Firefighters: What's Your Expiration Date?

Does age alone determine one's ability to serve?

I generally avoid online arguments. But a recent firefighter discussion board post got me fired up enough to bend that personal SOG.

Was it about interior vs. exterior extinguishment? Euro helmets? The superiority of a certain nozzle?

No, this was about firefighters getting too old for the job.

Too Old? Says who?

I'm 53. I started looking into the question of firefighters and age after a recruitment discussion where the chief declared firefighting to be a young person's job – even saying, “Roy shouldn't be going into burning buildings!"

I wholeheartedly agree about actively recruiting younger firefighters. But I disagree that age alone determines ability to serve.

So how old is “too old”?

According to someone in that online discussion, "we should not see people who qualify for AARP fighting fire."

I'd like to point out that, according to their website, "AARP membership is open to anyone 18 and older." Mic drop.

But I do I get the point. There's a perception that “gray hairs” are a liability on the fire ground. That we can't keep up. But as a personal trainer and an athlete myself, I've known, coached, and raced alongside "AARP agers" who were not only highly active but high-performing athletes.

In fact, there are countless examples of older adults performing at high levels:

• Dozens of top competitors at the 2024 Firefighter Challenge World Championships were 50 and older, some in their late 60s.

• At age 70, swimming handcuffed and shackled, Jack Lalanne towed 70 boats a mile through Long Beach Harbor.

• 60-year-old Laurie Meschishnick, a multiple weightlifting world record holder, has earned repeat top rankings at the world Crossfit Games.

• On YouTube, you can watch 50-year-old Palm Beach County Fire Captain Ed Kranski (now retired) deadlift a 600-pound flaming barbell in full PPE.

Here's my point: you don't have an expiration date.

Out-of-date meds on the rig? That ancient jar of mayo C-shift keeps pushing to the back of the fridge? If they’re expired, they’re unusable. They get thrown away.

“Best by" date, though, indicates a product’s quality. It could be stale, or fresh as the day it was packaged – the difference is how it’s been handled. Likewise, your "best by" age also depends on how you've been caring for yourself.

To quote Jules Renard, "It is not how old you are, but how you are old."

The Stanford Study

The discussion board post I’m getting all "grumpy old man" over was about a Stanford Medical study on aging. Their research suggests that "massive biomolecular shifts" occur in our mid-40s and again around 60 that shrink our muscles and metabolism, blow up our waistlines and cholesterol, and weaken our hearts.

Compare this against line-of-duty death stats (most cardiac LODD are over 45) and you might agree that age and firefighting don't mix.

But is it age that’s killing us?

The Stanford study had some shortcomings (which the team admitted). I'll point out three.

Shortcoming #1: They study was limited to about 100 people from Palo Alto, California, who were followed for fewer than 7 years. Not nearly enough to suggest a broad, general trend.

Shortcoming #2: rather than following individual changes, it drew conclusions by comparing people from different age groups. However, earlier research – also by Stanford – shows everyone ages differently. Long-term studies on individuals might show a different pattern or none.

Shortcoming #3: researchers didn’t consider lifestyle factors at all. Not diet, sleep, stress, smoking, drinking, exercise, medications, or any of the myriad factors that could have affected the results.

In fact, evidence repeatedly shows that negative effects of "aging" (weaker muscles and bones, cardiac problems, arthritis, etc) are influenced far more by your lifestyle than your age.

It’s a Number, not a Sentence

An intriguing 2024 study compared competitive 22-year-old athletes with fit 52-year-old athletes. The two age groups had the same strength and performance level, and experienced similar degrees of muscle damage and recovery following 10 sets of squats.

The takeaway? Older firefighters can be just as strong and resilient as those 30 years younger.

Overall, age is mostly just a number – our fitness doesn’t decline because we get older; it declines because we don’t take care of ourselves. Data shows fewer than 1 in 5 firefighters get enough exercise to stay healthy. As a consequence, more than 75% of us have “moderate to very high” risk of cardiovascular disease.

But it’s Too Late for Me... Right?

Um... wrong. Remember, you don’t have an expiration date – and research shows you can turn back the clock on that “best by” date.

When talking about older firefighters and fitness, I’ve been told “not everyone is in the kind of shape as you.” I won’t disagree with that. But my fitness career has been built on my honest belief that most anyone can be.

In a landmark study by the University of Texas, sedentary 50-year-olds participating in a vigorous exercise program actually reversed cardiac aging by 20 years. In a separate study, Australian researchers found sedentary middle-agers who began exercising regularly had physical test scores nearly identical to those who had been exercising for years. Other research correlates just 30 minutes of strength training per week with a 20% reduction in all-cause mortality at any age.

On the flip side, different research found that fit, healthy 20-year-olds kept on bed rest for just three weeks experienced devastating drops in health and strength, like what you’d “expect” to see in someone more than twice their age.

Translation: exercise regularly, and your risk of dying drops. But ignore your body, and it’ll go away.

There’s no fix for getting older. However, the body of research clearly shows that consistent physical exercise is, in fact, “the cure” for aging. Old or young, if you want to extend your “best by” date in the fire service, start exercising. It really is the fountain of youth.