Sari Padorr The Denver Post

Open any firefighter calendar and you'll see washboard abs, pumped-up pecs and great-looking guns.

Now picture a calendar in which Mr. March shows off his love handles while climbing a ladder.

Not a pretty sight, but a more accurate portrait of fire departments all over the country. A national study in 1999 showed that 78 percent of all firefighters fell below the minimum aerobic standard to fight fires.

In other words, firefighters are like the rest of us. They're fighting fat. And it's becoming a dangerous situation, which is why one local fire department came up with a comprehensive plan to fight back through fitness and food.

"It's really scary when you think the No.1 fatality of firefighters is heart attacks," says Bob Stratman, wellness director for the West Metro Fire Protection District.

"We want to make sure a firefighter goes home at the end of the day, because if he goes down at a fire, not only do we have that to worry about but also the victims still left inside that he won't be able to get to," says Cindy Matthews, West Metro's public information officer.

West Metro was facing the fat. In 1999, 43 of its 240 firefighters measured clinically obese and nine were morbidly obese. Twenty-five percent of the firefighters couldn't meet the minimum aerobic standard.

"A lot of people were overweight, were on medications, were meeting with doctors on a regular basis," Stratman says.

Cpt. Jim Thatcher. 53, was a prime example. A former high school gymnast who holds a black belt in karate, he found himself slowly gaining weight after his first son was born in the 1980s. "If I had the choice of exercise or TV, it was always TV," he says. "I was always tired. I got exhausted pretty easily and I would find easier ways to do something instead of the right way."

His love of food and lack of exercise pushed his 5-foot-8-inch frame to 286 pounds.

West Metro technology specialist Eric Bates also packed it on. In 2006, his 5-foot- 8-inch frame carried 205 pounds.

"If I got hungry I'd go to Good Times. It was hard to get motivated. It was a workout just to get to the workout," Bates says.

Lt. Dustin Horn says part of the problem was that firefighters sat down to meals together, but they didn't concentrate on what they ate. "A lot of times we'd eat pasta, bread and dessert," he says.

So, in 1999, Stratman and a task force of firefighters started to change the fire department. The former corporate wellness director for Coors understood that the change needed to be comprehensive. He wanted to give the firefighters a plan to get in shape, using both nutrition and exercise. He also wanted to change the habits the firefighters had slipped into.

Stratman worked with the University of Colorado's physiology and nutrition lab to come up with a plan.

They interviewed the firefighters on their fitness and food habits. They attached monitors to them and had them work out. "They looked like lab rats on a treadmill," Matthews says.

They looked at calculations for fighting fires: a 180-pound man fighting a fire for 12 minutes burns 420 calories. "The average Joe would have to work out at a 50 percent heart rate for an hour to burn those same calories," Stratman says.

They looked at how much energy is required to raise a ladder or climb five flights of stairs. And they came up with exercises that would not only help firefighters lose the weight but also get them more ready to fight fires.

Through a government grant, West Metro put exercise equipment in all of its stations. A full gym was updated at headquarters and is available to anyone from the department who wants to use it.

The department developed its own core-strengthening video and put copies in all stations. The team also developed cookbooks with nutritional breakdowns of good food choices.

"A typical morning is egg whites, fresh fruit and a little bacon for protein," Stratman says - a major improvement from a menu that typically had included a lot of bacon, butter, biscuits and gravy.

The department gave each station a booklet showing the nutritional values of fast food firefighters might eat.

Finally, Fitday software was installed on every desktop at all 15 stations. It's a program that the firefighters use to chart what they eat and how much they exercise each day. It tracks them for months so they can see the results.

The efforts are paying off.

Since the change began, the district has seen a reduction in body fat and an increase in core strengthening and aerobic capacity. There are only six firefighters who now measure clinically obese. In 1999, 72 firefighters fell below the minimum aerobic standard. This year there were none.

"We've basically given each firefighter their own personal trainer and personal nutritionist," Matthews says.

Now, if you walk into any firehouse at lunch you'll see heart-healthy, nutritious dishes like chicken club sandwiches, salad and fruit. "Personally it's been great," Horn says. "Looking around, the results are quite evident."

Competition between firefighters is now about who can make the healthiest meal, with some stations splitting the cost of half a buffalo to "beef" up their meals in a healthier way.

Thatcher stuck to portion control and the fitness plan and lost 30 pounds in the last eight months. "It's easier to breathe. My knees don't hurt as much. I feel good. I want to lose another 30 pounds," he said.

Bates traded in the Good Times runs for better times, running. He's down 18 pounds and lost 5.65 percent of his body fat.

Stratman also says the healthier lifestyle has resulted in fewer injuries and fewer workers compensation claims. In 1999, the department averaged 200 to 300 claims a year for a workforce of 240. Now the claims are down to about 35 a year for a workforce of 320, he says

And the world is taking notice. West Metro Fire was recently honored with the 2007 Fire Service Organizational Safety Award by the International Association of Fire Chiefs, given annually to acknowledge a department's health, fitness and safety. In other words, it is the fittest fire department in the world. "I think it's amazing," Stratman says.

West Metro believes its plan can work for anyone. So it sent the core strengthening video to more than 500 other fire departments across the country. Officials say the plan can work for spouses, too.

``Change is good,'' Stratman says. ``I hear firefighters say, 'I sleep better, my sex life is better. I have a lot more energy.' Comments like that are rewarding.''