Wellness is important to all of us – but it’s even more critical for those who work hard to keep our communities safe.

Firefighting is arguably the most physically demanding occupation in the United States.  To be a firefighter, your body requires high levels of endurance and muscular strength, as well as flexibility, and agility.  The Candidate Physical Ability Test is well-known – even infamous – for being one of the toughest physical tests to pass.  Many who are serious about becoming a firefighter embark on a weight regimen to help them pass this firefighting physical ability test.  But a firefighter’s fitness clearly cannot stop after he passes the test. Firefighters need to maintain and continually improve their physical fitness, but not just with weights and cardiovascular training.  A finely-tuned mind-body connection is critical for a firefighter, since the job requires quick thinking and quick response.  This type of employment is clearly not for everyone; staying safe while saving lives requires firefighters to be able to respond in a variety of conditions.

Clearly, a firefighter’s physical fitness is important to his or her job. But in this profession, total wellness does not stop with a simple exercise program for firefighters.  Firefighters are exposed to a variety of toxic substances that can have a devastating effect on their health.  A study by the University of Cincinnati revealed that firefighters are at a greater risk of developing four different types of cancer than the general population.

At Masaya Healing & Wellness Center, our ultimate goal is always to reduce your risks of developing a chronic disease or disabling injury, so that you can live a long, healthy, and happy life.  Our physicians and certified personal trainers have worked hard to develop a comprehensive wellness program for firefighters that’s safe, effective and reduces your health risks, while providing you the abilities to do your job even better than before.

The program includes a physical fitness program which follows the 2008 NFPA 1583 Standard on Health Related Fitness Programs for Fire Department Members, and is specifically tailored to improve power, endurance, flexibility, agility, balance, and coordination.  Our exercise program for firefighters combines the use of unique equipment – kettlebells, Indian Clubs, sandbags, and TruStretch – with traditional strength, cardiovascular, and flexibility equipment to keep the program fun.

The program also includes environmental detoxification in our specially-designed far infrared sauna, to help reduce your body burden and the side effects of the chemical exposures which are encountered everyday you report for work.  Far-infrared treatments have been shown to be an effective way of cleansing the body of accumulated toxins via sweat mechanism — it has, in fact, been used in the treatment of firefighters who have been exposed (Hubbard).
 
As with all our Masaya programs, each firefighter wellness program starts with an individualized health risk assessment and a fitness test.  Based on these results, a unique firefighter fitness program is designed to help reduce the firefighter’s health risks, while also helping a firefighter perform the job even better than ever.

Call 888-253-3830 or Contact Us to learn more.

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