Every time that alert sounds, Ottawa’s firefighters take action without knowing how their lives, and the lives of residents, could be on the line.
During a 24-hour shift rotation, between responding to emergency and non-emergency calls, firefighters have job-related training, certifications/re-certifications, daily station duties and public events. Even so, there can still be downtime. Each station is a self-contained unit, with its own kitchen, gym and dormitory. The crew shop and cook for themselves, and they eat well.
“We’ve got some Grade A cooks, I can tell you,” said Ottawa firefighter Martin Charbonneau. “They always make more than we need.”
The 45-year-old has only been a professional firefighter for five years. Before that, he was a volunteer firefighter and his day job was IT support and software programming.
“The office work just wasn’t my thing,” he said. “I always was physical. I worked on a farm for eight years. As a kid, I was always into sports. At some point, I just realized, there’s a better thing out there. I needed something that would be better at getting me going than sitting at a desk.”
But while there is a lot of physicality to the role of firefighter, Martin and his colleagues are largely left to their own devices when it comes to managing their fitness and nutrition.
Peer pressure and a spirit of friendly competition do help to keep them on track, but Martin realized he needed more – those big spaghetti dinners at the station were taking their toll.
Martin considered just investing in some workout videos, but realized that wouldn’t give him the accountability he was looking for to stay on track.
“I needed that motivation, that extra boost,” he said. “It’s easy to cheat yourself. But when you have an appointment, you can’t really miss that. It’s easier to commit when there is someone else in the picture.”
He didn’t walk in wanting to pile on muscle like a body builder, just cut fat and build strength.
That was March. In only two months, coming in twice a week plus working out on his own at the station, he’s already seen results.
“I’m definitely happy with where I am now,” he said. “In that short time I’ve already dropped a chunk of weight, I feel great.”
Mike Robichaud and Nick Antal are his trainers.
“I’m just glad I don’t have the both of them at the same time,” Martin joked. “But it’s great, they’ll push you and you make you want to push yourself. It’s just fun with these guys – they’re good motivators.”
But they do more than just motivate him to exercise. Mike and Nick also counsel Martin on how to reform his nutrition habits and navigate meal time at the station.
Now, when it’s spaghetti day, Martin will bring his own spaghetti squash and have that with pasta sauce. Or if it’s chicken parmesan day, he’ll have his chicken undressed, on a salad. Regardless of what’s on the menu, the key is portion control.
“The toughest thing was getting rid of the bread,” he said. “And there’s always desert – that was tough to leave. But after a month, it got easier. It’s just changing some habits, and once you change some habits and get past those cravings, you can still have that cookie once in a while.
“It’s almost like renovating your house. You’re renovating yourself.”
