Firefighter Fitness Week One - Week ending 2/08/2009
I often get asked the question, "Why do you train as hard as you do?"
The answer is simple. Because every day that I go to work, I am deeply
aware of the responsibility that I have to the rest of the people in
the fire department. It may sound dramatic, but I don't care.
When we take this job we know that there is the possibility that something bad may happen to us. Isn't it our job to make every effort to prevent that something from happening? How many times have you seen individuals who will take every fire suppression or EMS class under the sun, yet will sit in the Lazy Boy and watch you workout, making rude comments the whole time. I have a couple of things to say to those people.
First,- Are you taking all of those classes to better yourself and be more proficient at the job? Or are you just taking them to look better? Maybe shine for promotion (Yes there is an extremely sarcastic tone in my voice right now).
Second - If you go down in a fire, I'm coming to get you. There may be barriers that I am unable to overcome. My physical strength and conditioning won't be one of them. Because I will last longer than anyone on the fireground. When I have to go and speak to your family because you are gone I will be able to say that I did everything possible. I trained like a madman every day. I watched what I ate. Because "The Brotherhood" isn't just a f****** catch-phrase for me. If I go down and you crap out because you're just too damn weak and soft, what are you going to say to my family?
When you took the oath and put the uniform on you accepted this
responsibility. It's hard enough dragging a handline into a space
that's 1000 degrees without having to deal with carrying the extra
weight and being de-conditioned. And it's too damn late to think about
it when a brother or sister goes down!
Sorry this isn't all warm and fuzzy, but I figured since this was the first week of the site, you all had better know where I'm coming from.
A Poignant Reminder - #2
So we recently completed the Race up Boston Place. 41 stories in full
turnout gear. The Portland Fire Department team placed first out of
many teams from throughout New England (no thanks to yours truly). It
was a great event for a great cause and I'm proud to even be associated
with those guys. Ryan once again proved that he has both the physical
and mental fortitude that we all should possess and a team spirit that
is second to none. All the guys that participated are great people and I think of all of them as my brothers.
There were some lessons learned at the event. First, for me anyway, is that you should plan on arriving early enough to facilitate all of the necessary pre-race functions (yes, someone had to relieve himself in the middle of the race. You should have seen the circus that was me trying to get my pack, turnout coat, turnout pants, then trying to go and wipe as quickly as possible, then get everything back on....anyway, you get the picture). Second and far more important is that we have to constantly prepare for the load that the combination of weight, distance and speed put on our bodies when we are on the job. We are constantly preaching kettlebells, but we need to define how we use them to prepare for our occupation. We will try to do that over the coming weeks. Until then, here is some additional workout fodder that is very firefighter specific.
This
will require a stairwell with at least two flights, a weight vest or
turnout gear with air-pack and either two 45 pound dumbells or two 44lb
kettlebells (heavier is OK). The best place to do this would be a high
school track with bleachers.
While wearing turnout gear or weight vest with 45 lbs. complete the following as quickly as possible:
Farmer's walk with DB/KB for 400 meters
Climb at least two flights with weight still in hand
After stairs clean both to shoulder (rack position for kettlebells) and complete 25 box squats
Lean Forward with knees bent and complete 20 alternating rows per side.
Take a one minute break, then repeat for four sets. Let me know what you think. - J
