Alex Boersma

Background

Alex is a 29 year veteran with the Toronto Fire Services, in Toronto, Canada, and currently holds the rank of Captain. He is a member of Toronto Professional Fire Fighters’ Association, IAFF Local 3888. In addition to his font-line role, Alex is the Peer Fitness Trainer (PFT) coordinator and is the Chair of the Wellness-Fitness Committee for the department. He became an instructor for the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) in 2015, and over the last 8 years has delivered classes to fire fighters in the United States and Canada. Alex enjoys working with fire fighters because of the passion they bring to the course material. He finds it contagious, and relishes the opportunity to reciprocate the energy and commitment shown by students through his instruction. Alex also values the ability to get to learn from fire fighters who take the IAFF’s F2T courses, whom in his experience possess significant knowledge of wellness-fitness related topics.

Activity Habits

Outside of work Alex, is currently gearing up for retirement. He enjoys spending quality time with friends and family, which often involves some form of physical activity such as hiking, biking, or canoeing. By his own admission Alex spends lots of time at the gym, and enjoys learning about, and applying traditional strength and endurance training modalities and paradigms in his personal training. When on-shift, Alex often completes group workouts with his crew. He is currently taking courses in physiology at a local university in preparation to begin a Master’s program in Exercise Physiology, with a particular emphasis on the role of exercise in mitigating the disease processes associated with ageing.

Job performance is an important motivating force to be active for Alex. He always wants to keep up with or (preferably) ahead of his younger crewmates. Longevity is another key motivator for him, as he is looking forward to a long and active retirement. Lastly, throughout his life Alex has always been strong and fit, and these characteristics and the opportunities they have afforded him, are part of who he is. In other words, being physically active is part of his identity. All this considered, exercise is a big priority for Alex, and not many things make it challenging for him to be as active as he would like. With that said, sometimes life gets in the way, and although he always finds the time to do something, it isn’t always what he would have liked to do.

Perspectives on F2T and fire fighter wellness and fitness

In Alex’s opinion, the F2T program is unique because it is tailored specifically to the realities and challenges of fire fighters. The program takes into account the unique physical demands of the job, the varied training circumstances available to fire fighters, and considers these, and other aspects of health and wellness over fire fighters’ lifespan. For Alex, one of the ways the program adds value is by training and equipping leaders within departments with the skills and confidence to assist their peers improve their health and performance over a lifetime.

Alex would like departments and fire fighters to know that the program is designed in collaboration with fire fighters and taught by fire fighters. The two words he would use to describe the program are lifelong health. Alex would advise fire fighters thinking about investing in their wellness and fitness to start slow, and put a premium on learning how to move well. By understanding the fundamentals of how the body adapts to exercise, fire fighters can direct their training appropriately so it can serve them in the present and over their careers.