Hello everyone. As you can see, my name is Adam and I am a 44 year old father of 2 teens and have been married for 20 years. I have been a firefighter for the past 7 years and am looking forward to conditioning my mind and body so that I may enjoy a great career and an even better retirement.

Other people noticed the slide in my mental health, presence at home, and physical drive long before I ever accepted the reality that I'm not a 20-something kid able to take on the world by myself anymore. Quite honestly, I am in a state of mind and body that the younger version of myself despised. Out of breath when putting on my gear in a hurry, struggling to find motivation and dedication to anything related to healthy eating, exercise, or training, and general health problems creeping in everywhere I turn. First it's increased BMI and body fat percentage. Then comes the obstructive sleep apnea diagnosis. As it progresses, the poor diet, lack of quality sleep, and poor baseline physical fitness takes hold and starts to run every aspect of my life. The older I get, the more I realize my dependency on faith, family, friends, and the fire service brotherhood to live my life and not just coast through it until death. My wife found this program and encouraged me to try it. What's the worst that could happen, I asked. So here I am. Present and ready to see where this journey takes me. I look forward to being a part of this community and see what real growth and success looks like from all members!

You passed the CPAT years ago. When was the last time you actually tested your engine? Here's why it matters. VO2 max is the single strongest predictor of how long you live. Stronger than cholesterol. Stronger than blood pressure. It's the size of your aerobic engine, and every fire you fight is a max effort event that draws on it. NFPA says every firefighter needs a 12 MET engine to do this job safely. Most firefighters over 40 can't hit it. Not because they're lazy. Because nobody ever measured it. You get a physical, maybe an EKG, and you're back on the rig. Nobody puts a number on the one system that decides whether you walk out of a working fire or get carried out. So let's put a number on it. Here's the test. It's called the Cooper Test, and it's been used by militaries and fire academies for over 50 years because it works with zero equipment. Warm up for 10 minutes. Then run, jog, or walk as far as you possibly can in 12 minutes. A track is ideal so you can count laps, but a treadmill works too. Write down your total distance. That distance converts directly to your estimated VO2 max. The further you cover, the bigger your engine. Cover about 1.5 miles and you're right around the 12 MET job standard. Come up short and now you know exactly what you're training for. I put the full test instructions, the conversion chart, and the training plan to raise your number in one doc. [Take The Engine Test here] No guesswork. No hiding. Just your number and a plan. Stay calibrated, John

Stoked to be a part of this!