Firefighter Athletes: Why You Should Employ An Aggressive Hydration Protocol

It's a well-researched and proven fact that 15 minutes of firefighting activities (both in Training and live on the fireground) ZAPS about 700mL of water from your body.

When you stack that with a Physical Fitness Program, you're ALWAYS behind the 8 ball when it comes to hydration.

HYDRATION IN A NUTSHELL:

Since water in the body essentially sits amongst 3 compartments (intracellular, intravascular and interstitial); if you're a little on the dry side of hydration, your body will automatically pull water into the vascular space to maintain your preload and ensure circulation to your vital organs.

This TOTALLY comes at the expense of your hard-earned gainz and inhibits effective recovery because you've stripped the cell of one of its primary needs: WATER.

Now you know us, we love some good geeky science. While we need great research with controlled variables to find out how things affect you on the fireground and in the 24 hours AFTER your shift, we all know that real-life firefighting activities don't happen in a test tube.

Yes, firefighting tactics and strategies continue to evolve and improve for all the reasons.  

Yes, the climate change for "Fit For Duty" is underway.

But you're still responsible for you, and employing an aggressive hydration protocol has come to serve EVERY single firefighter I've worked with over the years.

WHAT DOES AN AGGRESSIVE HYDRATION PROTOCOL LOOK LIKE?

It's aggressive-not necessarily in terms of VOLUME per se; but aggressive in the attitude you take towards it to ensure you're hydrating THROUGHOUT the day/shift to stay on the positive side of water balance to remain anabolic and replace what you've depleted through sweat and other insensible loss (i.e. urine, breath vapor, etc).

HOW MUCH WATER DO I NEED?

BE ADVISED: Every athlete is different and has different requirements for how much water/hydration they need.

Most athletes benefit from a minimum of 1 gallon/water per day as a baseline. Stack on some firefighting activities and you will absolutely have to drift upwards on how much volume and for some- the type of hydration/supplementation they require (this has a lot to do with your current Nutrition Program and your body reserves).

HOW DO I KNOW IF I'M WELL HYDRATED OR NOT?

Thirst is a LATE indicator of the need to hydrate- so watch the color of your urine. It should be clear and LIGHT yellow (like the lightest yellow color on a strip of wall paint colors you get from the paint store). The darker the urine, typically, the more you need to hydrate.

Dizziness, palpitations, nausea and weakness...if we're talking exclusively about water balance/hydration status...those are LATE signs of dehydration. These can creep up on you quickly while you're in fight or flight focused on your mission and not paying attention to body signals.

Muscle pain, muscle cramps, joint pain, joint stiffness, loss of flexibility, loss of endurance, loss of strength/power/endurance and prolonged recovery times...these are also signs that can point towards the need for more aggressive hydration tactics and strategies- so do as you do on the fireground: Triage Your Position And Make The Appropriate Adjustments.

We're here to serve you and keep you fit, healthy and functional throughout your career and beyond.

We offer Nutritional Coaching, Fitness Programs and Lifestyle Classes specifically tailored for firefighters on the individual, team and agency level. It would be an honor to work with you- please contact us directly here: https://transformationgold.mykajabi.com/contact-us?_gl=1*10uchci*_gcl_au*MTQ5NDA3ODU0OS4xNzEyODYyMzkz

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