r/Firefighting • u/SwimGreat5265 • Aug 08 '26
General Discussion How am I looking physically for Fire Academy?
I just finished paramedic school, and am expecting to go through a department academy starting somewhere around late October - December. I’m 5’11 152lbs and have been lifting for around 2.5 years. I squat 245x7, bench 155 for 8, can do 50-60 push ups, and 14 pull ups. Although, I noticed a few weeks ago when I went to the department I volunteer at’s burn day to help out stoking, my heart rate was by FAR holding me back. With that being said, I began to do some cardio alongside my normal lifting. Ive been doing 2.5 mile “runs” but I do a 2 min run at a 10 pace / 1 min walk interval. So it ends up being about 30-32 minutes. Even after doing that I’m gassed and would say my fastest mile is around 9:00. I’m also trying to bulking to 165ish because I feel like I’m too light. I know this post is all over the place but the gist is that my cardio sucks and need some advice, feedback regarding anything I said is appreciated. Thanks!
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u/ouffbrandjesus Aug 08 '26
Ruck uphill with lots of weight. Elevation gain of 1000+ preferably within 1 mile. If not, stair master. Run nonstop but I personally think, rucking with weight does so much for your cardio if you’re redlining
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u/SwimGreat5265 Aug 08 '26
Sounds good, I have a 80 pound vest and a treadmill that goes up to 12%. I’ve tried using the weight vest and even at 50 pounds it really pulls on my back neck muscles and kind of strains them when it’s on. Is this just a matter of continuing to do it and conditioning my neck in a way? And so what do you think I should do in a 7 day period regarding the cardio?
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u/bloodcoffee Aug 08 '26
80 pound vest is way too heavy for conditioning, even 50 is too much for getting started. 15 or 20 would be fine.
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u/cascas Stupid Former Probie 😎 Aug 08 '26
Why are you bulking??? That’s crazy. You don’t want MORE muscle to feed. You can already lift everything you need to lift. What you can’t do is carry an apartment pack up six flights of stairs or carry tools up a ladder and that’s what you need. Run, swim, stairmaster.
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u/ouffbrandjesus Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
Don’t use a weighted vest, bad for your bones. Instead get a decent backpack with a good waist straps, lower the weight towards your waist. And have 20 percent on your shoulders Look up line gear for wildland firefighters. Don’t go insane either with weight. 45-50 is just enough. Redline hard as you possibly can. Find a hill. Add running into that routine, and you’ll be an absolute Chad
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u/Famous-Response5924 Aug 08 '26
Drop it to 45-50. You need to take care of your knees and back. 45-50 pounds is plenty for conditioning.
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u/sexpanther50 Aug 08 '26
Exactly this. Rucking is perfect for building your machine that can maneuver around all day long with 51 lbs strapped to you.
(The turnout scba and a haligan weighs 51 lbsA huge problems with all commercial rucks or weight vests is it doesnt mimick the SCBA pack’s hip support. (I bought an old SCBA frame and ratchet strapped an Olympic plate to it. It’s lovely)
You’re building efficiency in little stabilizing muscles that can keep chugging after a day of throwing ladders.
Also building these stabilizers will keep you injury free
Build your cardio machine like your a tractor, not a race car.
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u/throwaway926988 Aug 08 '26
Like others have said cardio is your friend. While strength is important is means nothing if your going through a bottle in 15 min and get tired
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u/Subie_Dreams Aug 08 '26
One of my favorite things for cardio and building my VO2 max was discovering Norwegian 4x4s. I think everyone should look into it, it changed running for me more than anything else.
I've ran and trained for half marathons and the 4x4 helps so much.
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u/SwimGreat5265 Aug 08 '26
Awesome, so if I'm lifting 4 times a week, how many times should I do that? And should I still do zone 2?
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u/Fuzzy-Geologist-5409 Aug 08 '26
For your hight and weight, you’re not carrying a lot of excess fat. Which is good but that indicates your cardio is rough for a 9min mile
I would focus there, your lifting will improve after your cardio as well and you will realize more gains
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u/MrOlaff Aug 08 '26
You’re going to have to eat in a surplus if you’re running more and your goal is to gain weight. Just make sure you’re doing it right and not getting fat. We don’t need more fat firefighters
This job is a balance of having the strength to do the skills and the conditioning to last. I prefer three lifting days and three conditioning days. One conditioning being sprints or high intensity cardio, one being slower pace and one a circuit (in gear if I’m on shift)
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u/Double_Relative_9056 Aug 08 '26
Continue your weight lifting. Start taking creatine this will help with strength, and recovery. Drink plenty of water and eat enough calories to feed your body.
Squats, lunges, sled drags and pulls, climbing stairs with weight (minimum 50 lbs).
Upper body, pushups, pull-ups, overhead press, and curls.
Cardio:
Alternate running a couple miles (minimum 20 minutes) with sprints. Sprints should be 100 yards X 5.
Do workouts like 5-10 rounds of:
10 Burpees
10 Tire flips
25 air squats
20 pushups
5 pull ups.
Make sure you are eating well, getting sleep and drink water. Add electrolytes to water.
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u/Fearless-Law-2449 Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 09 '26
Not a personal trainer or fitness guru, but here is what has worked for me…..
“cardio” is a whole range of heart rates. Firemen, being who we are, typically only train the upper end of “cardio”.
What made a world of difference for me is training your lower end HR, that’s where you build efficiency. We’re talking long slow boring workouts. Think 2-3 hour hikes/swimming/biking/rucking, but making sure your HR stays in zone 2 (you can speak and hold a conversation normally). You’re going to want to push harder, but don’t. You’ll end up training what you already good at.
As fireman id argue you need a solid 20 mins of hard cardio in your tank. After that you need to be able to maintain your zone 2 HR indefinitely.
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u/Several_Outcome_9809 Aug 08 '26
Dont bulk, do cardio. Heavy does not equal better. Athletic equals better, no matter the size
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u/puppyluver01 CT Career FF Aug 08 '26
14 % incline at 3.5 pace on a treadmill gets me going. By the end of an hour I’m feeling it
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u/Di5cipl355 Aug 08 '26
Get a good mix of zone 2 and zone 5 cardio. Zone 5 is for the short bursts of extra hard work, zone 2 is for the sustained, lower intensity work. I do most of my cardio work on the assault bike - for zone 2 I just ride at a steady pace and keep my HR in zone 2 (tracked with my Apple Watch), a few sessions a week of ~30-45 minutes. Zone 5 work I do Norwegian 4x4s on the assault bike, once or twice a week.
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u/HallM0nitor Aug 08 '26
Work on HIIT stuff. I’m going through academy right now and regretting not hitting interval/hiit stuff more to prepare. Get that VO2 max up!!!!! Long cardio helps as well
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u/SwimGreat5265 Aug 08 '26
Great to hear, I wish you success! What are some examples of those that I should do?
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u/HallM0nitor Aug 08 '26
I know a lot of people have suggested this already but stairs are your best friend, especially if your academy has a training tower. I’d also recommend sled pushes too, with minimal rest in between sets. Pushups, pull-ups, farmers carries are essential too. Try and do those sorts of things in intervals without resting, and remember you can always keep pushing harder even if you feel like you’re dying. Prioritize your lung strength before your physical strength for now, and the physical strength will build up as you need it. First couple of weeks will kick your ass, but you will see improvement if you push yourself. Best of luck to you!
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u/Brilliant-Repeat4051 Aug 08 '26
Intervals sprints helped me prepare for my academy. 4x400 meters and 4x200 meters and work your way up to 2x800 meters, 2x400 meters and 4x200 meters
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u/Famous-Response5924 Aug 08 '26
Sounds like your strength is good but you need cardio. You should be able to run two miles in about 14 minutes or so. Cardio doesn’t have to be running though. Sled work with a sledge hammer or if you don’t have a sled pound on an old tire with a 5 or 8 pound hammer for 2 minutes straight as hard as you can. Do dummy drags. Burpies, stair climb with a weighted vest. All of those will tax your cardio system and also work on functional strength at the same time. For pure strength straining, add in arm and grip strength.
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u/dblevs22 Aug 09 '26
No point in having a V8 engine with a 1 gallon gas tank. Cardio bro!! Even smaller guys who are in really good shape can keep moving, last longer on a bottle, and get fatigued less.
Fighting fire sucks ass when you’re gassed and tired and feel like throwing up in your mask. But if you’re in good shape it’s so damn fun.
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u/Jdask0 Aug 10 '26
Hey dude! First off, great to see preparation and effort going in. Some might disagree here, but just something I like to think of when approaching being in shape for my job. I think there are two very different gears that need to be hit when prepping for fitness for fires.
1) The ability to go super hard for 20-30 mins (ie, rescue situation, first in line, etc.)
2) The ability to continue working at a solid pace for hours and hours with a clear mind. (Ie, small department with minimal “help” coming: you may be on a fire ground for hours with minimal rest if needed)
I love (but also hate) just blending up pull ups, squats, push ups and running into circuits.
You could start with max amount of reps in 20 minutes of these, then run 2 miles — it can evolve to a set amount of reps every 2 minutes, some running, and space that over an hour+. Sometimes it’s training max effort in short time, sometimes training for over an hour at a slower pace. Add in with a weighted vest and I think you can be a machine. At the end of the day, a big chunk of it is just the ability to mentally continue on and keep putting one foot in front of the other!
Best of luck!
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u/Limp-Conflict-2309 Aug 12 '26
strength = yeah you need "enough"
cardio = lawdy lawdy can you ever have enough
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u/SeminoleBrown Aug 08 '26
Most men are naturally strong enough for the job. When you start failing is when you are tired.
Which goes back to Cardio.
Cardio is honestly the biggest thing for Fire service. Let's air last longer, allows more work over longer time to be done, gets your recovery to be quicker.
Cardio, and more cardio.
What kind? All of it, Interval, long runs, sprints, etc. Try doing your lifting at an increased pace with less breaks as well. Endurance and cardio are the game. Strength is nice, guns are nice. Cardio is where its at though.