|
On the basis of firefighters in different working positions, smoking rates, and regular exercise behaviors, this study aimed to discover the current situation of firefighters’ physical fitness in different ages between firefighters in Taitung Fire Corps, GuanShan Fire Branch, and the national area. The valid questionnaires were 123, and the response rate was 97.61%. Moreover, GuanShan Fire Branch proceed with physical training by using Purposive Sampling; The experimental group and controll responsel group had 10 person respectively. After 8 weeks of training, the researcher collected data of their physical fitness performance to analyze and compare with National Physical Fitness Model. In this survey, descriptive statistics, One-Way ANOVA, Paired Sample T-Test, and Independent Sample T-Test were used to analyze data. The main results were as follows: Young male firefighters had significant in BMI, power, and body fat percentage compared with older male firefighters. Furthermore, comparing the physical fitness of firefighters with the national norm, the muscle endurance and cardiorespiratory index were better than the general public. Base on Data of BMI, muscular endurance, and body fat percentage, the performances of physical fitness of crew members were mostly better than the captains. Therefore, the survey showed age was also an important factor affecting physical fitness. Firefighters with having regular exercise behaviors present noticeable and positive effect on flexibility, power, muscular endurance, and body fat percentage. After 8 weeks of physical training intervention in the experimental group, BMI, muscle endurance, cardiorespiratory index, and body fat rate scores improved and reached significant differences compared with the previous test. Furthermore, the experimental group did better than the controlling group in the cardiopulmonary index and muscular endurance. The physical fitness of firefighters should be better than the general public in order to cope with diverse and heavy firefighting tasks. If the firefighting unit can arrange suitable physical training for the regional characteristics and cooperate with appropriate diet planning, the development of regular exercise habits will not only maintain physical fitness but also improve work and quality of life.
Keywords: firefighters, physical fitness, physical training
|