Brad Chicoine is
a paramedic/firefighter with the City of Saco Fire Department. He is a resident
of Windham. He is promoting healthy diets and exercise among first
responders by sharing his story and transformation.
His goal is to
help motivate and make people realize that anyone can make a positive change to
their health but it does not happen overnight.
My
story. My job. My transformation.
In
the fall of 2009, after being in the Saco Fire Department for a little over three
years, I realized that I had become a product of the typical firehouse
atmosphere. I found it very easy, when not training or on 911 emergency calls,
to just relax with my crew and eat. Not only did I have the best job in the
world, but the public always brought in delicious desserts for us. I was
married and had a 2-year-old daughter at home with a baby boy on the way. Life was
good right?
Nope.
I
was physically in the worst condition of my life and I was only 26 years old. I
knew that I had to do something soon. I decided that the first step was to
incorporate a physical fitness program into my daily routine, but didn’t really
know how I was going to find the time.
“For a firefighter to give more than the average citizen, he
must be physically strong enough to perform such tasks as rescuing victims,
moving equipment, and advancing hoseline much more easily.” -
FireEngineering.com.
So
I researched and read anything/everything that had to do with physical fitness.
At this point I weighed just over 190 pounds and my uniforms were now not
fitting me properly. I was also too embarrassed to tell my fire chief that my
structural firefighting gear did not fit me either. I convinced myself that by
simply using the elliptical, lifting weights, and jogging, I would solve all my
problems.
Wrong.
After
two years of sporadic training, in 2011, I had lost 20 pounds but I still
weighed over 170 pounds. My best friend Mark Boutin, who had recently competed
in a bodybuilding contest, asked me if I would be interested in training with
him. I figured I had nothing to lose because what I was currently doing was not
getting me the results I wanted. I trained with Mark for the next two years and
learned the proper way to lift weights and the importance of nutrition (how to
properly count macros -fat/carb/protein). I was shocked when he said that I had
the discipline and motivation to compete in a bodybuilding contest someday.
I
laughed at him.
“Each firefighter needs to take an active role in managing his
health. Incorporating a healthy eating plan along with a regular exercise
regimen into his schedule enables a member to focus more on the tasks at hand
when performing the job.” -FireEngineering.com.
In
January of 2013, I was talking about physical fitness with a fellow paramedic
who mentioned that he worked with an EMT in Old Orchard Beach who was a female
bodybuilder. In March of 2013, I finally met Morgan Swinburne of MOTIVATION by
MORGAN – Personal Training and Nutritional Services. She was in fact an
EMT, personal trainer and nutritionist! How awesome is that? I asked her if she
would be willing to train me so I could compete in a bodybuilding contest in
2014 and she confidently replied, “Of course, let’s get to work.”
It was the best decision I ever made!
Over
180 pounds.
Together
we decided that I would train for an all-natural bodybuilding competition,
called The Spirit of America, in
Carver, Massachusetts in April 2014. I contacted my friend Mark to see if he
would be willing to compete with me and he agreed! I now had a professional
trainer, a buddy to help keep me focused, and a goal to strive for. No turning
back.
T-Minus
13 months.
Over
the next year Morgan improved my diet while further educating me about
nutrition and post-competition diet sustainability. She tracked my progress
through weekly weigh-ins, Saturday morning progress photos, and monthly body
fat percentage totals. She designed workouts that would allow me to put on lean
muscle mass while losing weight.
Month
after month, day after day, my physique morphed before my very eyes. My
progress was starting to be noticed by my friends, family, and co-workers. I
felt great. I looked better than I ever had in my life. I met the physical
demands of my job with ease by excelling at all tasks on the fire ground and I
had to order new uniforms because of my dramatic physique change!
The
morning of April 19, 2014, arrived and I was very anxious. I could not believe
that I was going to actually
step on stage and have eight total strangers judge me solely on my physique.
Game
time.
Right
before I was about to step on stage in front of a crowd of over 500 people, my
trainer Morgan asked me, “do you remember over a year ago I told you that I
would not put you on stage unless you were ready?” I nodded my head. She smiled
and said, “Congratulations, you are stage ready. Enjoy the moment, you earned
it!”
I
came in fourth place and Mark came in second place in the Men’s Physique
Division.
Being
EMTs and firefighters, it is our job to help people. We can’t do this day in
and day out if we don’t take care of ourselves first. Even though my physical
and mental transformation was achieved through the discipline of bodybuilding,
there are many other ways to
get healthy. We just need to find a way to include a healthy diet and exercise
into our busy shifts when on duty as well as our personal lives when we are off
duty. Our job depends on it. We owe to our families, our fellow brothers
and sisters in the fire service, and the citizens in the communities that we
serve.
