Emergency services personnel like firefighter, EMT, and rescue operators are required to maintain an optimal level of strength and conditioning to be ready for any emergency situation. The question is, what is the most functional strength and conditioning program for emergency workers? Maintaining cardiovascular endurance by running, swimming and biking is good but will it prepare these workers for real life emergency situations? The best strength and conditioning training for emergency training personal is to train as if they were going to take their entrance exam. Emergency services exercises must simulate real life situation of lifting body weight, pulling ropes, placing ladders, and short burst of energy. Circuit training, Tacfit or Cross Fit is the best way to train the muscles to produce quick burst of strength and fast recuperation. Circuit training, Tacfit and Cross Fit are great because they involve a series of exercises that stimulate the metabolic energy system  and involve movements that simulate work situations.

Emergency Services Training

Dan Sennis a certified fitness instructor, firefighter and EMT. He has written a great article on strength and conditioning for emergency services personnel.

If you are currently in poor cardiovascular health or are just starting a fitness program, you should use cardiovascular training as a primary means to improve cardiovascular health and prepare you for higher-intensity activities. If you already have a base level of cardiovascular health and fitness, use cardiovascular training to augment the performance of your anaerobic metabolic mechanisms for on-scene operations.

Training for muscular power, strength, and endurance conditions the anaerobic metabolic systems. Each training adaptation is specific to the mode of training. For example, if you want to increase strength, you must train with heavier loads. If you want to improve muscular endurance, you must train with lighter loads and perform repetitions to fatigue. Power is developed by performing multijoint exercises at high velocities and moderate loads. Power may not be used a whole lot in our job tasks, but it is a bonus. Olympic-type lifts are a great way to develop power, but they’re not for everyone. There are other applicable and more entertaining ways of training for power with medicine balls. Medicine balls may be used in various ways that provide a means of increasing full-body power and for developing core strength and stability as well.

The role of muscular endurance is often overlooked and underestimated. Training for muscular endurance enhances your anaerobic capacity, resulting in the ability to resist and recover from muscular fatigue. Circuit training is an easy way to develop muscular endurance and implement a wide variation of exercises. Circuit training is probably the most applicable type of training for fireground operations because of the ability to mimic metabolic stress and mechanical movements. Circuit training involves a series of exercises, usually anywhere from five to 25 exercises performed in consecutive order with little or no rest between exercises. Each exercise may have a repetition or time goal such as 45 seconds. The key design consideration is to ensure you have a balance of exercises among all planes of movements. Core exercises may be divided into dynamic and static exercises and balanced among the frontal, sagittal, transverse, and diagonal planes of movement. Foundational exercises should be balanced between lower-body pushing and pulling exercises such as squats and hip bridges or leg curls, respectively; upper-body horizontal pushing and pulling exercises such as push-ups and rows, respectively; and upper-body vertical pushing and pulling exercises such as shoulder press and lat pull-down, respectively. Creativity is encouraged when planning these workouts. You can implement just about any type of exercise into a circuit, and the format can be as basic or as novel and as entertaining as you wish to make it.

This is referred to as “specificity of training,” you are good at what you practice and your metabolism will respond according to the type of physical stress you place upon it. If you need short powerful burst of energy, you must train the mind and body accordingly. Emergency service providers must be mentally and physically prepared to deal with any situation. Through a varied strength and conditioning program that simulate real life movements and situations, emergency workers can be ready for anything.

Read more about training for emergency services by Dan Senn.

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