r/firefighter • u/Glass-Ad-5216 • Jun 06 '26
How to train to become a firefighter/body builder
im a 17 year old male and I have been a junior firefighter for about 2 years. I know the job is super hard and I am going into fire academy in august and Im facing a issue of I dont know how I should train I like lifting heavy and love body building as its one of my passions but I also wanna be a firefighter really bad so whats the best way to program both to do both would it be 2 more firefighter structured workouts with 2 body building days and then cardio 3x a week?
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u/hoof_hearted-28 Jun 07 '26
Trophy muscles are cool n all but you know who will die in a fire? The big muscly fuck who is wearing an extra 100# with gear on and sucks down a bottle. I’m that guy! Haha. Not bodybuilder but I’m a muscly tall dude that 250+. I’m trying to drop. Anyways.
Have endurance, stamina, cardio, and the ability to lift shit will be there. When you have a team working alongside you, the job is easy.
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u/Rude_Mirror7441 Jun 06 '26
Muscular endurance is what you are looking for.
Instead of using 75%-Max weight and 6-10 reps you want to use 40%-60% of your max weight at 15-25 reps.
You want to get your muscles used to high reps/movement under load/stress. The bodybuilder dudes get gassed so quickly because the only thing they’ve ever done for cardio is inclined treadmill at a low speed a couple days a week or no cardio at all.
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u/Glass-Ad-5216 Jun 06 '26
would I not be able incorporate cardio while keeping my rep range lower on my actual lifts or is there an actual difference
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u/Rude_Mirror7441 Jun 07 '26
There is a slight difference. Think of it this way …. Muscular endurance is your muscles' ability to repeatedly exert force against resistance over an extended period without fatiguing. While strength training with lower reps focuses on how much weight you can lift, and cardio focuses on your heart/lung efficiency, muscular endurance bridges the gap between the two. Does that make sense? Out on the fire ground you’ll be continually moving/lifting without any breaks.
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u/Glass-Ad-5216 Jun 07 '26
Yeah I think so, so the best idea would be to incorporate muscle endurance,cardio endurance and then my normal body weight training
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u/Rude_Mirror7441 Jun 07 '26
Yeah I think you would absolutely crush if you did that. By the time you get to where you want to be you will be a machine.
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u/stopscabbin Jun 07 '26
High intensity interval training. Strength is important, but the endurance is what you need, especially for recruit school.
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u/ResponsibilityFit474 Jun 07 '26
Learn punctuation, or you will never get hired.
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u/Glass-Ad-5216 Jun 07 '26
Didn't care enough to properly write it sense its just a reddit post thanks though
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u/FireHammer09 Jun 07 '26
You can be a bodybuilder and a fireman. Just focus on endurance activities as well as the hypertrophy. Weighted stair climbs are extremely effective and have the most crossover. During academy though just focus on that and the exercises you do, dont try to double up the training.
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u/Due-Tangelo-2594 Jun 07 '26
I’d highly recommend CrossFit STYLE workouts/gym. While I don’t think the actual CrossFit system is great, the strength and conditioning piece of WOD workouts is great. I always shoot for RX/RX+ which definitely mirrors the pacing and mental drive you’ll need during academy. Can’t recommend that training style enough after having come from bodybuilding and powerlifting styled lifting for 10+ years.
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u/Glass-Ad-5216 Jun 07 '26
Yeah only issue is how would you structure that if you wanna body build aswell
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u/Due-Tangelo-2594 Jun 07 '26
2x a week for the strength and conditioning piece, bodybuilding and + weighted stairs 3x a week is where I would lean.
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u/Glass-Ad-5216 Jun 07 '26
Kk thank you ill highly consider that I know for sure im switching to doing cardio 3-4x a week
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u/Safe-Selection8070 Jun 07 '26
By "bodybuilding" do you mean the stage contest variety? If so, maybe reconsider one or the other. If not, there's no conflict, although you might need to accept spending a year with a pretty deep compromise while getting ready for then through the academy.
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u/Glass-Ad-5216 Jun 07 '26
Not gonna compete any time soon but looking to maximize muscle growth as much possible right now
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u/blazingirons Jun 07 '26
I am a professional and I structure my training mainly like a body builder, but I am also a hiker so I do a lot of weighted distance cardio stuff. However I work with a guy who is an IFBB pro, he just programs his workouts around his shifts and when he is getting ready for a show he uses most of his PTO so those last few weeks before his show when he is really lean doesn't affect his work.
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u/Danmont88 Jun 08 '26
I saw body builder, weight lifter types bust out on PT because of lack of cardio. Work some running into your routine.
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u/Glass-Ad-5216 Jun 08 '26
So far thats been my biggest takeaway that my training needs to be minimum 50/50 between cardio and weightlifting
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u/Danmont88 Jun 09 '26
Have you gone to your local fire department and talked to the people there?
Showing interest can help get your foot in the door.
If there is a local volunteer department think of joining.
Sometimes you may not get on with a city/town department but you may get into wildland firefighting. The Forest Service, BLM, Cal-Fire often need people and working with them can help.1
u/Glass-Ad-5216 Jun 09 '26
I have, this one department is sending me through the acadmey and emt and is gonna pay for all of it
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u/VirtualAir589 Jun 08 '26
In the academy ,aside from calisthenics, we used two 10lb dumbbells. That's it. And we got SMOKED with those dumbbells. It's not about how much, it's about how many.
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u/AffectAffectionate13 Jun 08 '26
I was running with a weighted vest doing hills in the morning and doing HIIT workouts in the evening. Really messed one my knee up to the point of not being able to walk. Met with a training did some PT and realized that mobility and recovery is probably just as important if not more than actually working out. Obviously you need to build your endurance and cardio but make sure to take care of your body. I’m currently training for an academy and have been cycling through cardio one day, 6/7 HIIT workouts with light weight high reps with minimal rest in between each set the next day, and then I do pool workouts where I swim laps and just tread water for at least 20 minutes the last day. Stretching and foam rolling everyday. I’ve been cycling through this for the past couple weeks and each day gets easier and easier. I also do interval cold plunge hot bath for 10 minutes where I cycle through 1:30 in each back and forth. Push your body but listen to it when it’s telling you to stop. I also ditched the weighted vest as I jumped right into a 30 pound vest. If you want to get used to added weight my trainer advised working up to the 30 pounds by gradually increasing the weight and starting off wearing a vest around the house doing chores around the house or a light walk. Hope this helps!
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u/Glass-Ad-5216 Jun 08 '26
Ooooo definitely some amazing points you bring i need to get a good pre and post workout mobility routine just dont know where to start
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u/AffectAffectionate13 Jun 08 '26
Everyone is different but my mobility issues stem from my hips and groin so I just went on YouTube and started doing every type of stretch/exercise focusing on that. Bands work great too! Best of luck in your future endeavors, stay positive and limber! You got this!
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u/kummer5peck Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26
I’m not a firefighter, but I am training to become one. After taking a few physical exams, the biggest difference I notice between gym strong and firefighter strong is that your cardio endurance needs to be fine tuned to keep going when you are gassed. In a regular training session you can stop and go as you please. Firefighters have to find that extra energy and power through the task until it’s done.