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Transcript

THE OCCUPATIONAL ATHLETE

Did you know you employ them?..

“No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.”

-Socrates

Presented by: Public Safety Fitness Coordinator Aaron Mckissick & VBFD Wellness coordinator Michael Matz

OUR OBJECTIVE

OBJECTIVE

The Occupational Athlete (the Who, What, Where, and Why)

Occupational Athlete = Sport Athletes?

A VBFD System

Questions

BUT FIRST, THE UNFORTUNATE SIDE

UNFORTUNATE SIDE

  • 70% of U.S. firefighters are listed as obese or overweight

  • It has also been reported that only 30% were given necessary medical recommendations on healthy ways to lose weight (Wilkinson et al., 2014).

  • Consequently, individuals with a BMI (Body Mass Index) ≥ 30kg/m² or a waist circumference > 102cm are between 2.8-5.2x more likely to suffer from a musculoskeletal injury (Jahnke, Poston, Haddock and Jitnarin, 2013).

  • This is not only seen within the fire department, but across many first responder and military operations.
  • (Campbell and Evarts, 2020) In 2019 alone, reported injury increase of 4% (60,825) from 2018 in firefighters

Of those injuries, 23,825 (39% of the total) occurred at the fireground.

  • Leading cause was overexertion/strain

  • Inadequate fitness levels may lead to high causes of injury due to overexertion and strain (Dennison, Mullineaux, Yates, and Abel, 2012).

  • Strain, sprains, and muscular pain accounted for non-fireground injuries (~56%)

  • Average cost of injury ranges b/w $1.6-5.9 billion annually ($50k-200k per department; $1500-5500 per firefighter)

  • You can’t deny that there is still an issue

CONT.

WE MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO CURE IT, BUT CONTROL IS A MUST

WHO & THE WHAT IS AN OCCUPATIONAL ATHLETE?

WHO

&

WHAT

  • The Who: All sworn uniformed personnel and non-uniform staff members  We all need to lead by example

  • The What: Although considered different in terms of tasks demands when compared to sport athletes, occupational athletes are needing to provide a comprehensive athletic approach for job tasks readiness which can be considered vast and chaotic.

  • For instance
  • Any call can be challenging biomechanically which can stress the musculoskeletal system differently

  • Duration and frequency of calls and their intensity challenges all aspects of the individual’s bioenergetics (aerobic and anaerobically)

  • Dependent upon the type of call (fire, ems, lift assist, overhaul, etc) different biomotor abilities (speed, power, strength, endurance, flexibility/mobility) are stressed.

  • The body only understands one type of stress AND that is STRESS

  • It can be said that in comparison to preparation for sport, a firefighter’s job includes multiple variables that concurrently influence job-task performance (Gnacinski et al., 2015).

ATHLETE

VS

FIREFIGHTER

CONT.

CONT.

CONT.

CONT.

Job-Task Similarities

4 PILLARS

4 PILLARS

A

Larger Viewpoint

  • Adopted Meyers Athletic Performance Management Model (MAPM)

  • (Hess, Gnacinski and Meyer, 2019).

  • Influence of all 4 aspects that play a significant role in the overall performance and well being of our uniformed personnel.

  • Senior Management and Operations trumps all (Top-down)
  • This cannot be a one man/woman show

  • This is going to take time and effort amongst all to get things rolling

  • Consistency is KEY Lighthouse Concept

  • There must be an interdisciplinary collaboration between commands for the establishment of managing our uniformed personnel’s short-term and long-term health.

What can we take from these two models?

WHERE DO WE START?

  • Because it starts at the top
  • Buy-In is crucial and needs to be an all-in approach
  • All personnel, not just sworn in
  • Based off Brett Bartholomew’s Book, “Conscious Coaching: The Art and Science of Building Buy-In”
  • To Build Buy-In
  • Need to have TRUST and UNDERSTANDING
  • Relationships
  • Social Intelligence
  • Time
  • Conquering virtue.
  • Being patient is not about waiting, but how you act while waiting

Know The Foundations of Health

Encountering the Different Archetypes

The Different Archetypes

  • Everyone we communicate with can be described as embodying a specific personality and behavior in response to certain outcomes.
  • This is not meant to be an exhaustive list, and not everyone will only possess one type, but may transition
  • All in:
  • Technician
  • Soldier
  • Novice
  • Need to work on:
  • Royal
  • Specialists
  • Politician

CONT.

Easiest Attributes of Health

  • Physical Activity
  • Doesn’t always need to be a weight room environment
  • Having Cardiovascular fitness (VO²Max Aerobic Capacity/Power)
  • Muscular Strength/Endurance
  • Mobility
  • Agility
  • Fueling the Body
  • Balanced Diet
  • Hydration

Easiest Attributes of Health

Principles of Training

Principles of Training

BUT DON'T GET TOO CAUGHT UP WITH THAT MATTER

CONT.

AGILITY

What is agility?

  • Getting from point “A” to point “B” through environment-informed decision involving a change of direction.
  • OODA Loop
  • Observe
  • Orient
  • Decide
  • Act
  • Mimic job specific positions and actions
  • Quality over Quantity

NONE OF THIS MATTERS UNLESS

Forgetting

Something?

BALANCE DIET & NUTRITION

  • Fuel to prepare, perform, and recovery
  • Utilize all macronutrients
  • CHO, PRO, and FAT
  • Resist crash dieting rebound effect
  • Don’t think of the word “Diet/Dieting”, but “Meal planning or nutrition regimen”
  • Sets a plan of action towards goals, but also provides a sense of long-term outcome
  • Eat towards goals and task demands
  • Intake > Expenditure = +; Intake < Expenditure = - ; Intake = Expenditure = maintain
  • Simple method
  • Hand Portion for macronutrient measurements
  • Adjust accordingly

HYDRATION

  • Hydration (Fluids)
  • Why is it important?
  • Regulates temperature
  • Lubricates and Cushions tissues
  • Dissolves and Transports Substances
  • How much do we need
  • 30-40 ml per kg of body weight
  • (160lb/2.2 kg) x 40 = 2909…..3000ml x .0338 = 101 oz
  • Roughly 3-4 L’s a day 0r 101oz to 135oz a day
  • Bigger/ Sick people need more

HYDRATION

  • Things that effect hydration levels
  • Training – Intensity, Duration and Frequency
  • .5-2L of Sweat per Hour of Activity
  • Fitness Level
  • Environmental Factors: Heat, Humidity, Altitude
  • Add two cups or more of fluid just for warm dry heat days
  • Others…..Meds, Illness, Travel
  • Performance
  • Loss of 2-3% of body weight can negatively affect performance
  • 10-20% associated with death

Mobility & Flexibility

Why is it important?

  • Decrease chance of injury
  • Prevention of muscle imbalances
  • Correct Imbalances/joint dysfunction
  • Improve/Correct Posture Distortions
  • Enhance strength, joint range of motion and power

Clark and Lucett (2010)

Mobility & Flexibility

NONE OF THIS MATTERS UNLESS

Forgetting

Something?

BALANCE DIET & NUTRITION

  • Fuel to prepare, perform, and recovery
  • Utilize all macronutrients
  • CHO, PRO, and FAT
  • Resist crash dieting rebound effect
  • Don’t think of the word “Diet/Dieting”, but “Meal planning or nutrition regimen”
  • Sets a plan of action towards goals, but also provides a sense of long-term outcome
  • Eat towards goals and task demands
  • Intake > Expenditure = +; Intake < Expenditure = - ; Intake = Expenditure = maintain
  • Simple method
  • Hand Portion for macronutrient measurements
  • Adjust accordingly

HYDRATION

  • Hydration (Fluids)
  • Why is it important?
  • Regulates temperature
  • Lubricates and Cushions tissues
  • Dissolves and Transports Substances
  • How much do we need
  • 30-40 ml per kg of body weight
  • (160lb/2.2 kg) x 40 = 2909…..3000ml x .0338 = 101 oz
  • Roughly 3-4 L’s a day 0r 101oz to 135oz a day
  • Bigger/ Sick people need more
  • Things that effect hydration levels
  • Training – Intensity, Duration and Frequency
  • .5-2L of Sweat per Hour of Activity
  • Fitness Level
  • Environmental Factors: Heat, Humidity, Altitude
  • Add two cups or more of fluid just for warm dry heat days
  • Others…..Meds, Illness, Travel
  • Performance
  • Loss of 2-3% of body weight can negatively affect performance
  • 10-20% associated with death

A VBFD SYSTEM

&

COST-EFFECTIVE

METHODS

THE

APPROACH

  • More Budget friendly ways
  • Get outside
  • Bodyweight movements
  • Newsletters/email
  • Nutrition recipes
  • Station competitions
  • Private YouTube page for training, nutrition, wellness discussions

BUT MIKE & AARON, THIS IS ALL GREAT, BUT WHY?

WHY?

  • Its not uncommon to see and hear of individuals that have not participated in physical activity, but can still perform their duties within their department, so why start now?
  • Longevity
  • Want our guys to reach retirement, but to enjoy their retirement
  • Don’t want to become a statistic
  • 3% (need to be prepared for all scenarios)
  • So often we are reactive, rather than proactive
  • Low-cost fix
  • Shouldn’t be satisfied with the status quo
  • Status quo is not saving 100% lives

QUESTIONS?

QUESTIONS?

THANK YOU!

THANK

YOU

Contact:

mmatz@vbgov.com

(757)-385-1083

Amckissick@vbgov.com