Strength Endurance/FireFighter Academy Training

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

Basically right now I am doing my EMT and in the fall I plan to attend the Fire Academy here in Houston TX. I train 1-2 times/day and do not have a “set” rest day(s)…i take a rest day as needed just listening to my body. I lift heavy to obv get stronger but lately have added a lot of active rest to increase my workout intensity a bit.I have I also do cardio at home a few times a week.

My husband is ex military and i use his ruck to fill about 55-60lbs worth and will warm up wearing this on the stairclimber @ 60 steps/min for about 8 mins then slow it down a bit to finish out 10-12 minutes of my warmup…ill wear this to walk/jog the track that goes around the weights (1/10 mile track) as one of my active rest exercises, or do farmers carries with about 40lb dumbells…and end my workouts with about a 20 min body weight circuit i do in the sauna (jump squats, pushups, abs, dips etc)…

Here is my problem…I am 5’3 & was weighing in around 125 & 20%bf and quite strong…I started adding in my cardio (sprints, 2 mile runs, weighted jogs, etc) and upping the active rest in my workouts in effort to up my muscle endurance…i lost 5-6lbs and am also at 18% bf, i look great lol but my lifts went down i felt very drained…i think i have found a happy medium now as my weights are going back up but i know my endurance is not at the level i need it to be…how can i increase this while maintaining my strength and size (i A LOT but i eat clean so its hard to eat so many calories of clean low calorie meals)…

right now my sets(not max, i dont know my maxes) are as follows

incline dumbell bench ( i dont flat bench often): 4 sets of 10-6 with 40’s-45’s
squat: 2 sets of 8 with 225, 1x6 135, 1x4 155
dumshoulder press: 4x10-6 with 40s-45s
deadlift: 4x6 of 185

those are some of my main lifts…as you can tell im pretty strong for my size but i dont want to lose any of this, i want to get stronger but i find it hard since i keep slowly losing weight and bf and getting even smaller… when i say i am doing the fire academy i often get looked at like “yeah okay”

any advice here on this will be greatly appreciated!

2

You simply need to eat more. Maybe totally clean isn’t the way to go for you. Any chance you can give a quick diet breakdown? What did you eat yesterday?

3

And maybe consider taking a couple days off once in a while. Look into the concept of super-compensation. You need to take it easy once in a while to kick ass in the long run!

4

Overrated? Sometimes

Negligible? No

5

i do take rest days just not like an official every sat/sun or every this/that day…like if i feel like ive killed it a few days in a row n i need a rest day i go ahead and take one…just as needed.so maybe 1 or 2 every 10 days is like ballparkin it…here is a breakdown of what i ate today…

soon as i wake up…glass of water with protein scoop…take my multi vit n fish oil

meal 1: 1/3 cup oats with fruit n flax mixed in (sometimes ill just mix my protein powder in here)
about 3 eggs whites n 1 whole egg -scrambled
1 piece of whole wheat toast
small cup coffee and a water

(i feel soooo full after this mealsometimes ill do protein pancakes or something but this is usually my most filling meal)

meal 2: tilapia filet
about 2 cups a veggie(today was broccoli)
a greek yogurt cup
water

meal 3: chicken breast
1 cup brown rice
small amount of asparagus
water

preworkout meal: protein shake with whey, strwberrie, banana, 1/3 c oats, water
(about 45min before workout-late workout today)

after workout meal/before bed: 3 egg whites
tilapia

my husband works shift work, right now he is on days so beings i have 2 kids i have to wait till he gets home and my workout is late…ill eat a bit different if he is on nights and im gonna workout in the a.m.

This was an ex of today, i make sure to drink a glass of water at each meal but that doesnt count the water i sip on throughout the day…i have a 2 liter thing i keep in the fridge n make sure i drink 2/day at least…and ill usually refill my shaker with water 2 times throughout my workout** i never count calories, never have…i eat clean just as much as i want or can…sometimes ill snack all day but since its on like asparagus or something i dont really consider that a meal…