Firefighting Workout
Author: Certified HyperStrike Trainers
The Work Condition
Protecting people and property from a variety of threats and dangers is often physically intensive, sometimes life-threatening. Firefighters bear many responsibilities and they work in a variety of settings, including urban and suburban areas, airports, chemical plants, industrial sites, and rural areas like grasslands and forests. As such, the actions they see may vary in frequency. But, once that alarm goes off (and it can go off at any time, no matter the weather or hour), they must be prepared to perform at their best in the face of danger. To accomplish their duties successfully and safely, they must be organized as a team, well-trained, knowledgeable, mentally sharp, and they must possess optimal physical fitness.
The Demand
At every emergency scene, firefighters perform specific duties assigned by a superior officer, and these duties may change in the course of action. At fires, these duties can include connecting hose lines to hydrants, position ladders to access fire, rescue victims by lifting, pulling or carrying them, climbing stairs, swinging an axe, and carrying equipment, including their own protective gear that can be very heavy and hot. Performing physical tasks under these conditions while wearing fire ensembles can cause heat strain (Baker, 2000) as well as physical strains. A physically-fit firefighter may be able to handle or delay physical exhaustion as well as moderate body temperature better.
A study shows that physiological factors related to successful performance in firefighting can be identified and measured: high muscular strength, endurance, and near-maximal aerobic capacity effort (Davis, 1982).
Being able to handle physical stress involved in this job is critical. However, the mental stress involved cannot be overlooked: Fire alarms can suddenly and dramatically increase heart rates in firefighters, and as the fire truck approaches a fire, heart rates can climb to 150 beats per minute (resting rate is 60 to 80); in fact, one firefighter displayed a mean heart rate of 188 beats per minute for as long as 15 minutes during the initial stages of a structure fire (Banard, 1975). This very high heart-rate response is thought to be a result of high anxiety, a mental stress that can produce stress chemicals in the body similar to those of physical stress. What’s more, it’s been shown that those with a greater level of physical fitness are less affected by mental stress. And less mental stress may facilitate clear thinking, better decision making, and better reactions -- obviously important factors while in the heat of duty. Firefighting and superior physical fitness go hand-in-hand.
The Injuries
Injuries in firefighting are for the most part related to structural failure of walls, ceilings, and floors, while other injuries involve smoke, burns, and falls. The causes of these injuries are multifactor that might be partly explained by disorientation, unfamiliarity with buildings, and sudden changes in dangerous conditions (such as unpredicted changes in wildfire directions influenced by wind condition).
Some injuries, however, are controllable. A study shows that on-set of first-time low back pain is associated with on-duty firefighting (Nuwayhid, 1993). These high-risk work activities include operating a charged hose inside a building, climbing ladders, breaking windows, cutting structures, looking for hidden fires, and lifting objects. Strength in the legs and trunk may help prevent back pain associated with physical work.
Another very important injury (often deadly) factor that can also be controlled is heart disease. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducts independent investigations of firefighter line-of-duty deaths. According to their investigations conducted between 6/02/05 and 9/15/05, over 60% of fatalities among on-duty firefighters are caused by heart attacks! The frequent stress resulting from the sudden calls of alarms can cultivate calcium deposits on the artery walls of the heart, leading to arteriosclerosis, or heart disease. Firefighters, as a group of professionals, inherit this vocational vulnerability to heart disease (Byczek, 2004; Choi, 2000). But they can do something about it. Aside from a thorough heart checkup with the doctor and any necessary drug treatment, the best way to fight heart disease and increase the chances of living a quality life well beyond retirement is eating well and improving physical fitness.
The Firefighting Workout
Strength, power and endurance are critical to the firefighter. The typical body-building training program typically used by the public-at-large aren’t very useful for firefighters, who often must use their entire body at any given moment during their job performance. Multi-joint, whole-body exercises utilizing varying loads, muscular contraction speed and duration will benefit these professionals far more than bodybuilding-style training, as whole-body exercises replicate the biomechanics of the lifting, carrying, pulling, climbing, and cutting that are often performed while on duty.
For strength, exercises such as squats, deadlifts, lunges, presses, and pull-ups are utilized; they increase the strength and strength endurance for firefighters to lift heavy objects, operate charged hoses, carry victims, and adorn heavy protective gear. For power, exercises such as the Olympic-style weightlifting and medicine-ball throws can be utilized; these replicate heaving equipment, swinging an axe, or jumping or dashing from danger.
Since heart-rates can rise dramatically with mental stress and physical work, the firefighter must prepare the body for this kind of physiological load by using a well-designed cardiovascular program. It is recommended that, after the initial accommodation to a steady-state aerobic training program, the firefighter should progress to high-intensity interval training, inn which the intensity is intermittently raised for hard work and then lowered for recovery. This mimics the metabolic demands of most firefighting duties.
These fitness qualities improve physical performance in the athletes, so they also will improve that of the firefighters. Equally important is that they may ward off fatigue so that firefighters can preserve mental sharpness in the heat of the situation. But most importantly is that a healthy cardiovascular system lowers the risk of heart disease, an unfortunate but common ailments in firefighters. Saving lives requires that firefighters are physically fit, but equally important is that they remain healthy for themselves beyond their duties. Train well.
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