Remember the "fire triangle"?
I can recall discussing it in my very first firefighting class (which at this point seems ages ago). As someone who really digs the science of our craft, learning the chemistry and physics behind the job really... lights my fire.
The classic fire triangle is, at its simplest, a model representing the three basic ingredients needed to ignite and sustain a fire: heat, fuel, and oxygen. Remove one side of the triangle and the fire goes out.
Your overall fitness works much like the fire triangle. There are three basic components needed to build and maintain your fitness and wellness – neglect one of them, and your health can suffer, your risk of injury or premature death goes up, your resilience can shrink and your waistline can grow.
We can even relate these three basic fitness components directly to the fire triangle, as I’ve done in the diagram here. Over my next few columns, I want to unpack the three sides, relating each to the elements of our fire triangle.
First we've got HEAT. Working muscles generate heat, causing a rise in core temperature, so we'll relate this side of the triangle to muscular strength training.
People often have a wrong picture in their heads of what strength training looks like. In fact, many avoid it because they don't want to "get bulky." Let me be clear: we're not lifting to get shredded or jacked or whatever the cool kids are calling it these days. Putting on that kind of muscle is extremely difficult at best, and nearly impossible for most of us (which is why the typical gym isn’t full of world-class body builders).
Anyway, your fellow firefighters don't care whether you're ripped. The communities we serve aren't concerned about us being buff, and our families certainly couldn't care less how “swole” we are. However, they (and you) probably do care about:
Better sleep - research presented last year by the American Heart Association shows resistance training of all types improves sleep quality, which, in turn, benefits heart health – something all firefighters should be concerned with, as cardiac events remain our leading cause of death both on and off duty.
More energy - the energy benefits of strength training go beyond feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after a good night’s sleep. In fact, they extend all the way down to the cellular level. Working out generates additional muscular mitochondria – the microscopic cellular powerhouses that constantly make fuel from food and oxygen. More mitochondria means more stamina both on and off the fire ground. Additionally, resistance training has been shown to pump up your VO2max (overall work capacity) along with the hormones that help you feel more alert and vitalized.
Enhanced resilience - along with energizing hormones, working your muscles also increases hormones that boost focus and mood, enhancing your ability to adapt and respond positively to anxiety, trauma, and stress. As we come to understand more about how the job of an emergency responder can affect mental health, the resilience benefits of strength training become even more significant.
Decreased risk of cancers - In addition to mental health risks, the fire service is becoming more aware of our cumulative risk of many types of cancer. In fact, last year the World Health Organization reclassified the firefighting occupation as a group 1 carcinogen – a known cancer causer, in the same class as tobacco and asbestos. Research has linked muscle-strengthening exercise to an overall reduction of cancer risk, and a lower risk of many individual cancers including firefighting-specific ones like colon and bladder cancer.
A longer, healthier life - Muscles tend to slowly shrink and atrophy beginning in our mid-30s, through a process called sarcopenia. We used to think this was an inescapable result of getting older, but more recent evidence proves this muscle loss is mainly due to inactivity, not just age: if you don't use it, you lose it.
Sarcopenia threatens not just your strength and your physique; it literally threatens your health: the muscle mass that’s critical to our job performance is also a key predictor of lifespan and healthspan – the number of years you live with good health and quality of life. Lower body muscle in particular is directly correlated with healthspan as we age. So while our aim in strength training isn't "getting jacked," one of the goals is to enhance muscle mass by building dense muscle tissue that resists sarcopenia.
Most of the scientific literature on aging and exercise points to resistance training as the single most critical variable in maintaining our peak physical capacity from year to year. But if you’re thinking there’s no way you have the time to hang around the gym pumping iron every day, I’ve got really good news: the beneficial dose is surprisingly low.
A 2021 research meta-analysis found that just 30 minutes per week of strength training lowered the risk of early death from any cause as much as 20%. Higher amounts had better benefits. Your workouts don’t even have to be intense to be beneficial: evidence shows that training at light to moderate intensities helps offset and even reverse the effects of sarcopenia. Harder work does even more: higher-intensity efforts can re-innervate muscle fibers and build new motor neuron connections at any age.
I’m hoping all these benefits help convince you to include strength training as part of your regular routine. Over my next few articles, we’ll look at the other two sides of the triangle, and then finish up by talking about how to tie it all together into an individual fitness plan.
As always, you can feel free to reach out with any questions or comments. I’m especially happy to offer advice to my brothers and sisters in the emergency services!