The Changing Public Safety Athlete

Through the years, firefighters have learned to alter our tactics based on the stressful environments we encounter on a routine basis. But beyond tactics, our survival in the public safety arena has required us to learn more and more new skills to better serve our communities. The ’70s and ’80s brought paramedicine into the service, followed by hazmat and technical rescue. We now deal with homeland security, public education, fire prevention and community health issues, too. In other words, we have adapted to change. Muscles and body systems adapt to change in a similar way. Simply put, adaptation theory, which is the backbone of many fitness programs, states that the human body will adapt to the stresses we put on it.

According to The American College of Sports Medicine, there are several neurological mechanisms responsible for strength and power adaptations through resistance training. The adaptations can come from different areas along the neuromuscular chain, ranging from higher brain centers to individual muscle fiber adaptations. The mediators of muscular adaptations are a complex set of mechanisms with one thing in mind-to generate greater muscular force.1

Adaptation works in all areas of human performance, and for the public safety environment, I like to utilize what I call the multi-adaptation theory because firefighters must encourage and/or force our bodies to adapt to multiple physical demands. In this article, I explain the concept of the public safety athlete and offer an explanation of exercise strategies that will physically prepare those athletes to meet all of the requirements of the fire service.

Public Safety Athletes

I consider firefighters to be “public safety athletes.” The public safety athlete is different from other athletes. The track athlete will specialize in sprints, distance or field events. Other sports have unique positions that require specialized training. In other words, these sports require training with a single purpose (e.g., getting stronger to explode inside the tackle box for a football lineman, or getting quicker on the jump and a smoother stride for tracking the ball for an outfielder in baseball). In comparison, the unique demands of the public safety athlete require us to be proficient at many things.

Additionally, we must not forget that public safety athletes come in all shapes, sizes and genders, and the job is the same for all of us. A 5’5″, 150-lb. public safety athlete is required to do the same work as the 6’5″, 230-lb. athlete. We must train for strength not only for the maximum amount we can lift but also for endurance, the number of repetitions we can complete at a certain amount of weight.

On the cardiovascular side of the physical coin, the public safety athlete must train not only for a sprint (e.g., the initial set up of the hoseline) but also for a marathon (e.g., the rest of the work that follows an initial fire attack). This is why multi-adaptation physical training is so critical to our success. So although I’m going to suggest some weightlifting-related adaptation programs, keep in mind that energy systems adapt just as cardiovascular and other body systems do.

On that note, let’s take a brief look at energy systems. The body operates off of three main systems that generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP) for energy during physical activity: the phosphocreatine, glycogen and oxidative systems. Phosphocreatine system energy is very short lived, lasting about 5 to 15 seconds, while glycogen system energy lasts about 4 minutes; under the right conditions, the oxidative system may supply energy for hours. When our energy comes from blood lactate, which creates lactic acid, we are nearing the end of the rope, or hoseline in our case. Lactic acid causes the burning in our muscles that causes us to have to stop performing an exercise or physical activity.

We train the cardiovascular system to get oxygenated blood from the lungs back into the heart and then out to the body to sustain an activity for as long as possible. This is VO2 max, or the max rate of oxygen consumption. This also coincides with blood lactate threshold, which is when the body can’t get rid of lactic acid as fast as it’s being produced and that’s when we get the burning pain in our muscles. So when I write about multi-adaptation, I am referring both to getting strong and to having great cardiovascular endurance that will allow us to have our energy systems functioning at a top level. Many athletes don’t think they can have both, but you can and must as a firefighter.

Muscle Adaptation

When it comes to strength training, we’re pushing our bodies to utilize more muscle cells. Our neurological system must wake up the muscle’s cells as we need additional strength to complete a task.

Let’s say a public safety athlete is doing a biceps curl with 50 lbs., and that’s relatively easy for 10 repetitions. The athlete then decides to try 60 lbs. at 10 repetitions. The first three go great and then it starts getting harder. At this point, the body starts recruiting more muscle fibers to help and eventually the lifter squeezes out 10 repetitions. Some of the areas where muscle has been broken down may be a little sore the next day, but eventually the biceps will grow a little from the muscle fiber recruitment and, therefore, become stronger. Once this occurs, the 60 lbs. will feel easier because the muscle/strength demand has been met and is ready at the start. The athlete has adapted to the demand.

In the weight room, there are many ways we can make our muscles adapt to change. The obvious way is to use additional weight until the muscle-recruitment process takes place. This is a tried-and-true strategy, but it can become boring and stale. This is where variety comes into play.

Lifting Variations

Variety helps with muscle adaptation because it keeps the muscles from falling into a never-changing routine. Variety forces the muscles to perform different movements and continue to develop.

For quick strength development for the upper body, your best bet is the five sets of heavy three bench press program that I explained in “Muscle Up” from FireRescue’s June 2013 issue, p. 66 (http://tinyurl.com/muscle-up-periodization). As a quick reminder, this is when you take your heaviest set of three repetitions on the bench and perform it for five sets. This is done every five days, alternating with the incline bench press. After a short time, the weight you’re using on your sets of three will begin to increase. As the weight increases, so does your maximum bench press. It’s easy and it makes you strong and absolutely everyone can benefit from this program.

At certain times in a public safety athlete’s career, the use of machines may be a good alternative for adaptation. Machines may be utilized for a wide variety of reasons. They are certainly safe for beginning lifters, as well as those coming off an injury. You can count on a fixed range of motion for each exercise, and you don’t need a spotter for most machines if they are set up properly, with self-spotting features engaged at the proper height.

The use of cables offers a wide variety of exercises that can help a lifter make a change in their program. Cables are a safe way to keep proper body alignment and change angles, and the exercises are really beneficial for auxiliary work.

Another option: Change the width and length of the barbell. These differences will engage muscle in a different way to cause adaptation. In addition to the width and length of the barbell, hand placement on the bar is also a factor. So when you change your grip on the bar-whether it is narrow, shoulder-width, or wide-you will change the way you are targeting your muscles. Additionally, a supine, prone or alternating grip will also make changes.

The type of bar changes the lift. I’m not talking about the length of the bar but instead straight vs. curved bars or other specialty styles. Changing the style of the bar will redistribute the weight on the targeted muscle group to encourage change in strength and growth.

Using dumbbells is another ideal way to make changes in a wide variety of exercises, and you can refer to “Nothing Dumb About It” in the FireRescue’s August 2013 issue, p. 62 (www.firefighternation.com/article/firefighter-fitness-and-health/dumbbell-exercises) for information on the benefits of weight training with dumbbells.

Finally, in addition to the various mechanical aspects of weight-training mentioned here, you can always change the angle and the height of the exercise, particularly when doing preacher curls and box squats.

The variety of exercises is certainly a simple form of adaptation training. Consider the various ways you can train the triceps, such as the french press, extension and the pushdown. Changing the number of sets and repetitions goes hand in hand with this. Even the timing of exercises will cause the muscle to adapt. Specifically, you could change the time between sets and the timing of the actual repetitions. The time between sets affects the rest time, so waiting 30 seconds between sets rather than 90 seconds will make a big difference to how your body reacts. Additionally, doing 10 repetitions in 40 seconds vs. 20 seconds will also cause the body to adapt differently.

Final Thoughts

The public safety athlete must be ready for anything that comes their way. With the continuing discovery of new areas of customer service to provide, we must always seek a high level of physical fitness. Furthermore, a consistent change in programs will help our bodies adapt to our ever-changing environments while also preventing boredom and burnout. missing image file

Reference

1. American College of Sports Medicine. ACSM’s Resource Manual for Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins: Philadelphia. 490, 2000.