Why we do this

When someone needs help, we want to be ready.

Frontline Throwdown brings police, fire, EMS, and healthcare workers together around a shared responsibility: preparing ourselves to serve others. For 24 minutes, randomly assigned partners will communicate, share the workload, and keep moving through a demanding physical challenge. You may not know your teammate when you start. You will have to learn to work together.

Every movement has a purpose: getting off the ground, lifting an awkward load, climbing, carrying, and covering ground. The challenge is to maintain effort, focus, and control as fatigue builds.

We keep score to encourage effort and establish a benchmark we can return to each year. The goal is to come back fitter, work better together, and bring more people with us.

We promote prevention in our communities. Our own health deserves that same commitment.

Train for the people who depend on you. Take care of the person they depend on.

The purpose behind the challenge

24 minutes
Sustain your effort and attention
Emergency work requires us to remain engaged for as long as the situation demands. This time frame challenges you to pace yourself, manage your breathing, and stay present as the work accumulates.
Random partners
Build trust through communication
We do not always choose everyone we work alongside. An unfamiliar partner challenges you to communicate clearly, adapt quickly, and share responsibility toward a common goal.
100 burpees over your partner
Get down, get up, move with care
Getting off the ground is a fundamental physical ability. Moving over a teammate adds coordination, communication, and responsibility for the person beside you. Work deliberately, whether you step or jump.
50 sandbag over shoulders
Lift an awkward load with control
The sandbag challenges your legs, hips, trunk, and grip to generate force together. It builds strength and power relevant to handling demanding loads; patient handling still requires its own techniques and equipment.
50 box step-ups
Climb and remain capable
Stairs are often part of reaching someone who needs help. Step-ups challenge leg strength and conditioning so that climbing leaves you better prepared for the work that follows.
8 sandbag carries
Carry the load and support your team
Equipment and supplies must get where they are needed. Carries challenge grip, posture, trunk strength, and endurance, while alternating trips makes each partner responsible for moving the team forward.
8 shuttle runs
Cover ground and recover
Responders may need to move quickly to reach help or get to safety. Shuttle runs challenge cardiovascular fitness, changes of direction, and the ability to repeat an effort after a teammate takes their turn.
The score
Establish a starting point and return stronger
Competition gives us a reason to push. Repeating the workout gives that effort a longer purpose: measuring progress, strengthening connections, and building a healthier first-responder community.