In our first article, we discussed how time is of the essence for firefighters, and that their ability to perform like an athlete is a key part of the job. Power Athlete defines athleticism as “The ability to seamlessly and effortlessly combine primal movement patterns through space and time to perform a known or novel task” – and it’s very easy to see how this definition very much applies to the fire service. Like I mentioned in part 1, I want to emphasize that this is not about being against bodybuilding or hypertrophy work. However, if that’s the ONLY thing you’re doing for your fitness as a firefighter, then you are creating a large gap in your fitness and overall capacity. Do you know what lives in this gap? Pain, lack of mobility and function, health problems, and potential serious injury.
Matthew Spaid. “Firefighters Are Not Body Builders pt 2” Power Athlete, https://powerathletehq.com/firefighters-are-not-bodybuilders-pt-2/. Accessed 14 Feb 2025.