Firefighter Combat Challenge

Training Powerlifting
21

My suggestion to you would be to break down the course and perfect your technique at all parts of the course.Think of the course in its 7 parts, Stair climb, hose hoist, stair descent, slammer, serpentine course, hose drag and dummy drag. Concentrate on your transition areas between the parts. This is where you can lose a lot of time. If you can shave 1 sec. off each transition, you will be 6 sec. faster(100sec-94sec).

What I found when I competed(years ago)was that technique means as much if not more to this competition than brute strength. As for strength, squats, deads, cleans and high pulls. Quickness, the Oly lifts. As for conditioning(this is only my opinion)stay away from aerobic conditioning. Nothing about this event is aerobic. The short event time with restricted air flow is all anaerobic. HIIT will work the best.

Also, work in your gear as much as possible, and on air whenever you can. I used to take my gear and scba into the gym and run 105 sec. sprints on the treadmill. I got some funny looks, but it helped.( my fastest time was 1min.39sec back in 1999)I was 6’2" 240# and had competed for 8 years going to Worlds 5 times. Feel free to pM if I can lend any other help.

Don

22

[quote]ltffmed wrote:
My suggestion to you would be to break down the course and perfect your technique at all parts of the course.Think of the course in its 7 parts, Stair climb, hose hoist, stair descent, slammer, serpentine course, hose drag and dummy drag. Concentrate on your transition areas between the parts. This is where you can lose a lot of time. If you can shave 1 sec. off each transition, you will be 6 sec. faster(100sec-94sec).

What I found when I competed(years ago)was that technique means as much if not more to this competition than brute strength. As for strength, squats, deads, cleans and high pulls. Quickness, the Oly lifts. As for conditioning(this is only my opinion)stay away from aerobic conditioning. Nothing about this event is aerobic. The short event time with restricted air flow is all anaerobic. HIIT will work the best.

Also, work in your gear as much as possible, and on air whenever you can. I used to take my gear and scba into the gym and run 105 sec. sprints on the treadmill. I got some funny looks, but it helped.( my fastest time was 1min.39sec back in 1999)I was 6’2" 240# and had competed for 8 years going to Worlds 5 times. Feel free to pM if I can lend any other help.

Don[/quote]

This poster makes a great deal of sense!

I always say “train sport specific.” If you need to become adept at dragging dummies then by all means make, or buy a dummy and perform the event as close to “game conditions” as possible.

As the “ltffmed” stated: “Think of the course in its 7 parts…” Take each part and train that specific area! Then do so in combination with each other just as you would in the actual event.

Best of luck to you and sorry about the brief side track. However, it was worth it if you end up steering clear of the cult they call crossfit (which as stated prior-will not work for most people over the long haul).

Take care,

Zeb

23

“You did sort of imply that T-Nation turns out “calendar models.” The inference was that crossfit turned out “real athletes.” That is one reason I called BULLCRAP! Glad to read you are backing down from this claim.”

Did I say or claim “real athletes”? That is what you’re used to reading from other people. Not from me, Jacko. The only claim I made was the that it’s IDEAL for firefighters.

Otherwise your response was a good read. Even though I never had the intention of reaching a common ground with you, my previous post addresses- I look past all the hype from CF and I’ll say it now- even here at T-Nation. I just look at most if not all the information and figure it out for myself. Maybe now is the time for a PM.

24

[quote]chubs108 wrote:
“You did sort of imply that T-Nation turns out “calendar models.” The inference was that crossfit turned out “real athletes.” That is one reason I called BULLCRAP! Glad to read you are backing down from this claim.”

Did I say or claim “real athletes”? That is what you’re used to reading from other people. Not from me, Jacko. The only claim I made was the that it’s IDEAL for firefighters.

Otherwise your response was a good read. Even though I never had the intention of reaching a common ground with you, my previous post addresses- I look past all the hype from CF and I’ll say it now- even here at T-Nation. I just look at most if not all the information and figure it out for myself. Maybe now is the time for a PM.[/quote]

It’s not even close to “ideal” for most firefighters:

  1. There is no freedom on the board for an open exchange of ideas. I have known a few guys who were barred from the forum for simply offering a different way to approach a routine. Their “board” headed by someone named Lyn Pitts (perfect name) is run like the Getapo crushing any sort of dissenting voice. Here is where they are really substandard compared to T-Nation.

  2. The wod are far more strenuous than they should be for a “typical” firefighter. You literally have to be in great shape (cardio wise) before you even approach the wod. I feel that most who begin the crossfit program burn out sooner or later.

  3. According to crossfit there is only one way to train. If you don’t do it their way you are ostracized. As you will read on this site (T-Nation) there is no “one way” to train your body. Most good programs will indeed work well for a while, then you change and move to another quality program.

  4. Not geared to build muscle as much as it is to tear it down. A mesomorph, or someone who simply wants to lose weight and size might do well with the program (at least for a while), the rest will not!

  5. Their Coach Greg Glassman makes outlandish claims that crossfit builds muscle BETTER than any Bodybuilding routine! This is pure crap and totally misleading! It makes one think, how many other things are misleading and meant to only hype the site and the “almighty coach?” You have even admitted that there is plenty of hype and misleading statements on the their site.

There are other reasons why crossfit is is a good site to avoid, however the above five will suffice for now.

As far as the PM is concerned I suggested it about 2000 words ago…

25

“Typical” firefighters in ZEB’s part of the world and “typical” firefighters in my part of the world must be completely different. I can see firefighters doing CF just fine and working it from my part of the world. ZEB’s opinion is different.

Okay, from my POV I stated what I felt was IDEAL for firefighters, which was CF. I am one so I think I would know.

But ZEB, you say CF isn’t. I may have drowned you out in this thread so I step back and ask…

What to you, with your experience and observation, is IDEAL for firefighters?

I would crack a joke and say PS2 and couch compressions, because that stuff is funny.

26

[quote]chubs108 wrote:
“Typical” firefighters in ZEB’s part of the world and “typical” firefighters in my part of the world must be completely different. I can see firefighters doing CF just fine and working it from my part of the world. ZEB’s opinion is different.

Okay, from my POV I stated what I felt was IDEAL for firefighters, which was CF. I am one so I think I would know.

But ZEB, you say CF isn’t. I may have drowned you out in this thread so I step back and ask…

What to you, with your experience and observation, is IDEAL for firefighters?

I would crack a joke and say PS2 and couch compressions, because that stuff is funny.[/quote]

Honestly, I don’t think Firemen are that much different no matter where you look. They are people who tend to become overweight over time! No different than the typical population base.

Most Firemen (and most Policemen as well) simply don’t get enough exercise. I think starting them out on something that is “sane” where they can: 1. Lose fat and 2. Gain Muscle is the way to go.

Introduce them to a quality life long program. That doesn’t mean that they will never change their routine. On the contrary I think that’s one of the great advantages of T-Nation. They preach “change” at regular intervals.

As far as the original posters question regarding the competition I gave the following advice a couple of posts back:

"This poster makes a great deal of sense!

I always say “train sport specific.” If you need to become adept at dragging dummies then by all means make, or buy a dummy and perform the event as close to “game conditions” as possible.

As the “ltffmed” stated: “Think of the course in its 7 parts…” Take each part and train that specific area! Then do so in combination with each other just as you would in the actual event.

Best of luck to you and sorry about the brief side track. However, it was worth it if you end up steering clear of the cult they call crossfit (which as stated prior-will not work for most people over the long haul)."

There is never anything wrong with good debate as long as the name calling is left out. Mostly, that is what has occurred on this thread.

Take care,

Zeb

27

Keep it simple:
Pull a sled, push a wheelbarrow, swing a sledge hammer, do pull-ups, do kettlebell snatches and jerks, walk and jog wearing a weighted vest, do hill sprints, and do Farmers walks.

28

Jodyhack - just curious, did u get anything out of these replies?

29

Other than a reason not to ask any more questions I doubt it…