Physical Exercise Recommendations

[daniduck]

Hello,

So I have started my course as an EMT-B...

I am 175Ib. Female, 5ft...(Yes..im short) and healthy. I exercise 3-4 times a week to keep my cardio up which includes, running on 30-45/ sometimes an hr to push on treadmill(Occasionally incline), Stair steps for 30min, do abit of yoga to help with balance and flexibility...I guess its without saying..warm ups such as, Jump rope 15min(SOMETIMES), push ups and sit ups. Fairly healthy, natural lower body strength.
-A few weeks in the course we were introduced with the Stretcher(Cot), Backboard and Stair chair... I had trouble lifting the Cot above my chest and let the legs fully unfold(this is with a classmate laying on the Cot). What are some good workouts that you do?? I dont want to get beefy, but just strong enough to lift a Cot with a patient...

 

[STXmedic]

Deadlifts.

 

[jcroteau]

I second the dead lifts......strengthening your back and legs will make lifts easier and pro long your career.

 

[irishboxer384]

instead of 45 mins cardio 4 days, id do 20mins cardio then 30mins weights- your core strength will improve with all over body circuits

 

[NiteTimeNick]

Third on deadlifts. I'm not very comfortable managing the length of barbells so I do sandbag deadlifts with dumbbells stood on end. I'll end up doing more reps with less weight for conditioning versus bulking up, sounds like that's what your looking for. I'd recommend some core exercises as well. When your back muscles go to pick up slack (as they often do given some of the akward lifting that is occasionally required on the job) they'll be glad to have some back up from your core. Hope this helps!

 

[Akulahawk]

Unless women go big time into anabolic steroids or their precursors, it's very rare for a woman to get HUGE without some serious workouts and even then that's still relative. OP: you could actually end up gaining a lot of strength, some weight, and lower your body fat percentage by adding a strengthening component to your workouts instead of doing all cardio.

 

[JohnRG]

My Opinion, Focus on Strengthening Your legs and Back. Basically, Strengthening your overall Core. That's great your implementing Yoga as well in your routine which will help keep your body in Balance and will help with Mental Stress.

 

[Underoath87]

If the problem is getting the cot really high (necessary because of your height), then deadlifts won't help with the final portion. You should practice power cleans (step 2 of 3 of an Olympic clean and jerk), and front squats.

Power clean:

Front squat:

Obviously you won't be able to do an actual clean or front squat with the stretcher, but the required technique should closely resemble some combination of the two.

 

[STXmedic]

Deadlifts and upright rows for the final oomph?