WORK SPECIFIC TASKS

Basic guidelines

-Always conduct proper warm up preparation before movement drills are attempted

-Variety is the key to advancing a firefighters fitness level

-Simulate the fire ground with actual fire ground tasks turned into exercises or drills

-Adds variety to a routine in order to avoid overuse injury or boredom

-Generally these exercises would be added together in a circuit and used as a muscle endurance or heart and lung exercise bout. In some circumstances, though, the argument can be made that some drills maybe considered strength drills.

In order for a firefighter to advance physically he or she must continually place a workload on the body that stresses it. If the workload is the same exercises using the same weights, after a period of time the body grows accustomed and stops responding. To counter this, the movement drills chapter pulls physical tasks from a large tool box to continuously force the body to adapt. The basic idea behind the movements here is to simulate fire ground movements or use exercises that will stimulate the body’s muscles, tendons and ligaments and make them more injury resistant. At the same time these exercises work multiple muscle groups in one coordinated movement series, muscles that may normally be ignored receive attention, reducing the likelihood of an underworked muscle being pulled climbing through a crawlspace or falling through a floor, for example. Much like a football team may train with weights and sprint drills, they will move from the gym onto the field to bring these physical movements into a task specific environment.

 The makeup of these drill had no specific guideline per say, it is simply using what you have on your apparatus, training center or what you may find, and putting together simulated fire ground related tasks together in a circuit. For example, dragging “Rescue Randy” around a series of cones could be one station. The second station could be the  Keiser sled for a 20 second period. Moving on the firefighter could drag a partially sand filled 2 ½” hose for a prescribed distance before finishing one “round”. Another fire fighter would begin, the original exerciser would rest until it was his turn to repeat. Now, obviously, at the current time, this may not be realistic to do at every station and may require the use of the training center. Imagination is needed sometimes in absence of equipment, if Rescue Randy is not available an old Army duffle bag filled with sandbags maybe substituted. If a Keiser sled isn’t available an old tire maybe used. The bottom line is firefighters are resourceful people, if you really want this type of physical training you can find the space, time and equipment to make it happen. Again, imagination and the desire to be better tomorrow than you are today are key ingredients in this portion of training.

 Other options for the future may include adding these fire related tasks to night drill, or having the equipment and space set up for firefighters to use at the training center on their off days. An obstacle course simulating a typical fire ground may be beneficial for rookie school candidates and current firefighters alike, and fits perfectly in line with the philosophy of work specific tasks chapter. Other work specific exercises and equipment is listed in the exercise library