Brutal Workout, yet fun

[Catrin]

Today's "Funday" workout revolved around a theme - the regional Fireman Combat Competition is next weekend and our trainer has helped to train firemen/women and has two brothers who are firemen. He decided to base the workout around the challenges they face in this competition to give us a tiny idea of what they have to do.

After a quite effective and lengthy warmup, we had two segments of various partner exercises at different stations. He tried to partner us up with someone the same basic size (especially for the final exercise). Each team spent 3 minutes at each station and each partner rests while the other did the exercise..

Segment 1:

A. Carrying 20 pound dynamax ball or 30 lb medicine ball on the shoulder, walk up 5 flights of stairs, skipping steps was allowed, must hold rail with the other hand. At the top switch to other shoulder, no skipping steps on the way down. At bottom switch partners.
B: Farmers Carry with 1 kettlebell down a cone course. Switch hand/arm on way back.
C: Beat up tire on the ground (standing on tire) with hammer, choice of 12 or 8 pound hammer. This is great stress relief!
D: Kettlebell single arm standing row (unsure what to call this) from ground to shoulder - touch ground and switch hands quickly before pulling up again - this is to simulate the part of the challenge where they must pull a rope tied around a heavy object to the top of a tower.

Rest

Segment 2:

A. Beat up on tire again, this time tire is up against the wall simulating beating a door in.
B. Farmers Carry with two 40 lb kettlebells down another cone course.
C. Monster rope with a 30 lb plate tied to one end. Take other end of rope and run with it a certain distance and return. Amazing what it felt like when the slack was taken up (that was only 50 lbs combined, firemen have much, much more)
D: Partner places heels on valslides, wrap arms around partner from behind and drag partner 50 meters. Switch and repeat.

This workout was very good, and also thought provoking to consider the level of effort that our firemen and women must reach in order to maintain the appropriate level of fitness to do whatever they must do. We just got the tiniest of tastes, can't imagine doing what they must do with a 70 lb pack plus breathing artificial air.