There’s much talk in the fire service about systemic answers to minimizing firefighter health risks, including solutions like the clean cab concept, physicals, sleep programs, and the like. One approach on a more individual level, however, is functional, job-related fitness, a subject that Dan Kerrigan and his co-author, Jim Moss, have explored extensively.
As a firefighter, the demands of the job require a comprehensive approach to wellness and a mindset that being fit for duty is a requirement, not an option. Kerrigan and Moss discuss ways to make your fitness functional. the importance of hydration, nutrition, and recovery, and how these pillars of fitness can reduce the chances of injury and death as well as increase career longevity and promote a long and healthy retirement.
Resources
Twenty Hose Exercises for Firefighter Functional Fitness
Four Fundamentals of Firefighter Functional Fitness
Improving Your Fireground Performance: Firefighter Functional Fitness
No Gym? No Problem? Functional Fitness in the Firehouse
Dan Kerrigan Wants You ‘Functionally Fit’
Why I Teach: Dan Kerrigan and Jim Moss
The Three A’s of Firefighter Fitness Success
Book: Firefighter Functional Fitness: The Essential guide to Optimal Firefighter Performance and Longevity
