Lex Shady
One of the many recent changes in the fire service is recognizing the importance of health; mental, sleep, eating, and fitness. I could go on all day about the importance of proper nutrition and enough sleep. All I’ll say about that stuff for now is that you should probably take a nap, it’s all about moderation, eat more protein, and include some green stuff on your plate.
One thing I will talk a little about is fitness. Before I joined the fire service I was not in good physical shape (aka chunky😆). So, I spent quite a bit of time, effort, and money paying for trainers and workout plans to get in shape. With some hard work I was able to get in very good shape and pass several different physical agility tests such as the CPAT. Then… I fell into the trap of “I passed the test and now I’m set” mentality and I lost some of the progress I had made. When I finally got the offer from my department I quickly realized I needed to make fitness one of my top priorities again.
My favorite thing about my shift is that they all prioritize fitness as well, and we workout as a group. We start the morning with our daily checks, chat about the workout, then head upstairs and get a workout in. **With the obvious disclaimer that we stop to run calls.** Afterwards, we all sit around the table again drinking protein shakes- gotta get the gains lol. My shift started doing this before I started, and it has helped build camaraderie, motivate us to work harder, and teach us lessons we can use outside of the gym. Our shift works well together and I firmly believe this is a huge part of the reason why. Consistently doing the workouts, upping the intensity and pushing ourselves to continuously improve week over week, and most importantly not letting each other quit on ourselves builds confidence. As my Senior Fireman said just a few days ago, this confidence stays with us into the back of the ambulance and onto the fireground where it really matters.
As far as general health and wellness it doesn’t really matter what you do for workouts as long as you’re moving your body. Whether it’s CrossFit, body building, running, walking, hiking, whatever…Just pick something you enjoy and do it, something is better than nothing. For first responders it still doesn’t really matter what workout you do, just make sure you include both strength training and cardio. If you’re new to working out, start slow and build up your program, there’s no point in trying to bench 300lbs if you haven’t picked up a bar in years. Also no point in trying to bust out 1,000 pushups a day if you can’t string more than 20 together in a row. There is NOTHING wrong with where you’re starting, what matters is the fact that you’re starting, so don’t over do it.
One thing I’ve found since working out with my shift is that it doesn’t have to be complicated to be effective. I used to think I needed to have workouts programmed for me with lots of different kinds of lifts and complicated cardio HIIT sessions. Honestly you can get a good workout in with a pull-up bar, some dumbbells, a place to do pushups, a set of stairs, and some good music.
Monthly assessments are a great way to gauge your progress. Once a month we “test” ourselves to see how we’re improving and to hold each other accountable. These numbers are shared with no one but ourselves, and we don’t compare to each other. The only thing that matters is that we get more reps than the last month.
Our monthly assessment looks like this:
- Max number of pushups without stopping
- Max pull-ups without stopping
- Max number of reps on bench press to failure (once the reps get high enough you start building in weight)
- 15 Leg press/20 calf raises at 270lbs
- Max dips without stopping
- Max pull-ups without stopping
When I first started I’m ashamed to admit I could hardly do 30 push-ups without stopping, could barely get a pull-up with 3 bands assisting, and would die if you mentioned running stairs. (Told ya I had let my fitness slack). The last fitness test we did for ourselves I had 172 push-ups, 6 pull-ups without a band, and I now love using our Jacobs Ladder for cardio….and this is just a few months later. I’m excited to see how far we all get in 6 more months.
So what changed for me?
- I eat to perform, not diet.
- I began doing 100 pushups a day
- If I find a move I’m not good at, I incorporated it into every workout (ex. Satan push-ups)
- Keep it simple, most of the workouts I do at work include a bunch of push-ups, pull-ups, dips, squats, etc.
- Pay attention to my body, if I’m exhausted I may choose not to workout, but I’ll at least try to move in some way whether it’s stretching or a walk.
If you’re not sure where to start- google is your friend…though sometimes this can get overwhelming. I also frequently use Pinterest for ideas on workouts and typically combine several to come up with my own. 555 fitness is another great resource for quick and effective workouts. Again, keeping it simple is your best bet. You can also try finding a trainer, someone on your department, or someone you trust. I’m no professional but I love talking fitness so I’d be happy to help. I’ve also included some of our workouts below, but please remember modifying is totally cool, and expected if you’re new to working out. The last thing you want to do is injure yourself or be unable to complete the workout. The goal is to slowly improve and build physical strength and confidence, and that won’t happen if you do too much too soon.
One workout we do pretty frequently was created by our Senior fireman, it definitely sucks but it’s honestly mostly mental. He calls it the
“Millennial Workout”
- 250 decline pushups
- 250 incline pushups
- 250 regular pushups
- 125 pull-ups
- 125 body weight squats
Doesn’t matter how you do it, just keep track of your numbers until you complete all of the reps. We’ve obviously built up to this, so unless you’ve had a pretty intense workout regiment lately I would cut the reps down and build up to it.
A couple more example workouts are included below.
Workout 1:
Warmup
45 of each: diamond, decline, incline, and regular push-ups. 5 pull-ups and 50 flutter kicks between each set
3 rounds:
- 1.5 min Jacobs Ladder (or run stairs)
- 10 upright rows
- 5 reverse pull-ups
- 1.5 min Jacobs Ladder (or run stairs)
- 20 dips
- 25 ab-ups (knees to chest)
- 10 tricep kickbacks
- 1.5 min Jacobs Ladder (or run stairs)
- 15 leg press/20 calf raises
- 5 weighted Bulgarian split squats
- 10 back squats
- 1.5 min Jacobs Ladder (or run stairs)
- 2 min rest
Finish with:
2 rounds
- 1 min wall-sit
- 1 min plank
Workout 2:
Warmup
50 of each: diamond, decline, incline, and regular push-ups. 5 pull-ups and 50 flutter kicks between each set
2 min Jacobs Ladder at 90-100 steps per minute (or stairs)
3 rounds:
- 10 pull-ups
- 5 weighted Bulgarian split squats
- 20 dips
- 50 flutter kicks
- 10 burpees
- 10 alternating dumbbell bench press
- 15 leg press/20 calf raises
- 10 skull crushers
- 50 flutter kicks
- 10 burpees
- 20 ab-ups
- 10 goblet squats
- 10 upright rows
- 50 flutter kicks
- 10 burpees
Finish with:
2 rounds
- 1:15 wall-sits
- 1:15 plank
Workout 3:
Warmup
50 of each: diamond, decline, incline, and regular push-ups. 5 pull-ups and 50 flutter kicks between each set
Jacobs Ladder, accumulating 2600 ft. Each person does 100ft, gets off and the next person gets on before the timer stops. Keep going rounds until you get 2600ft. Could do this with running stairs or sprints in the bay.
2 Rounds:
- 15 leg press/20 calf raises
- 50 flutters
- 10 satan push-ups
- 6 pull-ups
- 10 hammer curls
- 10 upright rows
Finish with:
2 rounds
- 1 min wall-sit
- 1 min plank
Final thoughts: I know the saying from Fit to Fight Fire may be cheesy to some but I think it’s important to consider: “Would you want you, rescuing you?” If you can’t say yes, maybe it’s time to take a hard look in the mirror. Change isn’t easy, but nothing worth doing is found on the easy path.
Good luck, stay safe, and remember why you’re doing this- for them.
Firefighting in Legacy Buildings 