  I argue that being "firefighter fit (fire rescue fit) is much more than that.  You may be able to lift heavy weights but that doesn't necessarily mean that you are that strong.  When talking about Firefighter fitness you are only as strong as your "weakest" part.  You see true strength comes in the form of functional fitness, fitness that can be applied and used in fireground situations, not just in a gym.

When you carry the saw from the truck to the scene or lift a patient into the ambulance you use many muscle groups which have to work together to achieve the job at hand. The Fire Rescue athletes' body must work as one unit, integrating all the muscles together.  Weight training in its conventional form (on machines), isolates muscle groups, and it does not teach the muscles it isolates to work with each other.

Functional exercises focus on building a body capable of performing real life movements in real life positions, whereas weight training on machines in a gym, teaches the body to perform only in positions when posture is made ideal by the machine. 

Machine training is not the same as functional training.   We see this in the fire industry all the time,  someone reaches for something or bends the wrong way and "bang," throws their back out.  Now there are cases where we lift heavy things in awkward positions and "yes" those situations have a high incidence of injury.  What I'm talking about are the situations where someone is reaching for something light and happens to "tweak" their back or shoulder.  In this situation, the "tweak" can be attributed to poor core strength and a lack of flexibility. When we perform everyday movements, such as carrying equipment or reaching over a patient, our body calls into play many more muscles than would be used on a gym machine. When we lean over or reach to lift the equipment, we use the stabilising muscles, which include the core muscles of the abdomen and secondary muscles to keep our balance so we don’t fall over.

We all know that firefighting is a physical job, we need to be strong, have good muscular endurance, great core and grip strength and must be able to recover quickly.  The challenge that we (as fire rescue athletes) face is trying to identify how to functionally test fire rescue athletes?  There are so many components of the body that must work efficiently in order to do the everyday tasks of the Fire Rescue Athlete.  This is the purpose of today's blog post.  How do you define firefighter fit?  What tests do you think are good measures for our job?

I have been doing a ton of research on this topic and have some guidelines and assessments that may work which I will post about soon.  For now, what I really need is some input on this topic, let me know what you think.  Please leave comments or email me.

Stay Safe,
A. Zamzow

PS- If your looking for a great firefighter workout program and some nutritional guidance please join my FireRescue Fitness Email list and get my 28-day Quickstart Workout Program and the SOP's to Eating Lean in the Firehouse.  Click here to get them FREE.

The Best Nutrition Advice for Firefighters

Today I wanted to piggy-back on my post about inflammation and heart disease (keep the comments and emails coming).  I know that in health and fitness sometimes the best results are obtained from the simplest advice.  So here goes, in my opinion the absolute best thing you can do to lose weight, get healthy, or live a life full of energy is to eat by this ONE RULE:

“Only eat whole foods with ONE ingredient.”

That's it.  The reason why one ingredient whole foods are the best for you is that they contain zero processing and zero artificial ingredients that have been linked to increasing inflammation. One of these common ingredients is high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).   HFCS is a man-made sweetener that is 20 times sweeter than sucrose (table sugar). It is mainly found in soft drinks and fruit juices. Americans as of 2001 were ingesting on averaging 63 pounds of HFCS per year!  The health implications to consuming HFCS are that it has been shown to raise triglyceride levels,which are a precursor to heart disease. Elevated triglyceride levels are related to high insulin levels which promotes fat storage, inflammation and is a precursor to Type II Diabetes.  Obviously you want to avoid HFCS along with other processed ingredients.

Another reason to  stick to one ingredient foods are that they are the most naturally nutrient packed, which provides you with the maximum enzymes, nutrients, and energy to fuel your body with.  Plus, they are satiating and are the exact foods nature intended us to eat.  Some of the best ones in the grocery store don't even have a label... (keep in mind that if the food doesn’t have a label on it that’s usually a dead give away that it's probably a one ingredient whole food.)  So next time you are preparing a meal at the firehouse or for you family, try to include one ingredient foods and stay away from the processed ingredients.  Once again, read your labels and consume more water while decreasing your intake of soft drinks and fruit juices.

I you are looking for more healthy recipes along with great guidelines to eating healthy in the firehouse, get my FREE SOPs to Eating Healthy in the Firehouse.

Stay Safe and Healthy,
A. Zamzow

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."

To get some great workouts for Firefighters, EMTs and Paramedics, along with the SOPs to Eating Lean in the Firehouse join my VIP email list.