** 29yo F needs HELP w/30-DAY WORKOUT PLAN to prep for Firefighter Agility Test!

T

TheBluestLotus

Member
Hello all!

A brief history: Revising my diet and doing almost all Cathe workouts (once I worked up to that level), pilates, and yoga helped me lose 45lbs several years ago, and get in the best shape of my life about 6 years ago. A couple of different serious life events derailed me, and I'd only been working out off and on since -- starting and stopping. I'm in pretty good shape now, though I haven't yet been able to complete a full step routine without resting once, for maybe a minute or two, at the point of the tape when she transitions between step segments, or has you do the perceived exertion check.

I started taking glucosamine again (yesterday), and will start taking MSM probably Wednesday. After two consecutive days of practicing for the firefighter Physical Agility Test, I had banged my knees up so much that the left one felt "full". Gave it a day and a half to rest, iced, and now it's better. Though it still (**as always**) feels a tad "loose" inside, around the kneecap, I must resume working out! I will say that when I started working out hard years ago, my knees would KILL me -- shooting, stabbing pains ... I worked through it for the most part, but it got too excruciating to do so, which is when I discovered glucosamine w/chondroitin. 30 days later, by the time the bottle ran out, and my physical condition was so much better, my knee issues had completely gone away.

Until now.

What started one hurting again was when I went jogging last week, w/o any insoles to help correct overpronation (feet rolling inward when running/walking). I didn't even think of this, as I hadn't had knee problems in years, and never jog -- just do step. Step doesn't exacerbate it, ironically, but obviously that 20 minutes of jogging (twice that week) did.

As long as I listen to my body and am careful, I don't expect I'll have a huge problem with my knees. But I DO need to stay away from super high-impact stuff like plyometrics. I'm okay with step on risers, and a lil jumping (figure 8's, high knees around the world, etc.) and I modify to a lower-impact version if my knee (or current endurance level!) tells me that day I need to.

I have a little less than 30 days to greatly build up my strength and endurance. What I need your help with is coming up with a good, progressive workout plan. I have yoga, pilates, jogging, and Cathe step and weights routines at my disposal, along with a full set of dumbbells (3 to 25lbs?) at my disposal.

I'm thinking of doing two workouts per day -- cardio in the morning, and resistance in the evening (with Pilates in place of the upper body warmup).

DAY 1: 45mins step
DAY 1: Pilates (15 mins)
DAY 1: 45 mins Pyramid Upper Body

DAY 2: Pilates or Yoga (15 mins)
DAY 2: 1.5mi jog (more of a jog/walk/jog for now :-/)
DAY 2: 45 mins Pyramid Lower Body

DAY 3: 45mins step
DAY 3: Pilates (15 mins)
DAY 3: 45 mins Pyramid Upper

DAY 4: Pilates (15 mins)
DAY 4: 1.5mi jog (more of a jog/walk/jog for now)

DAY 5: 45mins step
DAY 5: Pyramid Lower

DAY 6: Vinyasa yoga (60 mins)
DAY 6: 1.5mi jog (more of a jog/walk/jog for now)
DAY 6: Pyramid Upper

DAY 7: Rest


Thinking of switching between Rhythmic Step, Step Works... stuff like that... then progressing in a few weeks to Step Blast, Power Max, etc. that use more leg power, more endurance, and more high-intensity movements. Also after maybe two(?) weeks of Pyramid Upper and Lower, I'll advance to Muscle Endurance b/c a lot of the firefighter PAT involves it.

For me, to do best on the Phys. Agility Test, I need a much higher level of cardiovascular endurance, a LOT of core strength (which I already *do* have, so not working *quite* hard in that area), and upper body strength (which I need LOTS more of).

Have I worked out a good plan? Or taking everything into account, am I a bit off base? Bear in mind that, above and beyond the plan I've mapped out, if I need to switch days around or substitute things on any given day, I will. Want to achieve my goals, but also prevent injury and give muscle groups the time needed to rest!

Please ... I need your help ASAP.

Thanks. Off to work out now! :~)

~ Blue

P.S. I posted this before in Challenges, but I guess that wasn't the right or best place...?
 
Hi Blue - Firstly, based on what you've posted about your knees, I really recommend seeing a doc and/or physical therapist. A knee that feels full or loose is just bad...bad. That needs to taken care of first.

AFTER your knee issues are cleared up, if your goal is to pass the firefighters agility test (are you trying to become a firefighter?), I suggest you look into CrossFit. It's a program for general physical preparedness (GPP) and is used a lot by police, firefighters, military personnel and folks in other similar work environments.

CrossFit - http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/what-crossfit.html

Based on what I've seen as criteria for the Firefighters Physical Agilty test (http://www.portlandonline.com/FIRE/index.cfm?c=43243&a=172102), I wouldn't even bother step, pilates or yoga. I'd get a sandbag (40lbs or more..get more) and start walking around with it, walk up and down stairs, carry it for walks around the neighborhood (yes, the neighbors will stare, but it's fine), do push ups and pull ups, pick up heavy stuff off the ground and put it over your head (that works the core like nothing else). I'd definitely start focusing on doing things like the sample test describes (ladder carries, body drags, etc).

30 days is a pretty tall order to prep for this stuff cold turkey.

Here's some reading material on CrossFit being used for firefighter training:
http://k.b5z.net/i/u/2164139/f/Putting_Out_Fires.pdf
http://journal.crossfit.com/2007/05/implementing-crossfit-at-east.tpl
http://journal.crossfit.com/2009/01/broke-back-comeback.tpl

HTH
 
I think Gayle has a lot of good suggestions. For training you need to replicate a lot of what you're going to be tested on. I worked for a police department and I know we had orientation classes for potential recruits to do a pre-fit test and tell them exactly what they needed to work on before they took the true test. Does the agency you're wanting to work for having something like that? Can you talk to the trainers for that agency and find out what you need to do?
 
I third what Gayle said. From what I know of fire fighting training, Cathe workouts will not cut it. Cross fit is much more the kind of workout you'll need.

However, that being said, knees are not something to mess around with. They are such a pivotal part of the way we walk and move that if you injure a knee and train through it, you can end up with foot, hip and back problems. Go to a doctor and get it checked out. I do some pretty hard core things and the only time I've managed to get fluid on my knee is when I've fallen directly onto it. If I had fluid strictly from over exertion, I'd be worried and would not continue with any training before getting it checked out. And another thing - I've had knee injuries from running and cycling - and they take at least 2 weeks of complete rest to feel a little better. So, do take care of yourself.
 
Shucks.

Well it's not necessarily cold turkey -- I'd been working out some, just not as regularly
as I had when I first started several years back. And it'd been a few months since I'd
been working out, before this. So like I said, I was in pretty good shape, and was able
to do everything we had to do in the PAT practice. Just not in top form. ~lol~ They all
said that I did really well, except with that dang obstacle course, but I finally figured it
out before leaving the second day of practice. (Surprisingly, the 2ft-diameter, 20-foot
long tunnel crawl was hardest for me, b/c I'm 6ft tall AND my legs are longer than most
6ft tall people's! So it was all upper body strength and my arms were crying when I
was done... til I figured out a better way!)

Really the only thing I'm worried about is that 1.5 mile run as quickly as possible
without tiring myself out too much to complete the rest of it. Everything else was
TOUGH, but won't be a sticking point now that I've got that tunnel down. (And yes,
there's a dummy drag where you have to drag a 165lb dummy 100(?) feet. They said
that that was the the event women have the most trouble with, but I did as well as
and better than some of the in-shape guys. So I'm really not that worried.)

As far as the knee, yes, yes ... of course -- I would love to go to the doctor for it, as
I only just realized last week that something odd has been going on with it for so long.
But again, after that first several weeks when I started working out years ago, even
with all the stuff I've been doing, I've never had real problems with it. Of course now I
AM about to be 30. :-( Maybe that matters more than I'd think? I don't know. But my
insurance just stopped and I'm (literally) NOT in a position to accrue another bill at this
point. Trust me, I'm not one of those people who shies away from doctors or wouldn't
go just for not having insurance. If I had money, I would go! I'm going to look into a
clinic or something, but the ones I'd found previously seem only to deal with "women's"
issues, and this is totally unrelated.

How would I know if there's fluid, like someone suggested, or if it's just swollen? Having
iced it after jogging that time, where I hurt it, reaaaaaaaaaaally helped.

Ah. I just looked at the PDF for the Portland test -- wow! Ours is not that strenuous
at ALL! There's:

* the dummy drag (Get ... 60 secs? Mine was about 30)
* the "ladder halyard" (Get 35 secs, did mine in 12)
* obstacle course (that simulates a hose drag, serpentine runs, tunnel crawl, etc.)
* going up 4 flights of stairs wearing a 50-lb vest (Get 60 secs, mine was 21)
* sit and reach (must do 15", I did 22")
* 1.5 mile run (Get 16 mins -- I'd love to get down to 12 if I can!)

The two days of practice I mentioned were where applicants were allowed to come
spend as much time as they wanted DOING the actual stuff (above) we'll have to do
on the course. And yes, we were given a handbook before our practice days that
explained that stuff -- but I had no idea what a lot of it meant or actually entailed
til I got out there and got my hands (and evvvvverything else ;)) dirty.

So, truly, more than anything, I need to increase my ENDURANCE level (both muscular
and cardiovascular), and my current fitness level consequently increasing is a bonus. I
may have made things seem more dire than they actually are.

I think I addressed everyone's comments and concerned. THANK YOU all for your help
-- this was awesome!! Please let me know what you think with a little more insight into
my situation.

I'm looking into CrossFit. :~)
 
andtckrtoo said:
I third what Gayle said. From what I know of fire fighting training, Cathe workouts will not cut it. Cross fit is much more the kind of workout you'll need.
Click to expand...

Oops, I forgot this. Yes, I wholeheartedly agree, as far as the actual training
is concerned. But that won't come until after I pass the test!

The Fire Department will train all new recruits as we need to be trained. (Just
how that works and what we'll do is in the handbook I got, too.) What I'm
harping on about here is just prepping for the Physical Agility Test that we do
to see if we're one of the candidates they'll consider hiring -- and consider
training.

Thanks for your insight, especially about the knee stuff. I think my question
about fluid vs. regular swelling was for you. :~)

~ Blue
 
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