FROM STRESS TO STRENGTH: HOW FITNESS TRANSFORMS FIRST RESPONDER LIVES AND HOW TO GET STARTED

Almost everyone I’ve worked with – first responder or otherwise – understands the value of exercise. Or, more accurately, they understand that exercise has value, but they can’t really pinpoint what it is outside of “it makes you stronger and fitter”. That’s true, of course, but benefits of a well-structured, deliberately intentioned Strength and Conditioning (S&C) program are far greater than most realise, particularly for our emergency services where it can quite literally be the difference between life and death.

In short, S&C is one of the most effective tools for managing stress, improving physical performance, boosting cognitive function, reducing health-related risk factors, and adding high-quality years to your life. Your fitness isn’t just for your career – it’s also for your family, friends, and your future. This article will explore how to make fitness a tool. We’ll cover the types of training you should be doing to achieve these benefits, and why every branch of our emergency services would benefit from mandated regular physical exercise for their members.

Reduced time lost to injury and increased performance output

Australia’s emergency services, like so many other industries, are underfunded, overworked, and are suffering from severe burnout. As a result, rates of mental and physical injury are increasing, which further contributes to the burden on the remaining workforce, creating a vicious cycle that feels impossible to break.

First responders are significantly more likely to suffer time lost to injury than other occupations, and each of the services face unique risks. Paramedics suffer upper body musculoskeletal injuries more than any other type of injury, while firefighters suffer injuries to the lower body more than any other [1]. Some of this is unavoidable given the high-risk nature of the work. However, other contributors include dynamic movements, load carriage, and abnormal movement patterns, all of which are trainable and therefore avoidable.

Research shows that the least fit firefighters in their cohort were almost three-times as likely to suffer a sprain or strain compared to their fittest colleagues [2]. Unfortunately, many first responders lack the physical strength required to perform their regular duties safely and effectively [3]. While this issue is widely acknowledged, there is still no consistent requirement for ongoing fitness testing beyond initial employment to ensure readiness for the physical demands of the role, and systemic challenges don’t make positive lifestyle choices all that easy, but small, simple changes can be so significant, and something is always better than nothing. 

Reduced lifestyle-related risk factors associated with early mortality

The awful truth is that the commitment you’ve made to saving the lives of your fellow Australians is actively increasing the risk on your own life. Compared to the general population, emergency service workers have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, respiratory diseases, obesity and diabetes, depression, anxiety, PTSD, and cancer. In line with societal trends, recent recruit intakes of law enforcement officers have been found to have higher bodyweight, BMI, and systolic blood pressure than those a decade earlier, which further contributes to the risk of early mortality [4].

It is common knowledge at this stage, but research has continuously found that >150-minutes of moderate intensity (above 50% predicted HR-Max) cardiovascular exercise per week decreases the risk of early mortality, with the benefits significantly increasing with age [5]. For a population already at increased risk, these exercise guidelines should form the foundations of any first responder’s training program.

"Exercise is effective at reducing your stress levels and increasing your overall wellbeing, while higher fitness levels strongly correlate with decreased overall stress burden"

Improved stress management and emotional resilience

It wasn’t until I had the opportunity to fully assimilate the roles and responsibilities of our emergency services from inside the organisations that I became aware of the inhumane levels of stress some of you are carrying. Stress management is a bit of a hot topic post-covid, so it can be hard to wrap your head around which methods are trustworthy, and what might be snake oil. From meditation to medication, there’s one thing you absolutely can trust – exercise is effective at reducing your stress levels and increasing your overall wellbeing, while higher fitness levels strongly correlate with decreased overall stress burden and aide in the management of your sympathetic response which mitigates the build-up of stress over time.

The Beyond Blue ‘Answering the Call’ survey from 2018 found that “the more often [first responders] engaged in physical activity, the more likely they were to report higher resilience”, and “maintaining a healthy level of physical activity and getting regular good quality sleep were both positively associated with mental wellbeing” [6]. While this probably doesn’t come as a surprise, I don’t think the true weight of that fact is really appreciated amongst our first responders, a population that suffer from significant stress burden, high prevalence of PTSD, depression and anxiety and are faced with some of the most confronting workplace stressors of any occupation globally.

"Exercise promotes neuroplasticity which is the ability to adapt and change, one of the key tenets for a successful career in emergency services"

Cognitive and psychological benefits

The benefits of regular and consistent exercise extend to your heart, lungs, muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments … and your brain! It is a little-known fact, but research is starting to uncover some exceptional cognitive benefits to exercise. Cardiovascular training has been found to increase the size of the hippocampus – the brain region responsible for learning – as well as increasing the volume of blood vessels in the brain [7]. Additionally - crucial for first responders – exercise promotes neuroplasticity which is the ability to adapt and change [8], one of the key tenets for a successful career in emergency services.

Tips for implementing exercise

You don’t need me to tell you that a career in emergency services is not necessarily conducive to a life dedicated to the gym, but the good news is that it doesn’t have to be.

Too many people, regardless of their occupation, are waiting for the right time to get fit, when their kids are more independent, their career is not so time consuming and life is not as busy, but the secret is not about getting it perfect, it’s about getting it started.

If we say >150-minutes of moderate intensity activity and 2-3 sessions of strength training per week is desirable, then the question shouldn’t be “how do I fit that into my life starting from tomorrow”, but rather “how can I get closer to that today than I was yesterday?” which leads to “How can I get this week to look better than the last?”

• Aim for consistent weekly improvement:

  At the risk of being incredibly reductionist, this is a highly simplified version of the progressive overload principle – gradually and consistently increasing your stimulus, whatever that may be, week-to-week or session-to-session. If you managed 10-minutes of moderate activity last week, aim for 20 this week. If you did one 30-minute yoga session, add another 15-minute session. If you walked 2-kilometres on a flat path, walk 2-kilometres at a slight incline.

  
  

• Be realistic and start small:

  This is two-fold. It’s not realistic to go from nothing to >150-minutes of moderate intensity activity and 2-3 strength sessions per week if you’re short on time or motivation, but it’s also not smart. A sudden spike in training volume is likely to result in injuries, especially with a physically demanding job and limited opportunity to recover, and by setting lofty and unrealistic goals, you’re only setting yourself up for disappointment.

  
  

• Train smart:

  This will be discussed in more detail in a future article, but here is a simple example of this principle by way of exercise selection. Lifting and carrying are both important and trainable qualities for first responders and while Deadlifts and Farmers Carries would be brilliant exercises to address these needs, we’re also talking about 6-10 total sets plus warmups, set up and pack up. Instead, we can do dumbbell walking lunges which address both qualities simultaneously and save time.

  
  

• Make a flexible plan:

  One of the biggest challenges for staying fit as a first responder is shift work. Long bouts of night shift result in decreased motivation, low energy levels and nervous system fatigue which introduce hurdles to your training. If you do manage to squeeze in a session, you can expect a decrease in training quality. To navigate this issue, you need to make a plan. Break your calendar down into roster cycles, monthly or six-weekly blocks. Plan recovery days when your workload spikes or when your roster is more taxing, plan your moderate-intensity/shorter sessions for workdays when you have time to train before or after your shift, and plan the longer, higher-intensity sessions for days off and, most importantly, be flexible and forgiving when plans might need to change.  

This is not about providing the perfect gym program or teaching you the hidden secret. This is merely some general advice, however if you’re going to take only one thing away from this article, please let it be this: As a first responder, you can’t afford to wait until tomorrow. You need to find ways to incorporate exercise to your life right now because, as I’ve outlined above, the consequences of not doing so are dire.

References

1. Gray, Shannon & Collie, Alex 2019, ‘The nature and burden of occupational injury among first responder occupations: A retrospective cohort study in Australian workers’, Monash University.

2. Lentz, Liana, Randall, Jason, Gross, Douglas & Senthilselvan, Ambikaipakan 2018, ‘The relationship between physical fitness and occupational injury in emergency responders: A systematic review’, American Journal of Industrial Medicine, vol. 62, pp. 3-13.

3. Sheridan, Samantha 2019, ‘Paramedic health status, fitness and physical tasks: A review of the literature’, Australasian Journal of Paramedicine, vol. 16, pp. 1-7.

4. Phillips, Tarin, Husaini, Mustafa, Tayon, Kevin, Kales, Stefanos, Smith, Denise, Elfessi, Nadia, Bradley, Petek, Dineen, Elizabeth 2025, ‘Cardiovascular disease in tactical athletes: A focused review on first responders’, Current Treatment Options in Cardiovascular Medicine, vol. 27, no. 24, pp. 1-11.

5. Martinez-Gomez, Daivd, Luo, Mengyun, Huang, Yu, Rodriguez-Artalejo, Fernando, Elkelund, Ulf, Sotos-Prieto, Mercedes, Ding, Ding, Lao, Xiang-Qian, Cabanas-Sanchez, Veronica 2024, JAMA Network Open, vol. 7, no. 11, pp. 1-13. 

6. Beyond Blue Ltd. (2018), Answering the Call National Survey, National Health and Wellbeing Study of Police and Emergency Services – Final Report.

7. Godman, Heidi 2014, ‘Regular exercise changes the brain to improve memory, thinking skills’, Harvard Health.

8. Foley, Andrew 2023, ‘The benefits of exercise on brain health and cognitive function’, Australian Institute of Health and Fitness.