Aaron Zamzow has over 12 years of firefighting experience as an on-call paid firefighter in Golden Valley, Minnesota and is currently a career Firefighter/ EMT and Training Officer in Madison, Wisconsin.  He is the owner of Fire Rescue Fitness, a company that creates workout programs and fitness articles that focus on getting Fire Rescue Athletes "fit for duty." Aaron holds a Bachelor of Science degree in health and wellness, is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer and an IAFF/IAFC Peer Fitness Trainer. He has also, worked in the fitness industry for over 20 years and has experience working with the general population as well as athletes from the NBA, NFL, and NHL. He is the author of The Ultimate Fire Rescue Athlete Workout and other fitness programs catered toward Fire Rescue Athletes and has recently been published in Firehouse, Fire Rescue Magazine, Firefighter Nation and in the PFFW (Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin) Quarterly.  In 2016 he presented at Firehouse Expo and Firehouse World.  At Firehouse Expo, Aaron headed and conducted the Firehouse "Fit for Duty" workouts and was a prominent speaker during the event. He has appeared on numerous radio and television programs and presents to Fire Departments all over the country.  He lives by and teaches the motto: "Train like a life depends on it."

00:20 - We begin the podcast by venting and talking about how HOA's are horrible.

02:21 - Aaron saves the conversation and relates the similarities between taking care of your house and taking care of your fitness/wellness. We mention Stuart McGill and his Big Three exercises for low back pain. Check out those exercises by going to backfitpro.com or youtube.

06:15 - We talked about stress, cortisol, and paying attention to life events that trigger stress.
07:16 - Dr. Orr's and his research on police and heart rates during a shift.
10:50 - Aaron talked about how he started in the tactical field and his work with strength and conditioning for firefighters.
11:42 - Aaron mentions Dr. Kylie Ebersole of the University of Wisconson Milwaukee and his research on stress and cardiac reactions to firefighter calls. See articles by Dr. Ebersole on firefighters and fitness below.

15:10 - Cancer, strokes, and other health issues related to stress will continue to be a huge problem for tactical athletes until we start becoming more self-aware and making better health choices.

16:53 - Aaron discusses his primary focus for firefighter fitness and how he uses his programs to help get people and departments back into shape.

20:55 - Fit for Duty challenge - This runs once a year and any of the money Aaron gets from this he gives back to the firefighter communities.

24:24 - We compare how collegiate and professional athletes train for performance compared to tactical professionals and what has changed and what needs to change.

25:48 - What does the term tactical athlete mean and is it good for the field? What are some of the issues with getting a qualified person to run fitness programs?

37:04 - What are the components of fitness that we can all agree upon to help build a sound basis for a wellness program.

38:52 - The one thing tactical athletes fail to do that is the most important part of wellness and fitness.

42:16 - We wrap up the podcast with some rapid fire questions.

To contact Aaron Zamzow, go to Fire Rescue Fitness or find him on Facebook by searching @firerescuefitness.

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