{"id":2449,"date":"2016-03-10T19:45:51","date_gmt":"2016-03-11T01:45:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/?p=2449"},"modified":"2016-03-10T19:45:51","modified_gmt":"2016-03-11T01:45:51","slug":"firefighter-workout-tip-reduce-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/2016\/03\/firefighter-workout-tip-reduce-injury\/","title":{"rendered":"Firefighter Workout Tip- Warm-Up to Reduce Injuries&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;\">Flexibility is often the most overlooked component\u00a0of a an effective firefighter workout program. \u00a0Incorporating flexibility exercises in your workout program has shown to help firefighter performance and reduce injuries by:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;\"><span style=\"font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;\"><span style=\"font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;\">Increasing physical efficiency and performance<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_1955\" style=\"width: 156px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Straight-Leg-Raises-right-leg.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1955\" class=\" wp-image-1955\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Straight-Leg-Raises-right-leg.jpg?resize=146%2C114\" alt=\"Can You Do This?\" width=\"146\" height=\"114\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1955\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Can You Do This?<\/p><\/div><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;\">Increasing neuromuscular coordination<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;\">Decreasing risk of severity of injury<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;\">Decreasing risk of lower back pain<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;\">Decreasing delayed onset muscle soreness<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;\">Decreasing stress and tension<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;\"><b>What is the best way to increase flexibility?<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;\">If you are like most of us, you were taught how to stretch in your high school weight lifting class and you&#8217;ve likely continued with pretty much the same routine ever since.\u00a0 Science, however, has moved on. Researchers now believe that some of the old school workout warm-up regimens are not only a waste of time but actually pose potential risk. This &#8220;old school&#8221; warm-up routine of starting your workout with a brisk walk or jog, then some simple body-part static stretches (holding them for 20 to 30 seconds) can actually harm your body and weaken muscles. In a recent study conducted and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas athletes generated less force from their leg muscles after static stretching (holding stretches for over 10 seconds) than they did after not stretching at all. Other studies have found that this stretching decreases muscle strength by as much as 30 %. \u00a0There is however a more efficient and effective way to warm-up and increase your flexibility at the same time.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;\"><br \/>\n<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Warm-up (actively) to Reduce Injuries.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; color: #000000;\">A warm-up should do two things: loosen muscles and tendons to increase the range of motion of various joints, and literally warm-up the body and muscles. When you are at rest, like you are when static stretching, there is less blood flow to muscle and tendons and they can actually stiffen up.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Dynamic Stretching (active warm-ups or movement prep exercises) are movements through a range of motion without holding at an end point. Dynamic stretching avoids bouncing motions and tends to incorporate more sport-specific movements. This form of stretching prepares the body for physical exertion and sports performance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Dynamic stretching increases range of motion through movement and increases blood and oxygen flow to soft tissues prior to exertion.<b>\u00a0<i><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">I feel that out of all of the various components of a workout (core work, strength training, intervals) the dynamic warm-up is the most important. \u00a0Firefighters that\u00a0consistently\u00a0incorporate this components see great\u00a0performance improvement and injury reduction.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1956\" style=\"width: 263px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/quadruped-thoracic-rotations.-mid22.png\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1956\" class=\" wp-image-1956\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/quadruped-thoracic-rotations.-mid22.png?resize=253%2C160\" alt=\"Active Movement- Quad Rotations\" width=\"253\" height=\"160\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1956\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/Click Here for a video\u00a0demonstration\u00a0of thoracic rotations, one of the best dynamic warm-up\/\u00a0(movement\u00a0prep) exercises.\" target=\"_blank\">Active Movement- Quad Rotations (click here for a video demonstration.<\/a><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;\">How do you perform dynamic stretches? \u00a0Rather than have you hold your stretches,\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;\">as in traditional static stretching, you move your body into position just for a few seconds and then go back to your starting position. This type of warm-up routine &#8220;wakes up&#8221; your muscles and increases flexibility, not just for your workout but for the rest of the\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;\">day. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; color: #000000;\">Here&#8217;s why that&#8217;s important: let&#8217;s say you&#8217;re stepping off the rig and your foot slips off the step. \u00a0How well your body reacts to that slip depends on your muscle efficiency and balance. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;\">Dynamic stretches, switch on your body&#8217;s small muscles, which helps with balance and increases muscle efficiency.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;\">They prepare your body for random, quick movements found on the fire ground by fine-tuning its nerves and feedback mechanisms. Generally, I recommend to do 5 to 10 repetitions of each of the warm-up exercise. \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;\">This dynamic warm-up is harder than you think, at first it may feel like a workout itself. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; color: #000000;\">Here is an example of one of the active warm-ups from workout #3 of the\u00a0The Ultimate Fire Athlete Workout Program <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"http:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/ultimate-fire-athlete-workout\/\" target=\"_blank\">(click here for more info)<\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;\">-Knees side to side (6-10 reps each side)<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;\">-Straight leg raises\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;\">(6-10 reps each side)<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;\">-Cross-overs\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;\">(6-10 reps each side)<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;\">-Step back, reach and twist\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;\">(6-10 reps each side)<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4BGrT6QcBPE&amp;feature=youtu.be\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click Here for a Video of this 4 exercise Active Warm-up routine<\/a>\u00a0(or click below)<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4BGrT6QcBPE?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;\">Give\u00a0these exercises\u00a0a try, you&#8217;ll be better prepared for\u00a0not only your workout but for whatever challenges your daily activities bring.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;\">I feel that incorporating an Active Warm-up into your workout will increase your flexibility, speed recovery, increase your strength and ultimately prolong your career as a Fire Rescue\u00a0Athlete.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;\">Stay Safe and Healthy,<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;\">Aaron Zamzow<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/\">www.firerescuefitness.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Flexibility is often the most overlooked component\u00a0of a an effective firefighter workout program. \u00a0Incorporating flexibility exercises in your workout program has shown to help firefighter performance and reduce injuries by: Increasing physical efficiency and performance Increasing neuromuscular coordination Decreasing risk of severity of injury Decreasing risk of lower back pain Decreasing delayed onset muscle soreness&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6478,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[190,14,191],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-best-exercise-for-firefighters","category-firefighter-injury-prevention","category-firefighter-workout-options"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paAEPz-Dv","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Straight-Leg-Raises-right-leg.jpg?fit=572%2C447&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}