Fitness training questions

[Thomasa]

Hi all,

I was wondering if someone could help me out with a training format or exercise format to use. I am currently in Grade 11 and graduate at the end of next June (2011) and plan on going through the Nova Scotia Fire School to become certified Level II (ISFAC).

At the moment, I'm not in the best shape of my life. I've been running for the past six months but its not getting me anywhere then to keep my body shape the same size. Basically flat stomach (Runner's gut) and thick legs (Thick as in pure muscle). I haven't really worked on my upper back strength or any weight training other then 4 months at the gym doing rowing, cardio free weights.

I am just wondering if any knowledgeable people can help me prepare a exercise package that would enable me to make it through firefighting school. I'm not concerned with the weight of the SCBAs as I have wore them before, it's just the other gear like hose lines and such forth.

Are there exercises I can do to prepare myself?

[HalifaxHooligan]

Hey Thomasa,

The best advice I can give you is to start training CrossFit. It is the most functional form of exercise out there that relates directly to firefighting (police, military, etc.).

The good thing about CrossFit is that you can do it virtually anywhere - indoors, outdoors, at a gym, at a park, whatever.

The website - www.crossfit.com - posts daily Workouts of the Day (WODs) for free. It follows a 6 day a week training schedule - 3 days of WODs, 1 day rest, rinse and repeat.

My suggestion would be to read up about CrossFit first and see what it's all about. The site is fantastic and has video examples of how to perform the exercises correctly.

There's also two ways of easing yourself into a CrossFit routine - they have a 12-week beginner's workout that consists of a 5-day-a-week routine or alternatively, there is something called CrossFit Brand X, where they scale the WODs into three categories; Beginner, Intermediate and Regular WOD.

If you live in Nova Scotia, there are three CrossFit gyms - CrossFit Halifax and CrossFit Dartmouth (Same owners - http://www.crossfithfx.com) and CrossFit Kinetics (http://www.crossfitknietics.com).

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask - a lot of people around here follow CF.