Ugh, why can’t it just be a simple answer, just tell me if I should work out three times a week or seven!
Sorry friend, those are the types of answers you’ll find in the checkout-line magazine covers. The real answer deserves a little more investment.
The same chef that skillfully seared, reduced and created is now getting thrown out of the kitchen for serving raw chicken for the second time in a row! Here in lies the magic of this program and a lesson that we can all learn from without having to sit through the yelling. The tug of war and interplay of our reaction to challenge vs threat and the ability to build resilience.
But let’s first shatter the notion of what a health and fitness regimen is. It is not eliminating fun, saying bye-bye to bread, and lunging from your car to the super-food store. It is simply finding a plan that matches your goals and lifestyle, building it into your routine, and sticking to it. So, once you find a plan, there’s a few things to look forward to.
Find a coach (Hi), find a program, find a system, find something that you’re interested in and will actually look forward to starting once the endless trays of cookies calm down. Set your exit strategy and mark it on the calendar . Make a plan instead of hoping to make the right guess when positive changes are your goal.
4th Shift Fitness is very proud and excited to be used as a contributor for the article by Jada Hudson in this months Fire Engineering Magazine. The effects of stress and the body’s reaction to it are things that directly impact the health and longevity of first responders.
The same chef that skillfully seared, reduced and created is now getting thrown out of the kitchen for serving raw chicken for the second time in a row! Here in lies the magic of this program and a lesson that we can all learn from without having to sit through the yelling. The tug of war and interplay of our reaction to challenge vs threat and the ability to build resilience.
But let’s first shatter the notion of what a health and fitness regimen is. It is not eliminating fun, saying bye-bye to bread, and lunging from your car to the super-food store. It is simply finding a plan that matches your goals and lifestyle, building it into your routine, and sticking to it. So, once you find a plan, there’s a few things to look forward to.
Find a coach (Hi), find a program, find a system, find something that you’re interested in and will actually look forward to starting once the endless trays of cookies calm down. Set your exit strategy and mark it on the calendar . Make a plan instead of hoping to make the right guess when positive changes are your goal.
On the seventh round of the course, the firefighter was returning to the starting position to begin lap eight when she was about to put one tool down and pick up another, a firefighter standing by yelled out “Nice job, keep going!” The combination of her dropping the tool, the noise of breathing and most notably her fatigue combined and produced confusion.
Napping isn’t a cop out, it’s a highly specialized tactical operation. If it were a testable subject on a promotional exam, we’d all be experts in it, and it would be a mandated, on-shift activity. If it were a physical object and someone engraved a Maltese Cross on it, we’d all have one, and a back-up one in a different color.
New year…same old you. Let’s be honest here, you can keep your motivational materials and save the hyper romantic, artificial grit, routine. I shy away from calling it complete BS because there is some use for it, but it typically just doesn’t contain the firepower needed to kick your engine into gear after the 6-12-week honeymoon of whatever program you choose. Especially as we get older and more rooted in routine or lifestyle, making those changes requires more and more willful and purposeful action and far less cheerleading. This will take a departure from the typical resolution blog and head down a more pragmatic path. A quick challenge of paradigm of what that burdensome “commitment” that so many of us start in January actually saddles you with.
Chances are, you already know what the first couple months of a new routine entails. Many you know what the next 6-8 months of a program consists of. If you’ve tried and failed and repeated the cycle without making any real progress over the course of a year, it may seem like this whole exercise and health thing is just one long snipe hunt. All I can offer you is what I’ve found to be two of the greatest benefits of a long-term fitness commitment. Take these to heart and think about how I describe these situations against how you might think of them now. They’re simple to lay out there, but let them sink in and think of how it could change your outlook.
First off, you can build physical equity. There is a difference between the ‘fit’ person eating like a maniac for a few days a month or year compared to the ‘unfit’ person doing the same. Strict calorie counting aside here, we’re just talking about the relative impact that the decisions carry. That ‘fit’ person can absorb the damage done by missing a handful of workouts and eating with reckless abandon for some of the holiday stretch. They have greatly increased their margin of error and ability to remain strong and highly effective, while eating a few donuts. A short burst of questionable meal choices and lazy days doesn’t carry them further down the spiral of decay. It may actually have the opposite effect of rejuvenating and reaffirming the healthy lifestyle they’ve chosen. Let’s be honest, food hangovers are a real thing.
Second, by committing to a program long term, you have the safety blanket of knowing that within a few days, you’ll be back at it. There is always light at the end of the holiday pie tunnel. I don’t want to encourage the short-term thinking of ‘I can eat like a maniac cause I’ll burn it off tomorrow’, but take a larger scope at the situation. Over the course of the following couple months, the handful of binge days and slow days will be absorbed and nullified by the work that will be done. Especially when we have that healthy, long-term commitment, those few days just get figured in and really lose their impact overall. There isn’t any more dreading how many calories you’ll be stuffing in or blaming the holidays for those extra pounds. Questionable food decisions change to a quick stumble and catch instead of a cartwheel trip and fall down twenty flights of stairs while carrying grandma’s fine china collection, surrounded by strangers with their cell phones out.
Commitment to a healthy lifestyle offers you insulation, in exchange for the other naturally occurring insulation. It sets you up for success on both sides of any decision, good or bad. It gives you the opportunity to have a good time, knowing that you’ve done the work to enjoy it, and will continue to do the work so that each decision isn’t made on the razors edge. Give yourself the ability to enjoy the things that are supposed to be enjoyed.
“You, crew, tools, rig.”
Is scribbled down on an old sheet of paper I found, in a pile of stuff from my first fire department job. This was a list, in order, of what needed to be on point for a successful shift. At the time, I was 19 or 20 and playing junior hockey. Injuries would happen that would be a hindrance for a day or so, but overall the "You" part was not an issue. There was only one time that I had to call in sick for my next shift from a state away because I had taken a hard elbow and was considered concussed. Flash forward to present day and this note has a whole different meaning to me. The "You" takes a considerable amount of effort to maintain. I’ve had a hand full of experiences working with guys and girls that also at had the same checklist, but had swapped the order over time. The order for them may put tools and apparatus first, then the crew and their own personal condition dead last. It’s the difference between someone checking their pack in the morning and discovering it to be just a little low and their response to it.
“I gotta top this thing off, it’s a little low and I want to be able to work longer”
Or,
“I gotta top this thing off, I need every pound of air I can fit in this thing”
Being prepared for your shift HAS to start with the “You”. The tools are there to compliment your experience and capabilities. No doubt that without them the job would be near impossible, but without a person to use them, they are just compartment decorations.
Doing an apparatus inventory is a weekly occurrence, so try doing one on yourself once in a while. Taking steps to put the “You” back at the top of the list can and should be small ones to start, but it brings up a trick-bag of accountability. More often than not, our physical deficiencies are the result of ignoring a problem for too long or not resolving an issue the correct way. It’s hard to blame your extra pounds on the shift before you because they left it that way. Or your tight lower back on the shift after you because they just complain about everything. Approaching your physical issues like you would address a broken tool may lay a path for repair. The steps are similar, try to fix it yourself, if that fails you can always bring in a professional to fix it, and if all else fails just replace it. Although, replacing a knee or shoulder includes a lot more work and hassle than replacing an axe.
Be prepared for your shift.
Then it’s hilarious, unless you’re an adult who depends on working to provide for your family. Or, an administrator who watches their workforce slowly dwindle due to work related injuries. The truth is that in the fireservice, injuries rarely only affect the person who sustains the damage. If the injury happens on the scene of an emergency, not only is the focus of the crew diverted to the injured member, but the victim or patient has one less set of hands and eyes helping them. Beyond the initial incident there is the emotional and mental impact of the injury on both the individual and crew, and also the financial impact to the individual and department from their time off while healing. Injuries can absolutely dismantle a fire department, from the operational concerns of decreased manpower to the crew continuity being broken up. The most frustrating injuries are those which are predictable and preventable.
Like in sports, injuries in firefighting can be categorized in two different environments: during competition, and any other time, including practice. Injuries during either of those categories are a hinderance and although sometimes justified by the risk vs benefit continuum, still have an overall negative impact. Injuries sustained any other time than during emergency operations, are a much tougher pill to swallow. Especially once the golden rule of injury is understood. The rule being that, the greatest predictor of injury to a body part or system, is previous injury. Avoiding or preventing the initial insult to the tissue is the ideal situation, but understanding that just because the injured part is considered healed, range of motion is almost all the way back and the pain is gone, does not mean that the firefighter is out of the woods. Often, once the injured firefighter completes their rehab or strengthening protocol, they return to the very same routine of lifestyle and training that they did before. The very lifestyle and training methods that may have very well contributed or even directly caused the injury. What are the chances you know someone with a bad (ankle, back, shoulder, knee) who is stuck in their two to three time per year loop of exercise, injury, rest, rehab?
A truly effective injury prevention program must go beyond some routine stretches and over emphasizing the need for situational awareness. Attention to preexisting and current injuries and common muscular imbalances of the firefighter have to be taken into account. As well as a working knowledge of firefighting demands and how to train to increase performance without increasing risk. The adage rings true, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Be prepared for your shift.
This funny little thing that makes people do the strangest things. In one day I experienced three completely different applications of the word. When I walked into my office for the day at work, there was a Himalayan Salt Lamp plugged in and glowing in the corner. These little pink hunks of salt are supposed to purify the air, and positively impact the mood in their area. I was in and out of that office all day and honestly, I have no clue if it was working. I’ll tell you one thing though, each time I left the office to go on a call, I tapped the thing like the ‘Play Like a Champion’ sign at Notre Dame. By the end of the day, I wanted a salt lamp because while I don’t know if it did anything good, it sure isn’t hurting anything and a little more positive belief wouldn’t hurt anyone. When I left the office, the guys were watching Oak Island on TV. This is the show that rivals Finding Bigfoot in its drawn out and fruitless story line. It follows of a pair of super wealthy brothers and their team, as they spend crazy money and resources drilling and searching an island in Canada for hidden treasure. Besides the folk stories and a few coins, they have zero proof that there is treasure anywhere on the island. However, their unwavering belief in something they may never even find has them millions of dollars in at this point.
The third was actually something that left us in disbelief, more than the whole salt lamp and buried treasure thing. I pulled up some numbers from studies for the website and shared them with the guys. The percentages and dollar amounts were hard to stomach at first, but then as we mulled them over, made more sense.
-"Medical costs for those suffering from obesity were $1429 higher than for those normal weight."
-"Health care expenditures are as much as five times higher for individuals with diabetes compared to individuals without diabetes."
-"The average total direct and indirect cost of a severe heart attack is about 1 million."
The belief that the fireservice is immune to these issues has been officially dashed. We are like any other group of humans, but our potential physical demands are highly unique. Physical fitness is a perishable asset and has to be treated as one. Getting companies like 4th Shift involved is just one of many ways to begin and reform the attitude towards physical fitness in fire departments. Be prepared for your shift, with 4th shift.
It ain’t no cha-cha slide or even an electric one, but it sure is slippery. How many times do you hear something like, “Oh, I was doing good on my (diet, workouts, plan, routine, whatever) until the holidays, then I just fell off track.” So, let’s take an overly critical eye at this thing. If we look at the following dates between November and Feb, we have Thanksgiving, Friendsgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New years eve, and Valentine’s Day. That’s six, SIX meals, not 37, six. However, the holiday season doesn’t end there, March comes around and you have my birthday and St. Patrick’s Day. While we’re counting, might as well just keep the slide going all the way to Easter. But, now you’re only up to nine overeating fiascos. Nine meals over the course of six months. Half of the year is Holiday Season! So, here’s what I say to that, fooey. You’re better than letting nine meals take over your progress. Those nine meals shouldn’t be looked at as some ominous event that is sure to derail your progress and stall your health for half the year. They are celebrations, so treat them like it. Eat like a complete disaster, then get back at it.
Now, there is one part of this six-month slide that I can’t deny, the counter top. At home and at work there will be an endless supply of over sweet, and supremely awesome stuff sitting out on that counter top. Death, taxes, and pie. To just say ‘be an adult and get a grip’ doesn’t work. I know because I’ve been trying to be an adult for a while now and it’s not sticking. There are some undeniable truths though, when it comes to over snacking on these things.
First, you can’t reason with your body. There is no way to let your stomach or digestive system know that it is Christmas and they can just take a break from storing sugar. They do their job every minute of every day without regard for occasion.
Second, you and I both know that the only reason we indulge in these things is because of taste and feel. We are absolutely not eating for performance or even sustenance. We are eating for pleasure and to call it anything different is just plain old fibbin.
Third, we know the end result. The thing about the Holiday Season is that it is consistently placed on the Calendar. We know the routine and how our food choices affect the next day, week and year. Besides learning how much harder it is to keep the weight off each year, there shouldn’t be many surprises left when it comes to eating dessert for each meal, for three months.
What we have now is called informed consent. While knowing and understanding the risks and benefits of over consumption, you take over the risk and liability for your actions. The point of this isn’t to shame, but to get a handle on the situation. My plan is to eat like an absolute maniac during the meals, wear your safety glasses in case my buttons go flying and pay attention to what I’m doing in the months between. There is no rule that says you have to gain weight over the holidays. But, there’s also nothing besides your choices keeping it off.
About six months before the start of 4th Shift Fitness, I was asked to do an interview with a company called Tactical Athlete Radio. The founder of the company had just retired from the Marines after a full career and had transitioned in to discussing the tactical athlete community including police, fire, and his bread and butter military. The purpose of my appearance was to outline my feelings on firefighters who perform workouts while wearing their full protective gear. We also hit on Raph Ruiz and his methods in the HERO Initiative and how it all came together with Curt at LGN. Overall, there were only a couple cringe worthy moments but it was a great time and I learned a lot for next time, hopefully.
If you enjoy working out in gear have an open mind, please check it out. If it's your way or the highway, please save yourself the trouble and me the fun of receiving hate mail.
The podcast is available on iTunes and Stitcher. Episode 25.
Be prepared,
Chris
