Warm-up for firefighters

[Cody Ryan Long]

I'm getting ready to become a firefighter, hopefully I'm going to start the academy in September, and I've been doing some WODs that really hit home with firefighters. I understand and do try to do a warm-up before each WOD, but I do remember doing workouts without any warm-up, and the philosophy behind the coach with this was that when we're called out on an emergency call, we don't have time to warm-up before we engage in the call. I'm curious is this logic should apply to my WODs. Should I do a WOD here and there where I don't have a warm-up and have the body get used to doing things like that, or should I do the warm-up before each warm-up so that I don't have problems when I'm on the fire department? So in effect, I'm asking if I should apply the philosophy of "practice like you play".

[Vickie Ellickson]

I was a volunteer for five years, and while you don't have time to "warm-up" before a call, you do have plenty of adrenaline flowing.

When not on a call, my philosophy is to warm-up to whatever extent you need so that you can put forth maximum effort with the least risk. You'll really regret it if you hurt yourself working out if it could have been prevented with stretching/mobility beforehand.

[Andrew N. Casey]

agree with Vickie above.

you could also get burned up in a fire, or have a house fall down around you. i don't advise you include any of those things in your fitness training. if you want to run drills at the firehouse where without warning you have have to throw on gear, get to a location, set up hoses, swing an axe, and run up and down stairs, then go for it. however, your workouts are not part of fire fighter training, they are to make sure you have the condition and strength to do the job, both the practice and the real thing. make sure your workouts aren't proving grounds and tests for being a fire fighter. there is a difference between training and testing. when you are training is not the time to get injured or hurt. in fact, all precaution should be taken to prevent injury during training to make sure you are available when needed.

[Cody Ryan Long]

Thanks to both of y'all. I had come across that thought, but y'all stating it just confirms it. I imagine when I get to a station house, I should either do a warm-up before I come in for a shift, or when I get there, just to get myself loosened up for the day.