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So, you want to become a fire fighter. Good for you! Being a fire fighter is one of the noblest professions there in the world. You get to help people during their most trying times and you get to make a real impact on other people’s lives. But it takes a lot more than just a willingness to serve and a dedication to help people to become a member of the fire department. It takes tremendous physical ability and skill as well.
The work you get as a member of the fire department is one of the toughest jobs you could ever have. It requires very high degrees of aerobic endurance, physical strength, and muscular flexibility.
On the physical fitness front, you obviously have to be at an above average fitness level to even consider entering the fire department as a fire fighter. You have to be able to perform a variety of strenuous physical activities with relative ease and for extended periods of time. You also should be able to endure long periods of heavy lifting and fast paced climbing and running work.
In order to prepare yourself for the rigorous work of a fire fighter, you have to work on several major fields of physical fitness. You have to work on improving the flexibility of your joints. You also have to work on you cardiopulmonary endurance levels. After these two major areas, you will then have to work on your muscular strength and on your muscular endurance.
For flexibility, stretching is the best way to go. It will greatly improve the flexibility of your joints and of your muscles. It is also a great way to warm up your body before engaging the more strenuous exercises. There are two stages of a good stretching regimen that you should go through in order to get the most out of your stretching time. The first is the easy stretching stage. In this stage, you should only stretch yourself to the point where there is minimal tension felt on your muscles. On the second stage, which is the developmental stage, you should stretch up the point where you can already feel a mild tension in your muscles. For both the easy and the developmental stages, the stretch should be held for at least 10 seconds.
For muscular strength and muscular endurance improvement, weight training is a very good option. The leg press, leg extension, leg curl, squats, and lunges are all very effective weight training exercises that you can use to improve your leg power and endurance. For your upper body, you can use the bench press, dumbbell curls, dumbbell military press and the lat pull down.
Always remember that it is always better and safer to do weight training with a partner or a trainer. This will not only motivate to work harder, it will also be a safety net just in case you encounter any injury. Remember too that your body composition is also important in entering the fire department. Excess fat in your body is excess weight that you do not need to be carrying when doing your duties as a fire fighter.
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