Skeletal muscle fitness and physiology as determinants of firefighter performance and safety: a narrative review

Abstract

Firefighters routinely perform tasks that are reliant on their muscular fitness, which includes muscular strength, power and endurance. Separately, firefighters can present with unique skeletal muscle physiology characteristics due to the strenuous nature of this occupation. This review aims to summarise muscular fitness and physiology as determinants of a firefighter’s ability to perform occupation-specific tasks, identify the relevance of both muscular fitness and physiology to a firefighter’s risk for sustaining a work-related injury, and address the contributions of muscular fitness and physiology on a firefighter’s ability to recover from tasks and their readiness for performing subsequent or future tasks. The presented evidence reveals muscular fitness can determine a firefighter’s capacity to perform their job effectively, while also influencing risk for occupational injury. Collectively, this review indicates exercise training emphasising improvements in muscular strength, power, and endurance (i.e. resistance training) should be encouraged in this occupation.

PRACTITIONER SUMMARY

This review addressed muscular fitness and physiology in firefighters. Current evidence suggests firefighter task performance and risk for injury is associated with high levels of muscular fitness. Additionally, firefighters undergo unique changes in muscle morphology and physiology that can negatively affect the ability to safely perform occupation-specific tasks repeatedly.

Keywords:

• Firefighters
• skeletal muscle
• fitness
• injuries
• performance

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Ethical approval of studies/informed consent

The ethical statement is not applicable to this manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

E.Z. is currently supported by a Diversity Supplement from the National Institutes of Health (3P30AG050886-09S). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.