Ceiling Breach & Pull

Event #8

Equipment

This event uses a mechanized device that measures overhead push and pull forces and a pike pole. The pike pole is a commonly used piece of equipment that consists of a 6-foot long pole with a hook and point attached to one end..

Purpose of Evaluation

This event is designed to simulate the critical task of breaching and pulling down a ceiling to check for fire extension. This event challenges your aerobic capacity, upper and lower body muscular strength and endurance, grip strength and endurance, and anaerobic endurance. This event affects your aerobic and anaerobic energy systems as well as the following muscle groups: quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, abdominals, torso rotators, lower back stabilizers, deltoids, trapezius, triceps, biceps, and muscles of the forearm and hand (grip).

Event

For this event, you must remove the pike pole from the bracket, stand within the boundary established by the equipment frame, and place the tip of the pole on the painted area of the hinged door in the ceiling. Fully push up the 60-pound hinged door in the ceiling with the pike pole three times. Then, hook the pike pole to the 80-pound ceiling device and pull the pole down five times. Each set consists of three pushes and five pulls. Repeat the set four times.

You are permitted to stop and, if needed, adjust your grip. Releasing your grip or allowing the pike pole handle to slip, without the pike pole falling to the ground, does not result in a warning or constitute a failure. You are permitted to re-establish your grip and resume the event. If you do not successfully complete a repetition, the proctor calls out “MISS” and you must push or pull the apparatus again to complete the repetition. This event and the total test time ends when you complete the final pull stroke repetition as indicated by a proctor who calls out “TIME.”

Warnings and Failures

One warning is given if you drop the pike pole to the ground. If you drop the pike pole, you must pick it up without proctor assistance and resume the event. The second infraction constitutes a failure, the test time is concluded and you fail the test. If your feet do not remain within the marked boundary lines, one warning is given. The second infraction constitutes a failure, the test time is concluded and you fail the test.

Physical Preparation

Ceiling Breach: Tie a rope to a dumbbell or weighted knapsack placed between your legs, shoulder width apart. Grasp the rope, arms slightly away from the body with one hand at upper-thigh level and the other hand at chest level. Lift upwards and out from the body in an action that simulates thrusting a pole through an overhead ceiling.

Use a resistance that feels “somewhat hard,” yet enables you to complete three sets of eight repetitions with two minutes of rest between sets. Continually add weight as strength improves. Practice coordinating upward arm movements with an upward extension of the legs to provide a more powerful thrusting action.

Ceiling Pull: The training set-up for this simulation is the same as that used in training for the ladder extension. However, unlike the hand-over-hand movement that is required for the ladder extension the ceiling pull requires exerting power in single, repeated downward thrusts.

Grasp the rope attached to the weighted knapsack or duffel bag with hands spaced about one-foot apart and the bottom hand at chin level. In a powerful movement simultaneously pull arms down and lower your body to raise weight several feet above the ground. Repeat eight to ten consecutive repetitions of the movement with a resistance that feels “somewhat hard.” Complete three sets with a two-minute recovery interval interspersed. Progressively add resistance as fitness improves.