Firefighter career

[porphy]

Originally Posted by UnderseaLcpl

I have some advice for your running, chin-ups, and push-ups.

To improve your running rapidly, try singing whilst running if you are suitably alone, or else hold your breath for short periods of time during your runs. It helps to build your lung capacity, which is key in distance running.
For push-ups, wear a heavy backpack or elevate your legs. Also, use 4-count push-ups; down-up-down-up, 1. It will be extremely taxing for a few days, but it will make regular push-ups seem like child's play.
I like to make a habit of doing them during TV commercials.

Chin-up workouts in my preferred fashion are a bit harder to do, and require some self-discipline. Put a chin-up bar in the doorway to your room and do as many as you can (or a flexed-arm hang for as long as you can) every time you go through the doorway. In addition to boosting your strength, it also boosts your memory. I can assure you that after a few days of this regimen, you'll never forget your cellphone on the nightstand again

I'm highly sceptical about the hold breath advice... You won't improve your ability to get oxygen into your blood and muscles that way, more likely you will look silly and have a strange breathing pattern when running. If you want to train for performing without enough oxygen in your vessels, just run harder and it will have the same effect. (talking to a running partner during the run is good speed regulator though, if you want to avoid going too fast on endurance running sessions. I guess singing loud will have the same effect, although a bit more suspect... )

Putting on extra weights for doing chin ups or push ups can be good indeed, but you have to be at a quite high level already. Basically, you only do this when your own body weight isn't enough to trigger improvement any more, or if you want excess strength, part from moving you own weight. Doing it when not strong enough will possibly cause injuries. Muscles get stronger quicker than tendons and ligaments, so if you put on a lot of stress very quickly, which your muscles probably copes with, you can instead easily hurt where muscles attach to the bone.

As a fire fighter you will no doubt need extra of everything in the future, with all the gear you wear or carry, but there is no need to train with extra weights from the start, unless you already can perform the 70 push ups or the 15 chin ups with your own body weight. You won't get more points in the trial from doing 10 strong chin ups, but failing the last 5 because of lacking muscle endurance.

I guess it's true that you will be good at exactly what you train at, if your target is doing 15 chin ups with body weight, train for that, if the target is doing 10 chin ups with extra 15 kilo on your back, train for that, but the first step got to be doing 10 chin ups anyway...