| Sumario: | The purpose of this study was to compare the cardio-metabolic and perceived demands of task-specific circuit training to fireground suppression tasks (FST). Twenty-three career, structural firefighters performed three separate testing days (i.e., FST, CT, and CTW). FST consisted of performing seven common occupational tasks in full gear (~22.5kg). The weighted (CTW: 18.9kg vest) and unweighted (CT) circuit utilized seven exercises designed to mimic the FST's. Measurements included relative heart rate (%HRmax), post-training blood lactate (Lapost), change in countermovement jump height (ΔCMJ), change in dominant and non-dominant handgrip strength (ΔDHG and ΔNDHG), total training time, rating of perceived exertion (RPE), and job-specific rating of relevance. A repeated measure analysis of variance (ANOVA), with Bonferroni post-hoc, was performed for each variable, excluding RPE and rating of relevance. Friedman's ANOVA was used to assess differences in RPE and rating of relevance, with Wilcoxen Signed Rank tests follow-up. Significant mean differences were found in %HRmax between CT and FST (~8.6%, p < 0.01, d = 1.12) and CTW and FST (~5.3%, p < 0.01, d = 0.75), ΔCMJ between CT and FST (p < 0.01, d = 1.35) and CTW and FST (p < 0.01, d = 1.09), ΔNDHG between CTW and FST (p = 0.01, d = 0.79), training time between CT and FST (p < 0.01, d = 1.00) and CTW and FST (p < 0.01, d = 1.81), and rating of relevance between CT and FST (PSdep = 0.67). In conclusion, CT and CTW were able to elicit similar metabolic and perceived demands as FST, while producing a lower cardiovascular response. Therefore, while circuit training may be a beneficial training tool for firefighters, it cannot replicate FST.
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