New Year\'s Resolution - I am here to help

[alextheartist]

This is the fire service fitness test (ish) :


Ladder Climb

This is a test of confidence whilst working at height. Candidates must demonstrate the correct \'leg lock\' at ground level before commencing the test. Wearing full Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including a harness, candidates must ascend a fully extended 13.5 metre ladder to approximately second storey height and demonstrate a \'leg lock\'.

The candidate will then be required to lean back with arms outstretched and describe a symbol shown on the floor. The candidate will then descend.
Casualty Evacuation

This is a test of lower and upper body strength. Candidates in full PPE will be required to drag a 55kg casualty walking backwards (guided by an assessor) around a 30-metre course.
Ladder Lift / Lower Simulation

Again, this is a test of upper and lower body strength. Candidates in full PPE will be required to raise a bar 75 cm off the ground to a height of 182cm and back down to the 75 cm support. The weight of the bar at the lifting point will start at 5kg. The maximum load to be added is 15kg.
Enclosed Space

This is a test of confidence, agility and possible claustrophobia whilst working in an enclosed space. Candidates in full PPE and wearing a Breathing Apparatus facemask will be required to negotiate a measured crawl-way within a set time. Half the route will be with clear vision and the other half with obscured vision. You will be required to perform specific tasks during the test.

Full instructions will be given prior to the commencement of the test.
Equipment Assembly

This is a test of manual dexterity. Candidates will be required to assemble and disassemble an item of equipment and follow the colour-coded diagrams provided.
Equipment Carry

This is a test of aerobic fitness, muscular strength and stamina. Candidates will be required to:

* Drag a hose reel from an appliance for 25 metres, then jog back 25 metres.
* Pick up and carry 2-coiled hoses for 100 metres.
* Carry 1-coiled hose at chest height for 25 metres, and then jog back 75 metres.
* Pick up and carry a 2.4 metre suction hose and basket strainer for 100 metres, then jog back 100 metres.
* Pick up and carry a simulated \'Light Portable Pump\' for 100 metres (weighing approximately 30kgs).

In each of the above tests you will be required to complete them within a specified time.

 

[Amazon warrior]

Originally posted by Bigdennis52

Originally posted by Amazon warrior
Mmmk. *doubtful* What about vitamins, then?

Btw, I\'m not actually a great fruit eater personally, but I am quite enthusiastic about veggies. I just wish people would remember the adage \"everything in moderation, nothing to excess\", then I\'m sure there\'d be far fewer problems.

Edit: Another thought also occurs. I\'m not going to dispute your fact-and-figures breakdown, but I will say that looking at food from a purely numerical standpoint leaves out many reasons why we eat what we do. Sure, the brown rice/oatmeal is probably better from a numerical PoV, but when you\'re on the go during the day, what\'s going to come to hand first? Probably a banana or apple. Also, a piece of fruit has different (not necessarily better) taste and mental satisfaction \"values\" (I\'m struggling with terminology here). In addition, I\'m sure if someone was to eat 50 bananas, they\'d regret it, but I\'m equally sure that eating two kilos of porridge would also be bad.

vitamins? what about pesticides? take a daily multivitamin and you get everything you need. 2 kilo\'s of porridge would definitely give you some constipation whereas 50 bananas might make you hyperkalemic (that would suck)

people just need to eat in moderation

^^^ Which is what I said before. Re pesticides: Buy organic where possible and wash things thoroughly before eating them. I\'ve even seen special fruit&veg washes in health food shops. If you\'re that worried about chemicals, better stop eating everything full stop, except perhaps things you\'ve lovingly tended with your own fair hands. Even then, better watch out for acid rain and other nasties washed out of the atmosphere. It\'s a bit late now, considering the casual way we\'ve splashed chemicals around in the environment.

I\'m just wary of breaking everything down into (fairly arbitrary) numbers. It assumes that everyone metabolises food in precisely the same way, which surely can\'t be true. Everyone knows someone who can eat crap until the cows come home yet never put on an ounce. Heaven help me, I\'m going out with someone like that! On the flip side of the coin, someone else can eat very little but still be heavy. I tend to this type- I\'m never ever going to be super-skinny and I accept that. Frankly, at 6\' tall with a solid frame, I\'d look stupid if I lost too much weight. My metabolism is virtually non-existent, but I know it can be improved with exercise, and I\'ve found this to be the most effective way for me to firm up.

I really just see diets as bandwagons that innocent people jump on, and are then crushed by when they fall off, as they inevitably will. Especially diets \"promoted\" by celebrities. They have (hopefully) dieticians and minders and dedicated instructors to guard their every step and mouthful, whereas the average Joe or Joanne in the street doesn\'t necessarily have this wealth of experienced advice. Thus, they\'re going to do the wrong things for themselves because the diet assumes that their body functions in exactly the same way as, say, Jennifer Anniston\'s does. Which is tosh. Then, when the inappropriate diet doesn\'t appear to be working, they\'ll go to extremes or just give up and pile the pounds back on.

 

[Amazon warrior]

@Alex: Sheesh! I\'m probably not cut out to be a firefighter! It\'s enclosed spaces that get to me, never mind all the rest of it. I felt tired just reading it! lol

 

[Springbok]

Thanks for that Alex!
It does sound pretty intense!

It looks like I SERIOUSLY need to start working on my fitness if the test involves all that running
And trips to the pub will have to stop aswell

 

[Amazon warrior]

See? I told you to put down the beer.

 

[Springbok]

I did\'nt buy any today, so thats a start