Firefighter Fitness-- Is CrossFit it?

I've worked in the fitness industry for over 20 years and have seen a lot of "fads" come and go.  Not to age myself but when I started in the industry step classes, leotards and zubaz where still popular.  Back in the day every health club focused on having the most updated machinery possible, today you see more minimalistic gyms pop up all the time.  Along with these fads have come the "next" best workout program.  I remember the day when everyone was "Jazzersizing" or "Sweating to the Oldies" or following the "Body for Life," program.  There were also the days of "Tae-bo", "Spinning" and who could forget "Fitness made simple"?   Some of these fitness fads have come and gone while others are still around.

Defining CrossFit

According to CrossFit’s Foundations page, their program is designed to “optimize physical competence in each of ten recognized fitness domains,” which are: cardiovascular and respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy.   The CrossFit program is designed for universal scalability making it the perfect application for any committed individual regardless of experience. They claim to use the same routines for elderly individuals with heart disease and cage fighters one month out from televised bouts. They scale the load and intensity, not change the programs. CrossFit specializes in not specializing.

Muscle Confusion- The fact that the workouts vary so greatly from day to day means the body is always guessing and never has the chance to settle into that "workout groove" where it knows what's coming.  CrossFit focuses on maximal strength, muscular endurance, and cardiovascular efficiency all very important components to firefighters.


Timed, Efficient Workouts- Most CrossFit workouts are timed, which usually makes the exerciser push themselves harder, hopefully resulting in faster and better results. Plus, moving quickly in between sets keeps the heart rate elevated, burns more calories and helps improve recovery time.


Workouts Focus on Compound Movements and Olympic Style Lifting - This is great because it's how people get the most bang for their buck with their exercise. The more major muscles you use in a given movement, the calories you'll burn. Period.

For the rest of this post on CrossFit for firefighters CLICK HERE.  For the best FireRescue workout tips and tricks check out www.FireRescueFitness.com.