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I'm 5 foot 7.5 inches and I weight around 178-181. I'm 16 years of age and my max bench has been 225 and I've rep 155 10 times. My max squat is 240 and I can squat 135 10 times. I can curl between 60-70 lbs with a curl bar. I can do 38 push-ups. And I can run a 8 minute mile. Do I permit to become a firefighter?
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stay in shape
stay out of trouble. stay away from drugs. Dont spend all your time in the gym, get outside and work on your agility and stamina. Take as many firefighter exams as you can as young as you can, you'll always be competing against thousands of applicants.Comment
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You'll find out when you take a physical agility test. There's no way for us to look at what you posted and go "oh, well he benches 225, so he can pass the CPAT". I would work on your stamina, though, because an 8 minute mile is REALLY slow. And as eligible said, the best thing you can do is stay out of trouble, away from drugs, and get your diploma.Comment
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In life you will find that it's not the size of the man in the fight that's important, rather the size of the fight in the man that matters.
Follow the advice of the poster above wha recommends staying in school and out of trouble and you will be fine....Paul Lepore
Division Chief
Aspiringfirefighters.com
AspiringFireOfficers.comComment
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Being 16 yrs old, you have a lot of time ahead of you! That's a good thing. As stated earlier, you should finish school and stay out of trouble. Might I suggest you also get involved in an explorers program or become a volunteer, depending on if your local vollie dept. (or career dept.) offers something like that. Talk to some of career guys, find out about the biz, what their life is like and what it took to get there. Get some basic exposure to the life of a firefighter. Find some reputable schools that offer fire science and EMS programs. Yes, I said EMS. In today's day and age, fire fighters are asked to do more than just fire. Some don't like that notion, but it's the way it is. In this line of work, physical stamina, etc. is important, but you need more than just a set of 'gun' and a great fitness level. That's only half of the equation, so to speak! Good luck
...And yes, stay in shape!"If the ladder goes up, the building goes down."Comment
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I am now a past chief and the views, opinions, and comments are mine and mine alone. I do not speak for any department or in any official capacity. Although, they would be smart to listen to me.
"The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on the list."
"When tempted to fight fire with fire, remember that the Fire Department usually uses water."Comment
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You better lay off the weights some and start running and doing more cardio.
I used to see this all the time teaching lifeguarding in college. Each class would have a few student who looked like they spent all day at the weight bench. These people would often be able to swim only a 100 yards in the pool before they were winded, in what was supposed to be a 500 yard warm up swim.
Firefighting is similar in many ways to lifeguarding in that strength does help, but if you don't have the cardio training, stamina and the lungs for it then you can't do the job.
Its nice that you can bench 155 10 times, but being able to work continuously for an hour or more is what is needed; humping hose, pulling ceilings etc. Depending on the department, you may be called to fight brush fires. Can you swing a pulaski axe for hours on end cutting a handline?
The fact that you are interested in working out is a good start, and in the two years until you are old enough to be a firefighter you can change your workouts to include more cardio and less "max out strength training" and be ready to do the job.
Good luck.Comment
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