Quote Originally Posted by shootingstar View Post
You sure you aren't asking if we could qualify to become a firefighter or police officer after those fitness tests? Because some of those physical fitness tests are what the larger fire departments use...IF they are serious about hiring fit, bright and resourceful men and women. BIG controversy especially with women trying to penetrate the firefighter ranks.. without being part of the boys' networks..

At this time, I probably would fail on several aspects...ie. I can't swim, I don't have enough upper body strength and I don't jog.

So just cycling regularily...could it help me? At least I know I am mobile enough in body movement that if I had to move quickly I probably could...for a short time and stay balanced. What we probably take for granted in regular exercise, is overall body balance and abit higher awareness of self body movement..while moving along. And the older some of us cyclists are, the more we take for granted this sense of good balance and fluid body movement compared to the general population at same age level.

Even trying to maintain pace, does require a certain amount of sustained effort and personal persistence combined with a mild form of aggression.

And that aggression can be useful for self-protection..for any woman. However for me, I'm not sure I'm of great use to save anyone..except perhaps to grab a young child from danger.on land...I know my overall movements could be fast enough.
True...I guess some of this does sound like what prospective firefighters have to do (well, this one would be more like a lifeguard test), but at the same time it's the sort of situations anyone could find themselves in. And I do think the cycling and other exercise definitely help--those of us on this board are most likely a lot more prepared than the people on the show last night were! It's kind of scary to think the majority of the population in this country is so out of shape that they aren't physically equipped to handle an emergency. I'm also starting to think adding some strength training to my routine would be a good idea...at 5' 2.5" and under 110 lbs, I am at a bit of a disadvantage in the strength department and that is the one area where I might have a problem in an emergency situation (and besides, it was suggested at PT that I start doing some strength work to build up more muscle and help with bone building).