Don’t Just Stand There! By Lt Jim Ford

Stating the obvious, it’s February. You know what that means, RESOLUTIONS. Everybody makes them, and everybody breaks them. Have you broken yours?! It is my sincere hope that you have not. However, I personally experienced (as I do every year) the phenomena of overwhelming crowds at the gym in the beginning of January and cricket audible quiet at the end. Have you broken the promise you made to yourself and your health? Did you start strong and fizzle out quick? Maybe you didn’t try the right workout plan. Maybe you need some education, well in the words of Billy Swan…”I can help.”
Last month we started a new round of FireFit classes. FireFit I is a an educational classroom course that will teach you what you need to know to set the foundation for your future fitness endeavors and nutritional planning. Hopefully, as Sir Francis Bacon penned, “knowledge is power” and you can increase yours. FireFit has started and will meet once a month subject to increase based on participation. The scheduled training time will be split between classroom training, student question period, and activity time.
When is the last time you were on the fire ground, or at an MVA, or a parrot in the tree call for that matter; where you simply lifted something 8 to 10 times and stopped and took a break to talk to your partner before eventually deciding to maybe give it another shot and do some more work. Hopefully, you answered never. Otherwise you’re killing my whole set-up for this article.
The point is firefighting is not a stand still job. It involves constant movement and constant changes in movement. You go from stand still to running into the station to put on your gear, to climbing steps into the truck, to walking around with an extra 40lbs. or so added to your body weight, to carrying a water can, to swinging and ax, to popping a door, and then maybe squatting down and assisting with a lift of patient on a stretcher. This is the reality for most of us on the scene, not short bursts of activity followed by long bouts of rest. If you truly are concerned about the quality of the job you can do as a firefighter, then you need to train in such a way to prepare you for that type of dynamic activity. Circuit training can and will accomplish this for you.
Circuit training involves continuous movement from one station or exercise to another with little to no rest in between stations. This type of workout encourages and incorporates all of the components of good physical fitness into one workout. The two main components included are muscular strength and cardiovascular improvement. However, muscular endurance and flexibility are also enhanced by this type of training. Its constant movement and changing of activities directly parallels emergency response activities while still incorporating the principles of big to small and FIT. Other benefits of this type of workout plan include its convenience to accomplish in a time crunch, and its ability to vary the exercises and stay within its structure. The workout routine, if properly planned, can be completed in 45minutes to an hour and you will probably accomplish more physically than you have been with your standard separation of weights and cardio. After twelve weeks, there is no need to change out of the circuit training; you can simply change the exercises within the routine to accomplish the same variety. We haven’t even begun to talk about how it is a great workout organization for both beginners and advanced exercisers. Don’t even get me started.
Because I am limited in space in this newsletter, and the fact that an article longer than a page is merely an ego stroke, I cannot include an actual copy of the workout for your reading. However, I will gladly get copies of a circuit that I prefer, as well as some varieties to anyone who is interested in exploring this type of routine further. Simply contact me through the department email system, and I will email you a copy. You can also refer questions to Fire Official Mullen who has been used this type of workout in the past.
So next time you are deciding on your next workout plan, don’t just stand there…circuit train!