I was looking for any educated suggestions on a training regiment for the Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge. The course is usually run in about 1:30 to 3:00 avg. time. The course consists of:
6 story stair climb carrying a 42 lb hose pack
6 story hose hoist(pull hose hand over hand up 6 stories) also weighs 42lb
run down the stairs
keiser machine (160 lb beam you hit with a 9lb sledge and drive it 5 ft)
run 140ft serpentine
hose drag (100 ft section of hose advancing 75ft)
175lb dummy drag backwards
Everything is done wearing about 50lbs of gear and on SCBA breathing apparatus. I am looking for any advice on a training regiment. I have been working out out consistent for about 10 years. I have dabbled with crossfit, westside, and traditional principals. i am confused on the best way to train besides event specific training. The course itself is very strenuous. By the end my legs are always gone with bad lactic builup. Wearing the gear makes everything restrictive. Strength, power, endurance, and speed are all factors needed. Any comments appreciated
When I first joined the military (before boot camp), we could go downtown for our weekly exercises. Since it was Saturday, most of the high rises were ghost towns. We ran up 21 stories and back down for time; it sucked. We weren’t carrying any weight either, but you could easily simulate wearing 100 lbs of stuff for the same drills.
For the hose hoist, are you just pulling up a hose from ground level? You might be able to find a bridge or causeway for that … just pull a rope with a 45lb plate tied to the end.
The sledge drill is easy. Just smash stuff, like a tire or sand.
For dummy drag, buy a sturdy canvas duffel bag (military seabag) and fill it on the beach. Might weight 100 lbs or so when full, which is close.
Thanks njrusmc, i should have mentioned i have all the equipment that is identical to the course. I was just wondering about an additional training regiment for the gym additional to the coursework that could incorporate.
Go to the Challenge website. Click on "tips"and see Jack Hickey’s training schedule. His focus is on treadmill sprinting. His thinking is that if you breakdown a video of your run, you will see that except for a brief time during the hose hoist and the Kaiser sled, your feet are moving and the key to a good run is Legs and Lungs. Anyway, you can’t knock results. His nickname is Lord of the Rings for all the World Championships rings he has won.
i’ve got some experience with the firefighter challenge. i’m a bigger guy and was always a floor course specialist. my best individual was a 2:02 at 6ft and a very sloppy 250. 5/3/1 or a linear progression is a great start as strength is greatly ignored by most competitors. working with brandon cunningham a little bit he told me the best thing to do is find a parking garage, the taller the better, and run it as much as possible. the easier that tower is for you the easier everything else will be. also bottom course buildups(kieser cones, kieser cones hose, kieser cones dummy).
get as strong as possible but especially in overhead pressing and deadlifting.
Thanks for all feedback…timjtitus 2:02 at 250 is smoking it. Imprerssive. Yeah i will look up some on the linear progression. I wish we had something taller like a parking garage but I am from a small town, but I have just started doing buildups on the back half.
I competed for four years and our team had a fair amount of success. I don’t think you can stress the importance of course conditioning enough. As a FF, one assumes that you are inherently in shape to begin with.
We trained every off-day (24 on/24 off) except weekends. Our two “types” of practices were what we called “front-halfs/back-halfs”, which should be self explanatory. The front half was the tower, the back half was everything on the ground.
Our other practices, we would essentially set up a five-man relay and go through the entire course that way, until everyone had done each “event” twice.