No, thats not Ben. It’s just another hardworking fireman

Greetings GamerFitNation! My name is Ben Racho and I am very excited to be one of the newest contributing authors for GFN. I hope to bring a unique perspective on Health and Fitness as I am a rare combination of a career Firefighter and a Vegetarian.

Over the last ten years as a firefighter I have come across some pretty unique ways to train for our job. While many of these techniques and workouts focus on building strength and endurance, a lot is concentrated on injury prevention. I, as well as our department trainers, feel that injury prevention is the one area of fitness that is all too often over looked. I have found that firefighters are spending less time on bulking up and more time strengthening their core muscles and enhancing their flexibility. Chili cook offs and BBQ contests are being replaced by marathons and triathlons and even group yoga. What I hope to bring to GFN is the different ways that I and other firefighters train for our job and how you can use these techniques to enhance your own fitness level. I also plan to share plenty of information on my diet and how not eating meat has literally saved my heart.

I’ll leave you with a quick video of one of the many firefighter fitness events that I regularly compete in. The SCOTT Firefighter Combat Challenge is in it’s 20th year and is a timed event in which firefighters must perform 5 common firefighter skills in a row. While the events are firefighter oriented, the training involved can be done by anyone using common gym equipment. Enjoy the video and stay safe and healthy!

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