Firefighter Stairclimb 2008

[AaronYork]

Is anyone participating?
If you have participated in the past, whats it like, hows it work?

[ffbam24]

Firefighter Stairclimb - March 2, 2008
Sorry, tired right now. I'll address tomorrow.

[jremNY]

Planning on attending/participating in 2008.

Would like to hear from previous attendees about

1)Individual participation (not group/team)
2)Staircase layouts
3)recommendation on training

Current conditioning:
4-5 days/week CrossFit workouts
1x week Stepmill 15 min w/50 lbs weightvest (avg 75 steps/min)
1x week stairclimb 10 story building x 4-7 reps
1-2x week Running/Soccer

[BKDRAFT]

I will be there anticipating on finishing in the top 20. Good luck to all who make it out for the competition.

[jremNY]

I'll be right in front of you!

[BKDRAFT]

We'll see about that.

[jonnyirons2]

Whats a good time? I cant find prior results anywhere. I think I could do it about 14 minutes. Its also easier to be able to use your right hand while going up the stairs, as opposed to using the stepmill and not holding on. ``

[acado64]

Are there any similar races anywhere else ? I can't get to Seattle that time of year, but would love to try it out.

Stay safe.

[BKDRAFT]

Are there any similar races anywhere else ? I can't get to Seattle that time of year, but would love to try it out.

Stay safe.

Here is a list of some similar type Firefighter stairclimbs. All have different rules.

Canada Life CN Tower Climb for WWF (Toronto, Canada)

Empire State Building Run-Up (New York, NY)

Enbridge CN Tower Stair Climb for United Way (Toronto, Canada)

Go Vertical! Chicago (Chicago, IL)

Hustle Up the Hancock (Chicago, IL)

Leukemia & Lymphoma Big Climb (Seattle, WA)

Scott Firefighter Stairclimb (Seattle, WA)

Seattle Stair Climb-CF Foundation (Seattle, WA)

Stair Climb to the Top (Los Angeles, CA)

Step Up for Kids (Chicago, IL)

Winding Up the Wachovia (Miami, FL)

[BKDRAFT]

Whats a good time? I cant find prior results anywhere. I think I could do it about 14 minutes. Its also easier to be able to use your right hand while going up the stairs, as opposed to using the stepmill and not holding on. ``

Click this link ---> http://www.lls.org/all_page?item_id=392410

They have the 2006 and 2007 results posted. On a stepmill in 5,000' elevation in full gear I am pulling 15 minutes. That's with my department issued turnouts, leather helmet, and a 1 hr bottle.

[Drjmilus]

No matter how hard you train for the stair climb, your legs will feel like rubber when you're through. The time it takes to recover from this depends on your fitness level and your V02 Max. VO2 Max is the maximum amount of oxygen your body can process in order to feed your muscles to do work. If your VO2 Max is not high enough, you simply fail. Your legs may give out, or worse, you may become injured.

To avoid these pitfalls, you must train properly!

Gradually pushing up your limits over time can allow your body to compensate a little bit each time. This allows your heart and lungs to get stronger each time, thus preparing you for more, harder work the next time.

This is an event that is really easy to train for. You simply need a road-map of how much weight to use when, and a plan of how to safely increase resistance and duration. You really do need a weight vest for this. They are sold at weightvest.com.

Remember that training on the step mill is only part of the training process necessary for training for this type of event. Your legs need to be trained with medium to heavy weights. This step mill training plan is only a very small part of the bigger picture. If all you do for your legs is this training plan, you will probably fail at any such competition.

Warning! Many people train with a back pack full of sand, or by carrying a weight plate. Don't do this! It changes the biomechanics, and puts your spine at risk! It causes small amounts of injury each time you do it. This adds up, and will cause you problems in the future. As you age, you are much more likely to hurt your back. These sorts of injury are often career changing, if not career ending! Use a weight vest!

Another Warning! See your physician before beginning any exercise program! If at any time, you feel dizzy, sick, or sore for more than 48 hours in one particular area, stop doing the offending exercise! Ask your doctor’s opinion! Remember that no everyone’s body is intended for these uses!

Watch your Achilles tendons!

Make sure when you step up onto that next step each time, that your feet hit the step in this order: heel-ball-toe, then push-off. Do not do this training on the balls of your feet, or with your heels hanging of the stairs as you step. This will lead to injury of your Achilles tendon(s).

Special Cases: Big feet or no Step Mill

Remember, there are cases when some people cannot train on a step mill, but must use something to simulate it. These limitations might be: your feet are too big for the mill’s steps or lack of equipment.

In either case, I recommend a step used for aerobics or a stair at home. The step should be should be 8-9 inches high. This means you will have to step up, up, then back down off the back: down, down. Get your whole foot on the step (or on the floor) with each up and down. No heels should hang off. Going up, it will go heel-ball-toe and coming down it will go toe-ball-heel. Change your lead leg each 30 seconds of step training to avoid Achilles stress. Remember, you would count an up-up, then down-down, as one step. You must do 60 of those per minute.

Tall Buildings:

I do not recommend using a tall building unless it’s tall enough to keep walking steadily up stairs for 6 minutes without stopping. In other words, don’t choose a place where you have to walk up 2 flights, then walk back down again before you can walk back up. This will do 2 things: 1. it will give your heart rate a chance to slow, thus not training you well. 2. Walking down stairs is not good for your knees. Even if they are young and healthy, why do it? Especially training? You should save those knees for coming down the stairs of a burning building once you have a job- with a person in your arms!



For the rest of this article, click here

You'll have to scroll down to the article on step mill training.
You'll need to keep adding time and intensity to this training plan to get you were you need to be for this type of competition.

Dr. jen
www.fireagility.com

[BKDRAFT]

I don't know if it will help anyone, but here's an artcile about training here.

You'll have to scroll down to the step mill training article.

Dr. Jen
www.fireagility.com

The CPAT doesn't come close to the training and shape you need to be in to be competitive for the Seattle Stairclimb. CPAT = JOKE

[Drjmilus]

You are right, the CPAT is much easier than this type of competition.

[BKDRAFT]

I posted that when you had your website link and that was all. Your website is all about helping others with the CPAT which isn't close to the level of training of the stairclimb like we have established. Either way you have some good points in there. Your statement saying you really need a weight vest is simply not true. We are all firefighters here. Wear what your going to wear during the competition. Full bunker gear on air. That's how I train.

[jonnyirons2]

This sounds like fun. But how the hell do you travel there with an SCBA? Its bad enough dealing with the clowns that TSA hires, but try it here in NYC Airports, its a thousand times worse.

[BKDRAFT]

This sounds like fun. But how the hell do you travel there with an SCBA? Its bad enough dealing with the clowns that TSA hires, but try it here in NYC Airports, its a thousand times worse.

Scott sponsors the vent and will have three air trailers on site. When you register you can ask to rent a pack. They have quite a bit.

[jremNY]

What do they rent for?

Our dept only has "30" minute bottles and wouldn't mind getting a little bit more air without stopping.

-JR

[fireslayer1237]

This sounds like fun. But how the hell do you travel there with an SCBA? Its bad enough dealing with the clowns that TSA hires, but try it here in NYC Airports, its a thousand times worse.

I'm doing the stair climb also this year. the average time tends to be in the 20 min. area. jonnyirons if you need a pack I can probably get you one with a mask we have a large group going from my dept. we have 45 min. MSA's