Chicago fitness company unveils health and wellness program designed to help firefighters live longer and work stronger. The program falls under guidelines that federal grant money covers for fire departments.
Chicago, IL (PRWEB) August 28, 2006 -- UNICUS Fitness, a fitness service business based in Chicago, is set to unveil its Firefighter H.E.A.T. program at the Fire House Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada starting September 27th. The H.E.A.T. program (Health Evaluation And Training) is a combination of fitness and wellness testing, workout programming, nutritional counseling along with workout manuals and dvds, all created specifically for firefighters and whole fire departments. "The data over the last 30 years is pretty hard to ignore. " says UNICUS Fitness President and Co-Founder, Frank Nunez. "More firefighters die each year because of lifestyle related diseases and being sedentary than do because of fire. We want to help reverse this trend and give firefighters a longer life and better quality of professional and personal life."
The initial testing is a series of tests created by the IAFF/IAFC Joint Wellness Fitness Initiative created to provide fair evaluation of all firefighters. From that, UNICUS Fitness is able to provide specific programs designed to make a firefighter functionally stronger. UNICUS works with a series of exclusive vendors who are able to provide exercise equipment for the programming. These vendors, Vortex Fitness, Direct Fitness Solutions, The X-Vest, Wellspring Fitness and Body Solid, have built a series of exclusive packages specifically for the UNICUS H.E.A.T. program. Fire departments can even get help from UNICUS in designing and building their own fitness area if one doesn't already exist in their areas.
Programming is available for one year after the initial testing and can include nutritional counseling with meal plans, workout manuals and workout dvds. All of these are also available separately for individuals to purchase. UNICUS Fitness can travel anywhere in the U.S. to implement the H.E.A.T. program for firehouses. "We come and do the initial testing and then provide year long support through Firefighter Peer Fitness Training, Online programming and the manuals and dvds that each house can purchase," says Nunez. "The price is pretty reasonable for the testing and programming, just $199 per person, compared to the cost of a gym membership along with personal training. We have tested and trained hundreds of firefighters in the last 3 years and everyone thinks it is a great value."
The unique thing about the UNICUS H.E.A.T. program is that it meets all the guidelines set forth by the FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program under the Wellness and Fitness section. So fire departments around the country can either use grant money already awarded their departments for Wellness and Fitness programs under the federal program, or fire departments can apply for the grant and sign their departments up for the H.E.A.T. program after they receive their grant.
UNICUS Fitness has extensive experience working with fire departments and fire academies designing programming specifically for the needs of firefighters. They have worked with the Chicago Firefighter Academy as well as the South West United Fire District Academy in suburban Darien, IL.
To find out more about the UNICUS H.E.A.T. program contact:
Frank Nunez, Co-Founder and President
312-819-4466 city
630-960-9983 suburbs
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