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.
“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.
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
