Prepping for Fire Academy

[gotbeerz001]

Sadly, that's what I mean about it only containing skills that are technically used on the fireground.

So you can "raise" a ladder that is butted against a building...how about removing it and carrying it by yourself?
So you can drag an uncharged section of inch and a half...how about a charged section? Or charged 2.5 inch? Or even a dry section of 5" supply? Can you control a flowing handline by yourself?
Wow...you can "breach" a door...how about when you are on your knees or can't get a full swing? Or have to use your off side?
So you can drag a dummy while standing...how about if you're crawling...or in a crouch?
Carrying that big heavy chainsaw...how about a portable monitor and base...or a rolled section of supply hose...or a generator...extrication tools...any of the dozen things that are heavier than a chainsaw?
Pushing a weight up and down...go find me a lathe and plaster ceiling and tell me it's the same...or just go pull a full rooms worth of drywall and tell me it's the same.
How about do all this stuff with a mask on that restricts your breathing?
I'm not even going to touch on walking for 3 minutes on a stairclimber.

Stupid waste of time. But hey! Nobody can sue this way and people can talk about what studs they are for passing the CPAT and how "hard" it is!

Epic.

 

[46Young]

Basically, if you breeze through the CPAT, you should be okay for the academy, provided your conditioning doesn't regress from the time of the CPAT appointment. If you barely get by the CPAT, you're going to have a rough time in the academy, not to mention the field, so you know that you have a lot of work to do. If you go into the academy with the notion that they'll get you into shape there, rather than showing up in top condition already, you could fail out or get yourself injured.

 

[LiveForTheTones]

Basically, if you breeze through the CPAT, you should be okay for the academy, provided your conditioning doesn't regress from the time of the CPAT appointment. If you barely get by the CPAT, you're going to have a rough time in the academy, not to mention the field, so you know that you have a lot of work to do. If you go into the academy with the notion that they'll get you into shape there, rather than showing up in top condition already, you could fail out or get yourself injured.

That's why I'm prepping for it.
I'm not arrogant enough to go straight into academy thinking I'm going to pass.
The workouts I do now look like child's play compared to what I'm building myself up to. Lol.

 

[46Young]

That's why I'm prepping for it.
I'm not arrogant enough to go straight into academy thinking I'm going to pass.
The workouts I do now look like child's play compared to what I'm building myself up to. Lol.

It sounds like you're pretty squared away, on the right track. When you objectively look at fireground tasks, you'll see that it mostly involves controlling external objects, sometimes for quick bursts (breaching a door or throwing a ladder), or for medium distance/time (high rise pack w/ tools and officer's bag up a 20 floor high rise), carrying ladders for a distance, carrying a patient in a Reeves through the woods or down several flights of stairs, moving hose up stairs and down a hallway). Being a P90X or Insanity hero isn't going to cut it. You're responsible for moving much more than just your own body. Strongman training (loaded carries, barbell lifts, sled pushes and pulls) with some running and a lot of kettlebell conditioning will have you fully prepped for the academy and beyond.

Pavel has a good $10 ebook called "Kettlebell Simple and Sinister" that centers around the Swing and the Turkish Get-Up. You could get by with just those two exercises for the most part IMO.

http://www.amazon.com/Kettlebell-Simple-Sinister-Pavel-Tsatsouline-ebook/dp/B00GF2HP9G

Good luck!