Need to dramatically improve fitness level

I landed a job on a much more physically demanding fire crew this summer (rappel crew) and I need to boost my fitness level significantly. I've got about 2.5 months, which is plenty of time to make some progress. I'm in decent shape, but not good enough. And I'm not going to be the slowest guy on the crew. I already checked out Foggy's thread here http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...weight+fitness

Goals:

1) Put about 15-20 pounds of muscle weight. (Not all in 2.5 months, thats a longer term goal) This is opposite of what alot of guys here seem to be aiming for. In the past when I have started seriously training aerobically I lose weight even as my calorie intake goes up, it's really difficult for me to gain weight.
2) Increase upper body strength and endurance.
3) Increase overall hiking endurance and speed and weight carrying ability.

I'll probably be doing cardio 5 times a week by riding, skiing, running or power hiking. I'll be throwing some intervals in there too. Figuring I need to be in the gym 3 days a week. And alter my diet so I am consuming more protein and carbs?

The thing I really need to work on is carrying heavy loads, think 80-125 pounds and upper body strength and endurance. I don't really know of a way to tackle this. I could just start packing around 80 pounds and trash my body, but I'd rather figure something else. Squats, lunges, etc?

On the face of it, Body for Life weight training seems like a good option for the weight training side of things. I need to be lifting more weight, but I also need to improve the endurance of my upper body muscles.

Anybody else in a position where they need to get in shape for the fire season? What do you do? Anyone have some good tips?

What exactly does rappel crew entail task-wise other than carrying heavy loads?

Why the perceived need for more upper body strength?

start skipping rope

Body for Life is a great starting point. Squats anfd lunges will help with the pack weight, but try doing aquats on a bosu ball so you train your balance as well. I can't imagine the terrain you work in is flat so you'll be saving your knees and back this way.

Not sure if this will help since I'm a woman and I train to stay in shape for skiing and an occasional race.

When working out I have a tendency to get lean very quickly. What helps me keep weight on are protein shakes. I prefer the Max Muscle High 5 slow release. I have one in the morning for breakfast and one in the afternoon around three.

For cardio I prefer a cardio kickbox class at the gym. I do this 3-4 times a week. Not sure if this will help you but I know there are a few firemen in that class. I've seen a few firemen get there asses kicked
the first few weeks of class. The class consists of running, push-ups, tricep dips, lunges, kick combinations, some plyometrics, kicking and punching a bag. Plus anything else the instructor can think of to torture us. This class makes an hour seem like a lifetime.

I lift 3x a week. I'm kind of lazy when it comes to this so I try to work on 2 or 3 muscle groups a session with 3 to 4 exercises per muscle. Since I like looking like a woman I keep the weight low and the reps high. You might want to try the opposite, maybe pick up a Muscle & Fitness magazine they have a lot of good workouts for men. Plus they also have diet tips.

Something you might want to try for upper body strength is a weight vest http://www.weightvest.com/. Hill intervals with one of these on should help.

Good luck I hope some of this helps.

ctarmchair-

Digging line, running a chainsaw for 10 hours or more, rappelling out of helicopters, the usual wildland firefighting shit. Lots of hiking.

Upper body strength has always been my weakness. I'm not trying to look like Arnold, but I'd like to not look like a heroin addict either.
truth-

I'll look into the bosu ball. Sounds like it could be a knee killer.

How much protein should I be consuming per day?

For me nothing beats pull ups for upper body strength. I'm also a big fan of super sets in the gym. For example one superset of bench press would be 4 sets of 6 reps with 10 second rest between sets. Repeat this 3 times and make sure you have a spotter for the last super set. Make sure you grunt loudly and let the bar drop on the rest for maximum effect.

For endurance I would run hills or bleachers. Now I've gotten somewhat lazy and stick to mostly cross trainers in the gym or trail running if its nice out.

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Originally Posted by char

ctarmchair-

How much protein should I be consuming per day?

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I've always been told 1.5 to 3 grams per Kg of your weight depending on your muscle mass goal.

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Originally Posted by char

ctarmchair-

Digging line, running a chainsaw for 10 hours or more, rappelling out of helicopters, the usual wildland firefighting shit. Lots of hiking.

Upper body strength has always been my weakness. I'm not trying to look like Arnold, but I'd like to not look like a heroin addict either.
truth-

I'll look into the bosu ball. Sounds like it could be a knee killer.

How much protein should I be consuming per day?

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Nothing you describe would really benefit from 15-20 lbs of added muscle weight or from increased upper body strength. Further, 15-20 llbs of muscle would entail a total weight gain of even more, maybe 25-30 ilbs total, depending how you put the weight on.

Rappelling -- zero upper body strength required. Digging line -- I'd honestly find a patch of dirt somewhere, maybe volunteer as a "digger" for some community garden, and put in longer and longer stints with a trencher. Chainsaw for 10 hours straight: the forearm and core endurance can be issues here, particularly as regards vibration, but tough to train specifically. Sledgehammer or baseball bat work on a tire -- basically, beat the heck out of said tire with the sledgehammer or baseball bat -- or just plain chopping wood could be good crosstraining approaches. Also farmer's walks that last say 10-15 minute intervals.

Bosu ball: are you going to be fighting fires on a spheroid surface? The thing with balance training is that it tends to be very specific to that specific type of balance. Watch a great skier on their first day snowboarding, or a trained ballerina on her first day skiing.

As for carrying heavy loads, again, there are powerlifters who can squat unholy amounts who would pass out after a quarter mile hike with a 80 lb pack. Different energy systems. A good way to go might be water jugs in a pack: fill at the bottom of a hike with a river or other ready water supply, hike up, dump the water to save your knees on the wya down, then hike back down, repeat. Or, load the pack, hike up, dump water, then ski down, depending where you are.

Look at any work crew doing hard manual labor, the pretty boys with big arms generally are going to fade if they have to work hard all day. The guys who are a bit wiry, maybe with even a bit of a pot belly, are the ones who just keep on going.

Re: protein, don't worry about it, eat enough dead flesh that you feel satisfied but don't neglect the carbs or the fat. Go for spaghetti & meatballs, chicken with rice & chili with dollops of olive oil & sour cream, that sort of thing, & eat until you're not hungry. Pizza. Don't forget the beer!

^^^Good advice there.

If you're going to run, trail run. Use a filled hydration pack and toss a few rocks in for good measure. Seek out hills...real hills, like 5-7 mile ascents. Learn to pace yourself.

For arm strength, carying filled 20oz water bottles (take off the straps!) when running for several hours is a good start.

The most important thing is the desire and attitude. If these are lacking, it will be tough. Enjoy the challenge!

Congrats, char! What crew did you get on?

I usually concentrate on my upper body and cardio pre-season. Pushups and pullups are probably the best way to prepare for critical on my crew. In the first week we do 200-400 pushups/day. So, I try to be prepared for that. We do a lot of pushups because you can do them anywhere. Throw a pullup bar somewhere convenient in your house and do a few reps each you walk by it.

Like ct said, extra muscle mass isn't as important as endurance. Some of the biggest guys on my crew are the first to hit the wall on a bust-your-ass line digging day.

Hiking with weight will definitely help, but you don't need to torture your body with an 80 lb. pack. Just get used to hiking with 50lbs and work on hiking faster and getting your heartrate up into the 80-90 percentile. Interval training helps a lot. Push yourself as hard as you can for 3-4 minutes at a time and then back off for a couple minutes at a time. If you're worried about the 80 lb pack test give yourself a trial once or twice to make sure you can do it, but your body takes too much abuse through the season to beat it up before you even start. My hike of choice for preseason training is Glory (1600 ft bootpack over 3/4mi.) Throw some extra weight in the pack and see how many people you can pass by the time you get to the top. It's about time to switch back to the heavy skis...

Good luck with the training and the new crew!

did you start skipping rope yet?

better start soon.

get one with the heavy hands ( weighted hands)

once you can rally the rope for more then 5 minutes- no stopping, no foot-catching, with the heavy hand version, you know you are on the right track.

I dont mean lolly-gagging on the rope- jump it like Rocky did.

So basically, keep cutting and splitting wood in the backyard. I'm the skinny, wiry type and was looking to put on a little weight.

Thanks guys and gals, I think I'm set.

Practice sitting under a tarp next to a cooler.

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Originally Posted by MT

Practice sitting under a tarp next to a cooler.

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Bwa! Everyone keeps telling me that...