{"id":721,"date":"2014-12-15T05:24:05","date_gmt":"2014-12-15T05:24:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/?p=721"},"modified":"2014-12-15T05:24:05","modified_gmt":"2014-12-15T05:24:05","slug":"essential-firefighter-workout-equipment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/2014\/12\/essential-firefighter-workout-equipment\/","title":{"rendered":"Essential Firefighter Workout Equipment"},"content":{"rendered":"
Essential Fitness Equipment for the Firehouse<\/span><\/u><\/b><\/div>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 I get a lot of requests to address the “best” equipment to put in fire stations, which is the topic of today’s post.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the biggest factor in firehouse gym set-up is price and budget so I will try to keep this in mind.\u00a0 First off, I want to address the what we don’t need in firehouse gyms.\u00a0 I actually created a special report that addresses the 5 worst exercises for firefighters in which we cover the lack of need for a leg press, leg extension and leg curl machine.\u00a0 These machines, like the pec deck, chest press and shoulder machine press don’t fit the natural movement patterns of the joints they are supposed to work and promote bad form and injury.\u00a0 So, let’s avoid putting these types of machines in our firehouses.<\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What we do need are pieces of equipment that promote functional, core strength and cardiovascular fitness.\u00a0 Personally, I think the best firehouse gyms are those that have minimal equipment and enough room for the entire crew to workout together.\u00a0\u00a0 My current firehouse fits this model.\u00a0 Here is the list of essential equipment for your firehouse gym followed by an explanation as to why.<\/div>\n
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<\/a>Dumbbells 5-75 lbs-<\/u><\/b> Db’s are versatile and can be used for an endless number of exercises.\u00a0 You can also have a couple of people working out at the same time using dumbbells which you cant do with traditional machines.<\/div>\n
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Adjustable bench-<\/u><\/b> Once you’ve got the dumbbells, the next thing to get for your home gym is a solid bench. \u00a0Ideally, you want a bench that is easily adjustable to incline, flat and decline settings. The more versatile it is, the more use you’ll get out of it and the more exercises you’ll be able to do with it.\u00a0 It is essential to buy a solid bench.\u00a0 You don’t want a bench folding up under you when you’re in the middle of a hard set (or EVER for that matter!).\u00a0 The adjustable bench will open up a wide range of exercises for you to do with your dumbbells.<\/div>\n
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Kettlebells-<\/u><\/b> KB’s are great tools to work functionally and to train athletes for power.\u00a0 KB’s are also helpful in training core stability and grip strength.\u00a0 They are versatile and can be used in groups.<\/div>\n
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<\/a>Adjustable “corner” cable column (like the Matrix functional trainer<\/a>)-<\/u><\/b>The corner functional trainers \u00a0have a very small foot print, can be adjusted easily to fit a wide variety of strength levels and sizes and provide a different resistance pattern to hat of Db’s or Kb’s.\u00a0 These functional trainers can provide enough resistance to challenge your strongest athletes and be adjusted to cater to beginners too.<\/div>\n
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Adjustable squat rack (like the matrix power rack<\/a>)-<\/u><\/b> This is a critical piece of equipment that can triple your safety and give you access to most of the exercises available at a commercial gym. The power rack is the first piece of equipment you should buy for your firehouse gym. It will allow you to lift heavier, and most of all, lift safer.<\/div>\n
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Treadmill, Stepmill and Spin Bike<\/u><\/b>– \u00a0These are great machines that help build cardiovascular fitness, are easy to use and cater to almost every athletes preferences.\u00a0 These pieces of equipment are also easily adjusted to work intervals which are one of the best ways to work cardiovascular recovery.<\/div>\n
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Row machine-<\/u><\/b> Rowing is a great exercise to build cardio endurance.\u00a0 This machine is also a great way to work anaerobic power with short intervals.<\/div>\n
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100 to 150 lbs. \u00a0tractor tire (for flips and sledges)-<\/u><\/b> Tire flips, drags and sledges are movements that mimic fire ground movements and help build strength and power.<\/div>\n
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Medicine ball and rack (6, 8. 10, 12 and 15 lb balls)-<\/u><\/b> Med balls are used to help build core strength, can be used in group training sessions and are great tools for training power movements.<\/div>\n
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Stability balls<\/u><\/b>–\u00a0 The stability ball (also called an exercise ball, Swiss ball, or physioball) is a simple yet versatile piece of training equipment that you can use to train your whole body with fun and innovative moves. Stability ball training is effective in building balance, stability, and core strength.<\/div>\n
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Foam Roller- <\/u><\/b>If you haven’t heard of Self-Myofascial Release (click here<\/a>).\u00a0 This small piece of foam can help prolong your career and help you recover faster from strenuous workouts or calls.<\/div>\n
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TRX or Jungle Gym Trainer<\/u><\/b>– Suspension trainers will build total body strength, challenge your core like nobody\u2019s business and \u00a0add a ton of variety to your training. If you want to challenge yourself in ways you didn\u2019t think could feel that awesome, suspension training will grant your wish.\u00a0 These pieces of equipment are very versatile and portable and do not require a lot of space, another reason they are great for the firehouse.<\/div>\n
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Old\u00a0 1 3\/4 inch fire hose (50ft.)-<\/u><\/b>\u00a0 Old fire hose can be used for battling hose lines, pulling or dragging exercises–all of which\u00a0 improve fire ground strength and power.<\/div>\n
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This is not an all-encompassing list but the above equipment can be put together to give any fire rescue athlete an efficient and effective workout.\u00a0 The other benefit of this equipment is that it has a small footprint and can allow multiple athletes to workout in a smaller area thus promoting “crew” workouts.\u00a0 \u00a0I work with a lot of departments to find “cost effective” solutions to starting fitness\/wellness programs and one of the mistakes initially made is spending too much on equipment and not enough on education.<\/div>\n
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If you would like some help getting your Fire Department Fit, I can help.\u00a0 Please contact me (zamzowfitness@gmail.com<\/a>) with any questions.\u00a0 Let’s find solutions to the health and fitness challenges of the fire service.<\/div>\n
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Stay safe and healthy,<\/div>\n
Aaron Zamzow<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Essential Fitness Equipment for the Firehouse \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 I get a lot of requests to address the “best” equipment to put in fire stations, which is the topic of today’s post.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the biggest factor in firehouse gym set-up is price and budget so I will try to keep…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4622,"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":[12,68,196,15,214],"tags":[213],"class_list":["post-721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fire-rescue-fitness","category-fire-rescue-workout","category-firefighter-exercises","category-firefighter-workout","category-firefighter-workout-equipment","tag-fire-department-fitness"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paAEPz-bD","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/bench-adjustable.png?fit=150%2C102&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721","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=721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}