smoke divers training course

Smoke Diver Training Plan

$59.00

  • Course-Specific, 7-week, 6 day/week intense Training Plan purpose-built to prepare firefighters for a Smoke Diver course
  • Includes focused PFT training, strength, grip strength, Bunker Gear/SCBA work capacity efforts, and long mini-events
  • Includes a 1-week taper, and is designed to be completed the 7 weeks directly prior to your selection course start week.
  • This training plan is also one of the 400+ Plans included with an Athlete’s Subscription

Description

This intense, 7-week, 6 day/week training plan is specifically designed to prepare Urban Firefighters for a Smoke Divers course. The smoke divers course is an advanced level firefighting course designed to teach the firefighter the limitations and capabilities of the Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (S.C.B.A.) and the firefighter’s own body. The plan includes a 1-week taper, and is designed to be completed the 7 weeks directly prior to your selection course start week.

This is Version 1 of the plan, built March 2020

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

This plan is purpose-built to prepare you for the specific fitness demands you’ll face at the Smoke Divers course including a PFT, sprinting, obstacle course, work capacity smoke sessions and work in bunker gear/SCBA. The plan includes:

  • Testing and progressive training for a gate PFT: Max Rep Push Ups, Max Rep Sit Ups, Max Rep Pull Ups, Obstacle Course and 1.5 Mile Run for Time
  • Free-weight-based strength training.
  • Focused grip-strength training
  • Multi-Mode, Work Capacity Smoke sessions slick and in bunker gear/SCBA
  • Focused Chassis Integrity training (functional core) for durability and performance
  • Extended Mini-Events from 60-90 minutes in duration

WEEKLY SCHEDULE

Weeks 1, 4 and 7 in the plan are Test weeks. Below is the Training Schedule for Weeks 2-3 and 5-6.

  • Monday:  PFT Work
  • Tuesday:  1.5 Mile Run Work (800m Repeats)
  • Wednesday: Strength and Work Capacity (shuttle sprints)
  • Thursday:  Multi-Mode Work Capacity, Chassis Integrity
  • Friday: 3-4 Mile Recovery Run
  • Saturday: 60-90 Minute Mini Event

COMMON QUESTION

What if I miss a day?
Don’t skip ahead. Start where you left off. The plan is progressive, and its training sessions designed to be completed in order.

What if I have less then 7 weeks before I start the Smoke Divers Course?
Still start at the beginning of this training plan anyway. Skip ahead to week 7 in the plan for the week directly before your selection.

How do I schedule this training around my duty schedule?
We don’t have a good answer for you here as duty schedules differ, and duty days differ – i.e. some duty days you can train and others you can’t. Ideally, this program will be completed the 7 weeks directly before your course, however, you may need to stretch the program out to accommodate your duty schedule. It’s important, however, that you complete the training sessions in order … the programming is progressive – it builds upon itself. In general, we advise you to train first thing in the day if possible.

What if I have more than 9 weeks before selection?
Email coach@mtntactical.com with the time you have and we will advise.

What if I can’t handle the training volume at first?
Building stamina and resilience is a key training goal of this plan, and physical and mental stamina is also key to completing the Selection course. If you can’t handle the training volume at first, it’s better to cut training sessions short, rather than take unscheduled rest days.

What if I can’t make the prescribed reps for the bodyweight exercises, or the prescribed interval times for the runs?
Do your best, and be sure to do the total number of rounds, even if you can’t make the reps or the time. Don’t quit.

How do you count reps for Sandbag Getups, and Step Ups?
Sandbag Getups – The prescribed rep count is total reps, so 50x Sandbag Getups at 60# sandbag = 50x total reps, 25x each shoulder.
Step Ups – The prescribed rep count is total reps, so 600x step ups = 600 total, or 300x per leg.

How do you count reps for lunges?
5x Lunges = 5x Lunges each leg, or 10x lunges total

What does @ 40/60# Sandbag mean? How about 5/10x Push Ups?
40/60# = women use 40#, men use 60#. 5/10x = women do 5 reps, men do 10 reps

Can I see sample training?
Yes. Click the “Sample Training” tab to see the entire first week of programming.

How do I access the plan?
You can access the plan via username and password either through our website or through our app (Mtn Tactical Fitness) available for IOS and Android.

Can I print out sessions to take to the gym?
Yes – you can print a week of programming at a time

Where do I find unfamiliar exercises?
See our Exercise Library HERE. The Run/Ruck Calculator is listed as an exercise.

What about nutrition?
See our Nutritional Guidelines HERE.

More Questions? Email coach@mtntactical.com

 

DISCLAIMER

Before beginning any exercise program, consult with your physician to ensure that you are in proper health. Physical training contains inherent risks including, but not limited to, muscle strains, tears, physical and bodily injury up to and including death. This training program is not meant to provide medical advice; you should obtain medical advice from your private health care practitioner. If you are unable to assume these risks then you should not engage in this training program. No liability is assumed by Mountain Tactical Institute, Inc, its owners or employees, and you train at your own risk. Mountain Tactical Institute makes no warranty, express or implied, of any kind in connection with this training program.

Required Equipment


  • Fully-equipped functional fitness gym including barbells, racks, plates, dumbbells and/or kettlebells, plyo boxes and 16-18" bench/box for step ups

  • 60# Sandbag for men, 40# Sandbag for Women. You can purchase a sandbag by clicking here, or build your own out of an old duffle bag.

  • Repeating countdown Interval Timer (a smartphone will work)

  • Bunker Gear, SCBA Pack


Sample Training

Below is the first week of programming from the plan:

************

SESSION 1
Obj: Smoke Diver PFT No.1

Warm Up: 3 Rounds

  • 10x Squats

  • 5x Push Ups

  • 10x Sit Ups

  • 2x Prone To 40ft Sprint

  • Instep Stretch

  • Lat + Pec Stretch

Training:

(1) Push Up Assessment

  • Max Rep Push Ups in 2 Minutes

  • Rest 5 Minutes before the Sit Ups
    You can stop and rest in the up, forward leaning rest, postion, if needed. Be strict with form and reps. RECORD MAX REPS.

(2) Sit Up Assessment

  • Max Rep Sit Ups in 2 Minutes

  • Rest 5 Minute before the Pull Ups
    You can stop and rest in the down position, if needed. Just keep working for the full 2 minutes. RECORD MAX REPS.

(3) Pull Up Assessment

  • Max Rep Strict Pull Ups

  • Rest 10 Minute before the Run
    No time limit and you can rest in the down, dead hang postion, but your feet can't touch. Be strict! RECORD MAX REPS.

(4) Run Assessment

  • Run 1.5 Miles for Time
    You have 15 minutes after finishing the run to rest and change into bunker gear/SCBA
    RECORD FINISH TIME.

(5) 20 Minute AMRAP (As Many Rounds as Possible) wearing full bunker gear including SCBA ... Devil Dog Circuit

  • Devil Dog Circuit
    If possible, go on air, and limit yourself to 2 bottles or 20 minutes, whichever comes first. If not, wear SCBA and carry an empty bottle. RECORD COMPLETED ROUNDS.

SESSION 2
TOTAL REST

SESSION 3
Obj: Strength, Work Capacity, Grip Strength

Warm Up: 3 Rounds

  • 10x Back Squat - Start light and increase load as you warm up.

  • 5x Scotty Bobs - @ 25#

  • 4x Prone to Sprint

  • Instep Stretch

  • Lat + Pec Stretch

Training:

(1) 5 Rounds

  • 6x Back Squat - increase load rapidly each round until 6x is hard, but doable

  • Gorilla Complex - Start with an empty barbell and increase load rapidly each round until it is hard, but doable.

  • Hip Flexor Stretch

(2) 6 Rounds, Wearing Firefighting Gloves

  • 60 Second Farmer's Carry - Start at 55# and increase rapidly until 60 seconds is hard, but doabe.

  • Rest 60 Seconds

(3) 4 Rounds

  • 300m Shuttle - every 2:30
    Faster you finish, the more rest you get before the next round begins.

(4) 2 Rounds

  • Toe Touch Complex

  • Foam Roll Legs, Low Back

SESSION 4
Obj: Work Capacity, Chassis Integrity

Warm Up: 3 Rounds

  • 10x Goblet Squat - @ 25#

  • 5x Hand Release Push Ups

  • 2x Prone to Sprint

  • Instep Stretch

  • Lat + Pec Stretch

Training:

(1) 15 Minute AMRAP (As Many Rounds as Possible)

  • 5x Renegade Man Makers - @ 15/25#

  • 5x Pull Up Bar Heel Tap

  • 20x Step Ups - @ 12-16" Box

(2) 15 Minute Grind

  • 5x Kneeling Plate Half Moon - Start @ 25# and increase load until 5x is hard, but doable

  • 5x Sandbag Getup - @ 40/60# (Alternate Shoulders each Round)

  • 5x Keg Lift - @ 40/60# Sandbag

  • 15/15 Standing Founder
    "Grind" = work steadily not frantically for the prescribed time or rounds. Pace yourself, but don't stop to rest

(3) 2 Rounds

  • Hip Flexor Stretch

  • Foam Roll Legs, Low Back

SESSION 5
Obj: Recovery Run

Training:

(1) Run 3 Miles at an Easy Pace
"Easy" = you can speak in full sentences while moving.

(2) 2 Rounds

  • Instep Stretch

  • Foam Roll Legs, Low Back

SESSION 6
Obj: 60-Minute Mini-Event

Training:

(1) 30 Minute Grind wearing bunker gear and SCBA

  • 5x Sandbag Clean & Press - @ 40/60#

  • 40x Step Ups - 12-16" bench or box
    "Grind" = work steadily not frantically for the prescribed time or rounds. Pace yourself, but don't stop to rest.

If possible go on air, and try to limit yourself to 3 bottles. If not, just carry an empty bottle.

TRANSITION - Take 5 minutes to Remove Bunker Gear, put on gym gear, then immediately ...

(2) 30 Minute Grind in gym gear

  • 5x Sandbag Getup - @ 40/60# - Alternate shoulders each round

  • 6x Prone To 40ft Sprint

(3) 1 Round

  • Foam Roll Legs, Low Back

Testimonials

I purchased a smoke diver training program a while ago and just used it to complete the Georgia flames course a few weeks ago.  I just wanted to thank you all for putting together this plan.  I felt very prepared physically which in turn helped me overcome the mental struggles during the course.

1)  Mission Direct

Gym numbers mean nothing. All that matters is mission performance. 

To this end, MTI’s fitness solutions and programming are not boxed in by convention, tradition, orthodoxy, public opinion or any other artificial constraint driven by inside or outside forces.

We begin with the raw fitness demands of the mission and build a fitness solution which directly prepares the athlete for those demands.

 

2) Fitness Solutions Built from the Ground Up

MTI’s programming is not “re-tread” bodybuilding, football, CrossFit, kettlebell, strength or general fitness programming. We’ve built our fitness programming for mountain and tactical athletes from the ground up.

The Fluid Periodization methodology we deploy to concurrently train multiple fitness attributes is completely original and has continued to evolve and improve over the years.

Our mid-section training methodology, Chassis Integrity, is also original, as is our endurance programming, 7 strength training progressions, tactical agility, and work capacity programming.

Our mountain sports pre-season training plans, tactical PFT, selection, school, course, and fitness improvement training plans across military, LE and Fire Rescue are MTI-developed, tested and athlete-proven.

Over the years hundreds of athletes and coaches have taken our advanced programming and unit fitness leader programming courses and MTI is widely recognized within the mountain and tactical professions and fitness media as a thought leader in fitness programming for military and tactical athletes.

 

3) The MTI Method

→ Research: MTI begins program design with extensive research of the fitness demands of the mission, sport or event, identifies the exercises and progressions which sport-specifically meet those demands, chose end-of-cycle goals, and program backward to design the training plan.

→ Deploy & Assess: We deploy the training plan “Lab Rats” at our Wyoming facility. Training session and cycle issues are identified and fixed as we work through the training plan. Post cycle we assess the programming’s effectiveness and efficiency. We keep the stuff that works, and fix or toss the stuff that doesn’t.

→ Publish & Assess Again: Plan is published for purchase as an individual training plan and made available to our subscribers. Feedback/results are assessed.

→ Iterate: We take what we learn from lab rats and athletes, re-visit, update and improve already published training plans. Several of our individual training plans are on their 4th or 5th version.

 

4) Mission-Direct Research

MTI exists to “Improve Mountain and Tactical Athletes mission performance and keep them safe.” To that end, we have developed a unique research methodology aimed at identifying real world areas of improvement and identifying immediately deployable mission-direct solutions. Click HERE to learn more about MTI’s Mission-Direct Research methodology, and Here to read about just few of our research efforts.

 

5) Field Proven

Our stuff works. Weekly we receive unsolicited reviews of our programming and testimonials to its effectiveness.

 

6) Programming Breadth

MTI’s library of 200+ sport-specific fitness plans for mountain and tactical athletes is unmatched. Resources range from specific programming for tactical special forces selections, to specific plans for climbing Rainier and Denali, to general fitness solutions such as running improvement, to post-rehab from injury.

Over the past decade, MTI has partnered with hundreds of athletes throughout their individual mountain and tactical careers, and provided fitness solutions as they face new mountain objectives, tactical schools, selections, PFTs and deployments, and came back from injury.

 

7) Worldwide Influence

Our work is not limited to US Athletes.

We’ve developed selection-specific training plans for Canadian, UK, Australian and German Special Forces Selections and worked with individual military personnel from Scandinavia, South, and Central America.

Canadian, Australian, UK and western European law enforcement and fire/rescue athletes have used MTI programming for mission-direct fitness.

On the mountain side, Alpinists from Japan to Slovakia have consulted with MTI and used MTI’s programming to prepare for mountain objectives.

 

8) Mission Performance beyond Fitness

MTI’s exists is to improve Mission Performance for mountain and tactical athletes and keep them safe. 

This focus on “mission direct” solutions, enhancements and improvements drives our work and research and extends beyond fitness solutions to include training, leadership, gear, team culture, and safety. 

Fitness is just one area of our work.

Our non-fitness research has included tactical cultures, combat uniforms, and gore-tex performance, and effect of stress on marksmanship.

Our work on defining what it means to be a Quiet Professional has had penetrating influence and driven healthy conversations with both mountain and tactical professionals.

 

9) Direct, Honest, Clear Answers

Since 2007 we’ve taken and answered dozens of questions weekly from mountain and tactical athletes. We’ve saved these individual Q&A’s and now thousands are archived on our site.

We’re not salesmen, and our answers are noted for their directness, honesty, and clarity. Our stuff isn’t for everyone. If we can help, we’ll let you know. If we can’t, we’ll let you know that, too.

– Rob Shaul, Founder

 

All of the Above is Backed Up By Our Promise: Our Stuff Works. Guaranteed.

Our Stuff Works. Guaranteed.

By Rob Shaul

I received notes frequently from athletes hesitant to purchase a subscription or training plans asking me to sell them on why they should make the purchase.

While I understand the question, I’m not a salesman – so I can’t put a hard sale on anyone for our programming.

I can tell them the process we go through to design our programming.

We begin with extensive research on the fitness demands of the event, identify the exercises and progressions which sport specifically meet those demands, chose end-of-cycle goals, and program backward to design the plan.

Then we test the cycle on ourselves and our lab rats here in Wyoming. We document, note what works and doesn’t work, re-assess, and make changes and modifications.

Then we publish the programming in the form of one of our plans or as part of our subscription daily training sessions for tactical and mountain athletes.
We don’t stop there – our daily programming is the “tip of the spear” for our programming evolution. We use these sessions to learn and make continuous improvement.

As we learn more and improve, we go back, and update the sport-specific training plans on the website. For example, we’re currently on Version 5 of our Ruck Based Selection Training Plan and Version 3 of our Dryland Ski Training Plan and Version 4 of our Big Game Back Country Hunting Training Plan.

We understand our programing isn’t cheap, but we believe it’s a great value. The $79 for the Ruck Based Selection Training Plan, and $39 for the Dryland Ski Training Plan reflect the, research, work, innovative theory, iteration, testing and feedback we’ve put in and received to make these plans effective.

All that matters for us is outside performance, and we feel strongly that Our Stuff Works in the real world.

Here’s our guarantee:

1) Individual Training Plan Purchase:
If you purchase an individual training plan, follow it as prescribed before your season/event/pft/selection, and if you don’t feel you were physically ready for your season/event/pft/selection, and/or didn’t see dramatic improvements in your early season performance, we’ll refund your money, no questions asked.

2) Athlete’s Subscription
If you purchase an Athletes’ Subscription, follow the training sessions as prescribed, and are not satisfied with the quality of the programming, notify us within 30 days of purchase, and we’ll refund your money, no questions asked.

Questions?
Email: rob@mtntactical.com

COMMON QUESTIONS:

Do you have any reviews or testimonials from athletes who have used your Athlete’s Subscription
Yes. Click HERE.

Is it true you guarantee your stuff works?
Yes. If you purchase an Athletes’ Subscription, follow the training sessions as prescribed, and are not satisfied with the quality of the programming, notify us within 30 days of purchase, and we’ll refund your money, no questions asked.

How is MTI programming different than CrossFit?
This is a common question. Read our answer HERE.

You have a lot of competitors. Why should I choose MTI?
MTI is driven to improve mountain and tactical athletes’ mission performance and keep them safe. This emphasis and focus on mission performance sets us apart. Read about more that sets us apart HERE.

If I purchase a plan or subscription, how do I access the programming?
All of our plans are online, accessible via username and password.
You can log in through our →Website  or Mobile App →IOS and Android.

Do you have downloadable .pdf’s of the training plans?
No. But you can print the programming, by week, from your browser. You access individual training plans online via a username and password.

Do you have a mobile app?
Yes, we do. Available for IOS and Android.

What is the difference between purchasing an individual training plan, packet of plans or an Athlete’s Subscription?

  • Plan – Like purchasing the DVD of the first Star Wars movie. You own it forever, including any updates we make to the plan.
  • Packet – Like purchasing the DVD’s of all the Star Wars movies. You own them forever, including any updates we make to the plans.
  • Athlete’s Subscription – Like subscribing to Netflix. You get access to all 200+ plan in our library, but lose access if you unsubscribe.

If I purchase an Athletes Subscription Can I cancel on my own, anytime?
Yes.

Do I have to contact MTI to cancel or can I do it myself?
You can do it yourself. Instructions HERE.

If I purchase a subscription and have questions about where to start or what plans(s) to use for my goals, will you help?
Yes. We answer dozens of training questions from athletes weekly. Email coach@mtntactical.com.

If you add new plans or update existing plans after I subscribe will I have access to them?
Yes. We are continuously adding training plans and packets (2-5/month) and updating plans. With your subscription you’ll have access to all new plans, new courses and plan updates.

What Equipment is Required?
Click the “Required Equipment” tab to find out what equipment is required for the specific plan you are interested in.

Where do I find unfamiliar exercises?
See our Exercise Library HERE. The Run and Ruck Calculators are listed as exercises.

What about nutrition?
See our Nutritional Guidelines HERE.

Can I see sample training?
Click the “Sample Training” tab to see the entire first week of programming. You are encouraged to do it before purchasing.

What if I have more questions?
Email rob@mtntactical.com

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