Physical training

What is physical training

Training in the SCDF is not just focused on physical fitness but also on strength and endurance.

Strength and endurance play a crucial part during times of crisis when you have to rescue other people who depend on you. And you have to do the rescuing without putting yourself at risk.

There will be many physical training exercises every morning including the Standard Obstacle Course (SOC), swimming, and rock climbing.

What happens in physical training

There are different types of physical training focusing on different factors.

Stamina & endurance: You’ll be running a lot to build up stamina. You’ll start with short distances and slowly increase the distances as your stamina improves. During the Breathing Apparatus Proficiency Training (BAPT), you run, cycle and climb ladders – all of this with your fire-fighting gear on.

Strength: You’ll exercise in the gym to develop your different muscle groups. You’ll also train a lot with the medicine ball. You can expect to become much stronger by the end of BRT.

Agility, flexibility and coordination: There will be exercises specifically designed to improve your agility, reflexes and coordination. This includes the Flexible Psychomotor Training (FPT) and the SOC. The FPT will help improve your responses and reflexes and the SOC will help improve your coordination and agility. You’ll also be doing some rock climbing to fine-tune your fitness.

Why do it

During a crisis, you are expected to use rescue equipment, lift injured people and work under difficult conditions. You need to have good reflexes to react quickly to changing circumstances. You also need to be flexible enough to crawl in confined spaces to rescue people.

You’ll need a lot of strength, stamina and endurance to do all of the above and more in an effective and safe manner. The only way to be prepared for such situations is to be well trained and fit.

What is it like

Some of the training will be tough at first. You’ll be doing more push-ups than ever before, and you will sweat like never before. Your muscles will ache and will be sore for the next few days.

But believe it or not, you’ll eventually get used to it. You’ll become much stronger and you’ll be able to do things that you never could before.

Some tips

Even though the training will be progressive, your training will be a lot easier if you’re already fit to begin with. If possible, you’ll want to build up strength and endurance on your own, even before the start of your BRT.

Safety concerns

On the day before your strenuous activity you’ll be asked to drink a mug of water (‘water parade’) one hour before you sleep. Early next morning, you’ll be asked to drink water again. Finally, one hour before the strenuous activity, you’ll have to drink yet again.

You drink lots of water to protect yourself from dehydration or heatstroke.

Furthermore, medical personnel are always on standby at the medical centre should any emergency arise.