Exercises for a Beginner

[Foxem]

I'm new to EMS as well as working out. On my first shift, I came to the sudden realization that I'm not as physically fit as I need to be in order to lift up patients that are on the larger side. Which just so happened to be most of them. Basically, I have no upper body strength and I'm looking to change that for the sake of my health, and the people I'm running calls on.

Is there a routine that works best for EMT's/medics? Or is there a workout you can point me in the direction of? I know diet plays a large part in muscle gain and that isn't the issue for me. I can eat well no problem. I'm just lost when it comes to where to start. As well as regularly working out, I was thinking of picking up rock climbing, I've heard that's a great way to stay physical as well as have fun. Any advice would be appreciated, as well as your general thoughts. Thank you!

 

[StCEMT]

Nsuns 531 with accessory lifts. Look around on Reddit to read about it, but it is really popular with a lot of people having great results.

 

[CALEMT]

Or join a gym?

 

[CANMAN]

If you learn well with self teaching and watching videos then pop over to Youtube and just search for "upper body workouts", "chest and arm workouts", "back workouts". This will require a gym membership, which if you believe you have limited upper body strength sounds like something you need. Body weight exercises are good, but you typically don't gain alot of strength and/or muscle mass with them. A good start that is free at home while you're educating yourself is basic good form pushups and dips. To be the best possible shape for this job you really need total body workouts. Chest, arms, back, and legs are all equally as important.

Once you start to workout don't curve your eating habits unless you need to actually loose weight. In order for your body to recover from workouts and build muscle you're going to need to keep your food intake high in protein. Think lean proteins like chicken and turkey.

Alternatively if you don't learn well from videos and such hire a trainer for about a month, learn basic exercises and good form, and then once you fell comfortable in the gym and working out you can ditch the trainer and learn from videos.

No matter what you do start off with light weight and concentrate on form. Form is way more important then trying to lift too much weight with crappy form. Also focus on low weight high reps at first to build muscular endurance since you're just starting out then you can progress onto heavier stuff.
Good luck

 

[inthefield]

If you don't have time to get to the gym, work up to 100 burpees a day and mix in some stretching and additional core work. For additional bodyweight exercise routines, I liked the book You Are Your Own Gym