Worksite Exercise Interventions for Low Back Injury Prevention in Firefighters

Participants will perform the back and core exercises that were tested in our previous firefighter study (Mayer, 2015), in addition to their usual physical fitness routine. All participants at a given fire station will receive the same intervention and all interventions will be completed at the fire station. Participants will perform 2 exercise sessions each week (each time they are on duty) throughout the study's 12-month duration. The back and core exercise program consists of 1 set of 5 exercises - 4 core exercises on a floor mat and 1 back extension exercise on a variable angle Roman chair - which will take approximately 10 minutes to complete for each session (Mayer, 2015).

Participants will receive a 45-60 minute, one-time educational session, which will be delivered to delivered by an exercise specialist in a 1-on-1 format while the participant is on-duty at the fire station, in addition to their usual physical fitness routine. Content for the educational session on evidence-based guidelines for exercise, physical fitness, and general physical activity will be derived from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Position Stand - Quantity and Quality of Exercise for Developing and Maintaining Cardiorespiratory, Musculoskeletal, and Neuromotor Fitness in Apparently Healthy Adults: Guidance for Prescribing Exercise (Garber, 2011).