SKReyes1990
New member
Hello! I'm semi-new to this forum, so I suppose I'll start with an intro:
I'm a 22-year-old female, 5'2. Currently, I'm going through a first-responder program with the intentions of going into EMT and eventually paramedic - maybe even get into rescue, though we'll see how this all goes first. Going into this, I always knew I'd have to work on strengthening my body - its a sad fact that average patients are pushing 200+lbs (I've heard 'horror' stories of patients 400-500lbs) and even with the help of gurneys and boards, a lot of getting someone into the back of an ambulance is good 'ole fashion grunt work. I knew this, and told myself that I'd hit the gym and start lifting, but procrastination has certainly gotten in the way of that. The past few weeks of class, however, have been a bit of a wake up call. Because I'm so small compared to everyone else in my class (I am the shortest person by a good 3-4 inches), its a lot more difficult for me to lift as high as my partners without pretty much throwing my entire body into it. Our teachers have warned us that the #1 career ending injury for us would be throwing out our backs and with the way things are for me, I can sort of see that happening sometime in the future.
I certainly don't want that to happen, so I've decided to stop being so lazy and get a start on getting in better shape and whatnot. I've always fluctuated in weight - when I was young, I'm ashamed to say I was rather heavy-set, and still somewhat am, though I've come down some from what I used to be. As I am, I seem to float around the 135-145lb range, and while I do hope to lose weight, my primary goal is simply to get into healthier shape and to build up muscle. I refuse to let my physical inabilities be the one thing that stops me from treating and helping a patient the best I can.
I'm not exactly sure how I'll go about this; I guess you could say that I'm a 'fitness noob' so we'll be going through a bit of trial-and-error while I try to figure out what works and what doesn't. The only thing I know for sure is that I am doing. I'm not procrastinating. I'm not making excuses. I'm doing it.
I'm a 22-year-old female, 5'2. Currently, I'm going through a first-responder program with the intentions of going into EMT and eventually paramedic - maybe even get into rescue, though we'll see how this all goes first. Going into this, I always knew I'd have to work on strengthening my body - its a sad fact that average patients are pushing 200+lbs (I've heard 'horror' stories of patients 400-500lbs) and even with the help of gurneys and boards, a lot of getting someone into the back of an ambulance is good 'ole fashion grunt work. I knew this, and told myself that I'd hit the gym and start lifting, but procrastination has certainly gotten in the way of that. The past few weeks of class, however, have been a bit of a wake up call. Because I'm so small compared to everyone else in my class (I am the shortest person by a good 3-4 inches), its a lot more difficult for me to lift as high as my partners without pretty much throwing my entire body into it. Our teachers have warned us that the #1 career ending injury for us would be throwing out our backs and with the way things are for me, I can sort of see that happening sometime in the future.
I certainly don't want that to happen, so I've decided to stop being so lazy and get a start on getting in better shape and whatnot. I've always fluctuated in weight - when I was young, I'm ashamed to say I was rather heavy-set, and still somewhat am, though I've come down some from what I used to be. As I am, I seem to float around the 135-145lb range, and while I do hope to lose weight, my primary goal is simply to get into healthier shape and to build up muscle. I refuse to let my physical inabilities be the one thing that stops me from treating and helping a patient the best I can.
I'm not exactly sure how I'll go about this; I guess you could say that I'm a 'fitness noob' so we'll be going through a bit of trial-and-error while I try to figure out what works and what doesn't. The only thing I know for sure is that I am doing. I'm not procrastinating. I'm not making excuses. I'm doing it.
