New Member
i am schedule to finish up my fire acadamey in april. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions or experience in getting ready for this kind of event. I have a hose drag course, we have to drag a dummy out of a 3 story building in full-turnout, and etc. i thought maybe someone on here was a fireman or had some suggestions.
Anabolic Member
My Father is a retired Firefighter and I have been testing for the past year. My best suggestion is to maxime your cardio with the stairmaster on the hardest setting. You might even want to put on a backpack with a 25 or 45 lb plate in the back pack to get ready. It is better to be ahead of the challenge than behind. The charged hose drag lean forward as low as you can and take small steps. The dummy drag keep the body as close to you as can and watch your footsteps. That dummy is around 150lbs. plus your full turn-out.
New Member
i appreciate it. is there any kind of drill or workout that you know that might replicate the hose drag?
Anabolic Member
The only thing I would suggest is getting a sled and loading it up with weights or bricks tie a rope to it and and pull that with the rope over your shoulder.Originally Posted by RockhardKnockout10
AR VET
Wear a weighted vest (or if possible wear full gear) and run steps, pace yourself but keep your heartrate at above 130-140bpm for a prolonged period of time, the courses are pretty intense for some stations so you'd better get your heart in shape before your muscles.
Banned
You shouldn't have to drag a dummy out of a 3 story building by yourself, I never did that and the agility test is the same everyplace I thought. It's a National standardized test. When I did mine we had to wear a lead filled vest which was around 50 lbs, a helmet, and gloves. You run up to the 3rd story in the drill tower carrying a rolled hose over your shoulder(it's probably 30 lbs) you get to the window in the 3rd story, drop the hose load, then you have to lift another roll of hose up attached to a rope from the ground into the window. From there you run back down 1 story and out the fire escape stairs. Then you have to hit a weight with a rubber sledge hammer and move it so far, all it is is a little metal track with a weight on it, your standing with your legs apart and smacking it backwards until it gets to the end of the thing, then you grab a charged 2 1/2 hoseline and walk like 100ft with it. Last thing they have you do is drag a 150lb dummy backwards another 100ft. Hell, they even had a nylon strap you could use if you couldn't pick the thing up, it's pretty retarded easy now. You have 7 minutes to do everything, bro I did it in 2 min 30 seconds, I was dieting and doing cardio at the time for a show anyways so it made it easier. My advice is just to keep up with the cardio 4-5 days a week, hit up the stairmaster a few times/wk, that'll definitely help. And I see your in Texas, your in for a real treat, I hear the recruit classes out there are pretty brutal compared to some other places. From what I understand, a lot of places say they dont even put much emphasis on the agility test, it's either pass or fail, the guy who did it in 2 minu. has no advantage of getting hired over the sack of shit who did it in 6 min. but I'd bust my ass to do it as fast as possible, they say it doesnt mean anything but I think that all depends on who is the one doing the hiring. Good luck to you, it's the best job in the world bro, it's totally worth it!!!
Protein Power
hey SS...my bro is a firefighter in Collier County Florida...he's got all the certifications & went thru all that crap...If you want to talk to him,PM me & i'll give u his email...
New Member
was your test just a standard CPAT test
Banned
Ok, I just found out about this yesterday for you, I asked my Captain and he says that it is in fact different in other places, I'm not sure whether mine was CPAT or not. Anyways, run some stairs and try to clean up your diet and you should do fine, good luck. Any questions just ask me bro
Banned
it differs in FL. in that you have to be EMT certified before you get hired on with the Fire Dept. I think. I hear you also have to pay for your own training? I would love getting on w/ Charleston, SC. We vacation down there every year, if I was at a station on one of the peninsula's or Folly beach it'd be the bomb. What a perfect job for a bodybuilder!!!!
New Member
yea i have been running bleachers, doing the stair master, and lifting i have heard from different things from different people about the difficulty of it. the CPAT test seems pretty basic i cant really imagine anyone would really have a lot of troulbe w/ it. how difficult is it to function w/ full SCBA?
New Member
Hey man... I just read this thread and I dont know if youve already tested but I run stadiums with my gear on. I do about 10 and then I run 5 without gear... It will whoop you but ill tell ya ive never fallen out on a fire!!
Member
I've been a fire fighter for 5 yrs now,i also had too take the CPAT,we had 10min 21 sec to complete the course,that persisted of a 1) 70lb ve st on a stair master for 3 min 20 sec,2) then to a hose drag, 3) then a equipment carry, 4) ladder raises extenxion and fixed , 5) forcable entry , 6) 180 lb Dummy drag, 7) blind maz , 8) ceiling breaches.I did it in 8 1/2 min.
This is some of the workouts I did.
I would do the CPAT run itself and what ever i felt weal on i would punish that simulation ,for me it was the dummy drag as most.
I would take a HARD run for 10mins.
Coleman lunges
Dummy drags for sets of failure
Associate Member
I'm on CFD and all I can say is Cardio Cardio cardio. We run alot in the academy. Also hit the stairs prefeably with a weighted pack. Half the job is hauling stuff up and down the stairs like a Mule LOL. Also stay extremly hydrated it gets hot in the bunker gear alone.
Junior Member
What I did was i borrowed a weighted 50lb vest from a friend and i would do the stairmaster machine for about 5mins with 20lb dumbbells in each hand. I would do that for 3 sets with the last set just with the vest no weights.
Look online for the vest or at Sports Authority. It's a good investment! There's also little tricks that make the test easier but you will learn that once you do the test. Each time you do the test your body gets a lilttle use to it and i gets easier. At first it sucks!
Cardio and leg strength are the key! It's funny seeing these big guys fail the test and see this lilttle chics that weigh half them pass the test!
good luck
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