In this article we are going to dive deep into how to structure an off-season PT plan for wildland firefighters. An annual PT plan for a wildland firefighter should have similar phases that competitive athletes' training plans have: fire season (aka in-season), post-season, off-season, pre-season. Each ‘season’ should prioritize specific training qualities.

When I was a strength and conditioning coach in professional baseball I would build out an annual plan, broken down by phases:

Feb-Sep - In-Season
Feb-Mar: Spring Training
Apr-Sep: Competitive Season
Sep: Playoffs
Oct-Feb - Off-Season
Oct: Post-Season
Nov-Jan: Off-Season
Jan-Feb: Pre-Season

Each “season” had different demands, and the physical training (weight room, conditioning, etc) was different based on those demands.

Next, here are general aspects that each season should focus on, starting with an understanding of the demands of fire-season.

Fire-season demands:
-A ridiculous amount of hiking (obviously)
-High volume load carriage
-High volume aerobic stress
-High unilateral stresses (hiking/carrying saw on right shoulder only, digging line one way more than the other, etc)
-Chronic poor recovery/sleep/nutrition
-Caffeine/nicotine abuse (likely)

Post-season (~4 weeks) should focus on:
-Getting back into healthy habits with sleep, nutrition, and reducing caffeine/nicotine intake (sorry)
-Building back strength and lean muscle that was lost during season
-Prioritizing soft tissue work (foam rolling, massage, yoga, stretching, etc)
-Regaining range of motion, particularly hip mobility, shoulder mobility, and posterior chain (hamstrings, calves) flexibility
-Regaining core stability
-Emphasizing bilateral strength
-Rebuilding aerobic capacity with low load conditioning
-Reintroducing high-intensity conditioning in small doses

Off-season (~16 weeks) should focus on:
-Overall program blends strength training and endurance training
-Focus on your improving specific weaknesses
-Improving aerobic capacity (priority)
-Building max strength
-Improving muscular endurance
-Introduces plyometrics in small doses to develop power and athleticism
-Increases high-intensity conditioning (1-2x/week)
-Balance between unilateral and bilateral lifts
-Reintroducing load carriage/hiking 1-maybe 2x/month
-Mobility/flexibility work as needed

Pre-season (~8 weeks) should focus on:
-Increasing hiking volume (1x/week, maybe more as you get closer to season)
-Continue to build aerobic capacity
-Continue to train high intensity conditioning 1-2x week
-Focus on unilateral strength training and muscular endurance
-Emphasize core training (build a robust and resilient trunk)
-Reintroduce awkward loads (chainsaw when hiking, single arm farmers carries, etc)
-Mobility/flexibility work as needed
-Increase environmental stress in training (elevation, heat, etc)

Now that we understand what each season should focus on. Let’s dive deeper into the x’s and o’s of training program design

We will start by defining some terms so that we’re all on the same page:

• Periodization - The planned manipulation of training variables (load, sets, and repetitions) in order to maximize training adaptations and to prevent the onset of overtraining syndrome

• Block Periodization - A structured training approach that divides your training into distinct blocks or phases

• Macrocycle - A training season as a whole (ex: off-season)

• Mesocycle - A training block within a training season (typically a month/4 weeks)

• Microcycle - Smaller unit within a training block (typically a week)

• Vertical Integration - Modulation of emphasis within a training block

• Horizontal Sequencing - The sequential prioritization of specific training factors over time

Below you will see a graphic example of block periodization. Notice block 1 has an endurance emphasis with more volume coming from the endurance training factor. Block 2 emphasis strength, and block 3 emphasizes tactical (for us this would be like hiking). This is just an example of what different training blocks and different volumes of specific aspects (endurance, strength, etc).

Now, there are many different types of periodization schemes, and ways to set up your training cycles. “Block periodization” is just one of many methods.

However you structure your training cycles just make sure that there is structure by utilizing vertical integration. In other words, don’t make your PT plan one dimensional. Don’t ONLY run, or ONLY do calisthenics, etc. Your PT plan should always have some strength training, endurance training, mobility/flexibility training, balance work, and core training. The volume of each is what can change from training block to training block.

The biggest example of this is hiking. Obviously, we spend the entire fire season hiking a TON. Knowing this, we don’t need to spend all off-season hiking as it is more of a tactical job task. But we do need to progressively increase our hiking volume in each mesocycle and microcycle leading up to fire season.

Hopefully this gives you a really solid blueprint to go off of.

Keep in mind, so much of what goes in to each phase is determined by your goals and your strengths/weaknesses.

If putting together your own PT plan sounds like more work than the actual PT, don’t worry I got you. I'll be dropping a 12 week off-season PT program, as part of my Wildland Firefighter Performance Bundle, here in a the next week. This bundle also includes a Post-Season Recovery Guide and a Complete Nutrition Guide!

Keep checking in for when it goes live!