Several researchers have established a relationship between our attitude and feelings towards exercise and our physical activity habits. In general, a positive attitude typically equates to being more physically activity. For example, the work of Carol Dweck, a prominent professor of psychology, has shown that having a growth mindset (in contrast to a fixed mindset) may help to alleviate many of the psychological barriers that prevent us from being physically active.

In general, individuals with a growth mindset:

1. Believe that skills can be improved
2. Focus on the process of learning.
3. View effort as useful and can lead to growth and development
4. Embrace challenges and frame them as opportunities
5. Consider mistakes as a vehicle to learn
6. Encourage constructive feedback

In general, individuals with a fixed mindset:

1. Believe that skills are born and can only be marginally improved with practice
2. Focus on performance outcomes and try to avoid looking bad
3. View as unnecessary for growth and development
4. Consider challenges as threats
5. Become frustrated by making mistakes
6. Take constructive feedback personally (they get defensive).

Check out the Mindest Questionnaire at http://performanceredefined.ca/posters/ to see how growth minded you are!

Exercise on the other hand, is a type of physical activity that is planned, structured, and goal-oriented (e.g. improve a physical ability, increase energy, decrease stress). Again, there an infinite number of activities that can be used as exercise, and by extension, physical activity.

Engaging in regular physical activity (or exercise specifically) is to critical to our health and wellness. It is also necessary at times improve or maintain fire fighters’ capacity to meet the demands of the job. However, the pursuit of becoming more active is not synonymous with starting an exercise routine. Opportunities to be physically active exist everywhere!  

Although regular exercise can help fire fighters build and/or maintain their capacity to meet the demands of work, life and play, establishing resilient physical activity habits should be viewed as an essential first step. Exploring opportunities to be more active every day, in any environment will help make it easier to choose the active option.

Categorizing Physical Activity

The WHO’s Physical Activity Guidelines recommend that we engage in specific durations and intensities of physical activity each week to receive health benefits. The guidelines do not, however, define in any strict sense, the specific types of activities that should be performed. Any physical activity (performed for the recommended times at the recommended intensities) counts! Likewise, there are no specific environments favored over others.  Again, any physical activity counts!  The IGNITE program highlights three general categories to help fire fighters track how and where they are physically active. The categories of Work, Life, and Play are described below.

WORK

Any physical activity undertaken to fulfill duties and obligations during paid or voluntary work (as a fire fighter or otherwise) falls in the Work category. This does not include on duty exercise (would be categorized as play).

Examples of work-related physical activity include cleaning the apparatus, general station duties such as lifting, manipulating equipment, walking, or carrying, attending to calls, moving about the station, and/or station grounds for work-related purposes, training activities, etc.

LIFE

Physical activities undertaken in or around the home for domestic duties or completed as an essential activity of daily living fall in the Life category. This includes transportation (walking, cycling) for the sole purpose of getting to or from a particular location. These are essential activities that NEED TO BE PERFORMED.

Examples of life-related physical activity include cleaning, yard work, caring for children, house maintenance, shoveling snow, grocery shopping, taking care of pets, etc.

PLAY

Any physical activity that is not required as an essential activity of daily living or work task falls in the Play category. These activities are performed at the discretion of the individual for leisure or pleasure (may include transportation). These are non-essential activities that WANT TO BE PERFORMED.

Examples of play-related physical activity include sports, exercise, going for a walk, dancing, fishing, playing with kids, intimacy with partner.

Accumulate as many minutes as you can from each category every week!

Unfortunately, despite the overwhelming evidence in support of regular exercise, many firefighters are not meeting the weekly physical activity guidelines as recommended by the World Health Organization. The IGNITE program is committed to helping firefighters’ change their physical activity habits so they can enjoy the things they love as long as they want to enjoy them!    

Be more active by using the 4 behavioral change strategies outlined below to turn your home into a go-to exercise space!

1. Make it OBVIOUS. Be active at a specific time of day and use 1-2 dedicated spaces. A little structure, and fewer day-to-day decisions will make it easier to stick to a new routine. 
2. Make it ATTRACTIVE. Link the exercise activity to something you enjoy or crave. Be active with family, during your favorite tv show, or tie it to a personal challenge.
3. Make it EASY. Start with short bouts and limit the equipment needed. Having a few “go-to” exercise routines will also limit the decisions you need to make in the moment.
4. Make it SATISFYING. Reward yourself immediately after the activity. Incentives can help to create a positive association and improve adherence in the long-term.

Practical Example: Active during infant nap time in the kitchen (Obvious). Personal challenge of performing continuously for 10 minutes (Attractive). Three bodyweight exercises (Easy). Sense of accomplishment (Satisfying).

Push-up x 20s
Air squat x 20s
Inverted row x 20s
10 Rounds

Share any personal examples with your peers and help your community be more active together!

While intrinsically motivated (e.g. active for enjoyment, excitement and challenge) people are more likely to maintain a physically active lifestyle in the long-term (i.e. adherence), extrinsic motives can (and perhaps should) be used along the way to engage, excite and empower.  Extrinsic factors can motivate us to start something new, persevere, and redefine performance.  However, one of the potential limitations to being motivated in this way is becoming complacent when the incentive disappears. This is why knowing what factors regulate our motivation to exercise can help to create a physically active lifestyle – one in which small steps are made every day to cultivate a growth mindset, develop physical literacy, and maximize quality of life.

Many of the cited benefits to regular exercise stem from the behaviors established by engaging in physical activity, meeting the weekly physical activity recommendations outlined by the World Health Organization (150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity), and finding a sense of joy in and connection to physical activity of any kind. This implies that they occur independently of a fire fighter’s fitness status and span their physical, psychological and social well-being. As mentioned, every fire fighter should strive to maintain a particular level of fitness to meet the demands of the job, but this may be best accomplished by emphasizing, promoting and supporting the development of physical activity habits instead of fitness outcomes.

Consider your reasons to be active…perhaps they include maintaining your waistline, improving your sex life, decreasing your 5k time or avoiding the chronic conditions that influence so many of your peers, or perhaps they stem from the way exercise makes you feel – more energy throughout the day, better sleep, sharper memories, improved self-confidence, elevated mood, etc. There are benefits that every fire fighter can achieve by pursuing a physically active lifestyle, not necessarily by attaining or maintaining a specific level of fitness.

For example, when it comes to brain health, your exercise habits are much more important than your fitness level. Engaging in strenuous physical activity can mimic the responses that come with anxiety and help you learn to improve resilience and manage these responses in other situations. Regular exercise can also produce new brain cells (increase the size of our brain) and enhance thinking skills and memory.  And the bigger and stronger your brain becomes, the longer it will take for neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s to have an effect.

IGNITE will provide resources, support and guidelines to help every fire fighter in the NRMA in their pursuit to be more active more often.  Systems, strategies and tactics will be shared to improve fitness and performance, but an emphasis will also be placed on behavior change and making active choices easy choices for everyone.

Think about the consequences of becoming injured while on duty. First, we may become a danger to ourselves, our colleagues, and the people we aim to protect. Secondly, our actions, or lack thereof, may prevent us from participating in many of the activities that we love to do outside of work. Imagine not being able to take a walk with your spouse, play with your kids or grand kids, or struggling to perform simple leisure activities around the house. Now image that this was the case for the next 30-40 years…

Exercise can and should be used to accomplish many things – prevent injury and disease, rehabilitate physical and mental health conditions, improve wellness and fitness, increase energy levels, improve sleep quality, mood and attitude, etc.  We simply need to take the first step, literally.  Walking is one of the best things that we can do for our physical and mental health!

Are there activities beyond those you have to perform at work that you simply enjoy? Perhaps going for a bike ride, fishing, hiking…there are an infinite number of activities that we perform on a regular basis that have become part of who we are. Consider how you would feel if you couldn’t perform those activities anymore because you got hurt.  It would feel terrible.  Now think back to your reasons to exercise – have you ever viewed it as a magic pill that allows you to do all the things you need or want to do? It can!

Ultimately, to make exercise matter – to ensure its impact extends beyond the exercise environment – we must consider the reasons why we exercise in the first place. For most of us, exercise is a means to improve our health, safety and performance at work, maintain a fitness level allows us to enjoy recreational activities such as golf or hiking, or support a healthy lifestyle long into retirement. Regardless of our motivation to be active, long-term adherence will influence the extent to which we see a direct benefit to our quality of life.

If your exercise program had an immediate impact on your safety, performance and/or productivity at work, but had little to no impact on your quality of life, would these benefits be enough to support long-term adherence? Probably not, particularly for those of us who enjoy being active at home with friends and family. An effective exercise program is one that has a positive impact on the things that truly matter.

For duty. For life.