Proper Physical Fitness and Training for Police Officers
The intersection of physical fitness, training, and the future of Police in America in the 21st Century
Original draft can be found Here.
With the unfortunate police response to a recent school shooting I thought it would be prevalent to share some thoughts on some “base” programming for a modern patrol cop, as well as discuses where physical training may fit into the broader paradigm of policing in America in 2022. These thoughts are my thoughts alone, and I think may shed some light on the direction policing needs to go in America.
I was a police officer for almost four years before deciding to enlist into the Army. I signed an Army Ranger Contract, was thankfully successful in my endeavors, and served in the 75th Ranger Regiment for four years before deciding to go a different route in the military. I deployed twice, graduated from Ranger School while serving at Regiment, and unfortunately had the wear and tear to show for it for a guy who joined the special operations world a bit later in life. The decision to leave was mostly due to burn out and an injury that later required a total hip replacement.
I give that brief background just so the reader can understand my perspective; why I am saying the things I am saying. I am very pro law enforcement. I know police right now have a damn near impossible task every time they go out into the public and I know for all of you still in the job you have had a rough past few years. Really a rough past decade.
Am I guardian? Or am I a Protector? Do I serve and protect, or do I protect and serve? Now it would be foolish to pretend like the job is perfect and that any criticism is totally unfounded by some of the activism that we have seen over these past few years. Police should always be looking to improve with their tactics and training.
Whether it is poor policy, bad public relations, or events taken out of context, in the end it just doesn’t matter. Public trust has eroded with the police. I think a lot of it is unfounded and often due to working off incomplete information. Many conclusions drawn by the talking heads over these past few years have exacerbated this, while quickly moving on to whatever the next crisis is.
That does not mean self reflection and careful after action reviews should not be occurring every shift. This is so Law Enforcement can not only learn, but also later society as a whole can try and understand why things sometimes go right, go wrong, and what the Law Enforcement community is doing to improve and fix it. We do this all the time in the military. Tactics change, doctrine changes, and if God forbid we were in a large scale conventional war the lessons learned would come hard and fast and adaption would have to happen if we wanted to survive.
During the most recent school shooting the available facts indicate the leadership on scene made the call for the officers to treat the situation like a barricaded subject. Essentially calling this active shooter a hostage situation. Traditionally this generally means you slow down, call a tactical team and try and reason with the suspect. In the age of the active shooter, we have known now for over a couple decades these situations are not a traditional hostage taking scenario. Once the shooting starts, especially at a school, the longer you wait the more kids and teachers will die. As I type this it is absolutely infuriating. I learned this in the police academy in 2008. I am pretty sure they were teaching this before I ever entered Law Enforcement as Columbine happened in the 90s.
In a moment I will address physical training standards and why it’s important, as well as provide an example for a “base” phase for a Patrol Officer. I think standards and organized physical training methods will help shift the culture of law enforcement for the better. This job is a lifestyle. That is what many of these people signed up to do. Be a warrior class when it is needed and be the social worker when it is not. The lifestyle needs to reflect that, and physical fitness should be a huge piece of that life. For those that signed up for something else, I think other jobs would be a better fit.
That kind of decision making above, where leadership chooses the political move instead of making a hard split second decision; is the result of a culture that is more likely to punish action than inaction. It is time for law enforcement leaders to understand and help the public understand that if police make a choice; one that is reasonable and based off the totality of the circumstances known at the time by the officer, if something goes wrong grace needs to be given. Both legally and culturally. The officers that make that hypothetical reasonable decision need to be defended, regardless if in hindsight there was a “better” choice. I am sure Tom Brady never meant throw an interception, but I bet in hindsight that split second decision to throw that pass turned out to be a decision he wished he did not make.
Until the public understands case law and this general concept above is understood, these weak decisions will be made again and again. It will come down to hoping that some man or woman on the ground at the time refuses to obey that kind of pathetic decision making. They will have to put it all on the line. That is where we are at right now. Somebody could have told that “commander” on the ground this is a school shooter and not a “barricaded subject”. It didn’t happen. Probably due to the same kind of decision making I outlined above.
Until something changes and police are selected, vetted, and trained properly to be the protectors they need to be..this issue is not going away. Below is a very basic diagram where I believe modern law enforcement needs to be grounded before they do anything.
We need to start with a solid foundation as to Why? Why are you doing this profession? Why are you a cop? Are you becoming a cop because you like a little power? You want to write traffic tickets and arrest underage drinkers? Hide behind stats but never take a gun off the street? Or are you there to go after the most violent members of society and get them off the streets? What is your department’s mission? What is their mission statement?
Preservation of life is symbiotic with the ethical foundation. When you boil down the mission statement, no matter what it says in the end the basic reason for the existence of police is to preserve innocent life. This requires selfless service. This is what a police officer signed up to do. Or should have signed up to do.
Comparatively smaller to those concepts but still paramount is physical fitness. This will enhance everything you do. It will make you better at your tactical training You will recover and manage stress better. I would also argue it would help you with your studies by creating a balance in your life. You will be more confident as well.
When you move on to basic tactical training because you are physically fit you will be able to handle the stress of the academy. The stress that comes from training basic combatives, shooting, etc. Later when you’re on the street this will transfer to remaining calm while your lights and sirens are blaring as you’re running hot to a shooting. This is all symbiotic and will enhance the mindset that is required to be a cop.
Constitutional Law, education, and department policy all need to mesh together to form the complete officer. They need to know how far they can push their powers when they are out and about doing their jobs. How do I legally stop and talk to someone when I think something is off? How do I talk to that guy who is just hanging around behind a gas station for too long? Or for the third time in the middle of the night I saw that same car driving around and it never seems to find it’s destination; how can I initiate a stop? Officers need to be aware of historical issues between certain communities and police, and do their best to address those concerns. They need to realize every day when they go out and do their jobs they will either confirm those biases or help erode them.
This encompasses a lot of what I have already talked about, but this will all end with quality field training. A seasoned officer, who is not only talented but also can coach, now takes the new officer out and he or she sees what right looks like. This is an important gate and departments need to be honest with these candidates. Using the word “candidates” was not an accident. They aren’t official yet. If they don’t show potential of being a good police officer they need to be told to move on. Not just for the public but for them as well. I know this will be hard with current shortages but this is the direction this needs to go. The focus needs to be quality over quantity. If you want that quality Officer the job needs to become much more competitive with higher pay and higher fail out rate. High physical and training standards. The reality is right now a man or woman with a college degree and military experience is probably going to apply to a federal law enforcement job before local. The federal job will often be double or triple the salary of a municipal police officer, have better benefits and retirement, and will not have to deal with any of the political insanity that street cops are dealing with right now. The job predictably looks more appealing.
In some departments these higher standards and training are already there. It needs to be common practice. This applies for leadership roles. If you can’t demonstrate that you were a solid officer prior to climbing the ladder and not just a politician you need to go back to the street before you lead officers. Some of these leaders would even benefit from some military officer training in any of the branches just to see what leading from the front can look like. It’s not hopeless, but adaption is critical if we are going to survive.
Excerpt from the Book:
Answering the Call: Proper Physical Training for Police and Military in the in the 21st Century
Below is an example of a “Base” Strength and Conditioning phase for a Patrol Officer
PHASE 1
Schedule:
The overall schedule is geared towards developing aerobic capacity and strength. We need to start here. Despite some of the parallels to the military program, patrol cops have slightly different physical qualities. Typically military personnel should be able to walk really far with a backpack while holding stuff. If in the course of your duty as a police officer you are walking miles upon miles under load while holding a rifle you either work in a national park or society collapsed and we should really be trying to secure ammo, clean water, and a sustainable food source. I know exceptions to this statement exist but this program is geared toward the municipal front-line police officer.
The following needs to be reiterated: As you look at this schedule, there is nothing wrong if due to your work or family life that this 4 week phase stretches out to 6 weeks. Just get the workouts in. I am sure some of you also train self defense/martial arts some days during the week. Depending on the intensity of these classes that should be taken into consideration for the training week. If you have the time, working that in on your conditioning days would be appropriate. Or just take the class, monitor how you feel the next day and go from there. Heavy bag work can also be subbed for the loaded movement work after the HICT/Ladder work on Day 2. Just stay within the big picture of this thing. Recovery days are not listed below but no change here to the parameters (Recovery is outlined in other parts of the book, think extended mobility sessions, walking, etc).
Lift 1 (Day 1): 5x5 Variation-
BLOCK A: Left hand side you see “Block A”- Start here. To the left of “Rack Pulls” is “100” because that is where you would put your 3RM. Below that you read 65- which is the percentage of your 3RM. To the right of 65 is 5, the reps to perform. If you do not know your 3RM use a weight you could probably do 7 or 8 times in week 1 and bump it up as you go through the month. Next exercise is a bench press variation (or Overhead Press). Same sets/reps- 5x5. Do your rack pulls, rest a bit, then do your Presses. Not a race. Reps should be strong and have some power to them. Go back and forth until you complete Block A on it's own.
BLOCK B: Weighted Pull Ups or Chin ups- DO NOT GO TO FAILURE. In between sets do reverse lunges on slider while holding weight in the racked position in the hand of the leg going back. If you want an added challenge hold the KB bottoms up. Make sure you not only slide back into the lunge position under control but you also actively pull your leg back under you. If pull ups are an issue I suggest doing some band pull downs (bump the reps up to 5-8), and just hang from the bar a bit.
BLOCK C: Short circuit: Hold a perfect Bear Crawl position hovering off the ground for 20-30 seconds, then move to a loaded carry of your choice. Then jump down into a glute march. Bridge your hips up using your glutes and then without letting your hips dip, bring one knee up as if you are marching, hold for a count, then switch legs. Don’t hold your breath.
Day 2: HICT/DENSITY
BLOCK A: High resistance intervals. You can use a bike with the resistance cranked up during each rep or in this case KB swings. 8-10 reps then rest one minute or until your heart rate comes down to 130 bpm. Then repeat your set. Record total time. This will come down as you improve your fitness and you’ll start to see your rest times begin to shorten.
BLOCK B: This is a density/HICT style ladder circuit. You will learn to generate power/display strength while in the high end of your aerobic zone. If you have a heart rate monitor you should be right around your 150-155 bpm. If you hit 160 bpm slow down or stop briefly. The goal is to maintain the same pace throughout this entire complex. It’ll take a couple workouts to find that pace, especially if you have been doing tabata workouts since 2005.
The way this will look is pick a weight you could probably press 8-10 times. Then clean the weight, do a an alternating single arm press for each arm, then double KB front squat, then move to the push up position for a Renegade Row for each arm.
Repeat the entire complex, but do 2 presses each, then 2 squats. Then 3 presses and 3 squats, and so on…keep doing the one clean and one renegade row each round/set.
Go until you aren’t sure you’ll be able to complete another press with good form.
At that point, work your way back down to one. As an example if you pyramided up to 8 Presses and Squats, then do 7 and 7, 6 and 6, and then back down to 1.
BLOCK C: If you have time go for a loaded walk of some kind. Keep it light.
Day 4: Track Repeats
This day is designed to get in some quality work in that will probably push you a bit into the glycolitic zone but not so much that it interferes with the rest of the program. After a warm up like I outlined above (I would also recommend a typical track style warm up to go with this ), you’ll do 4 x 100m repeats. Rest approximately the amount of time it takes you to run each of these intervals. Start slow and get progressively faster. Then move to 200m repeats. Push it a little harder (as listed 70-80% effort) and still use the 1:1 work to rest ratio. From there, hit your 400m repeats. Push these more, same rest interval. Then hit one hard 400m run. This is the pace you want to train yourself to hit when you are actually chasing someone...think a hard pace where you are not only comfortable catching the suspect but also leaving you with a little gas in the tank if they fight you. Picture yourself actually chasing someone and staying calm. Think through it while you are completing the rep. Can you use your radio still? Do you have enough self control and discipline to talk to your dispatch and say your location in a way that is understandable? We have all heard screaming on the radio...we all did it when we were new….don’t be that cop anymore. Then come down a bit in pace and start the cool down. Some easier 200m repeats, and the 4 x 100m again that get progressively slower until you are walking.
Keep this workout the same and measure your pace each week as well as your rest times. If you haven’t run for a while this might be a challenging workout. If you are a runner this might not seem like much. Think of this as quality conditioning or even a form of speed work. Not so much junk volume. We are working on your pace while keeping your running form solid. When we zoom out and look at the big picture of the program we are already getting plenty of overall conditioning in this phase. We don’t need superfluous running volume. Running tends to lead to overuse injuries for so many people. Now, I can feel the hate mail coming from the people that own anti-chafing gel, but the reality is so many people hurt themselves running. Most cops are not track stars nor do they need to be. I actually used to enjoy long slow distance running prior to going bionic. You can still do it if you want. I just think (and the injury statistics would agree) better modalities exist for long term health.
Lift 2 (Day 5): Total Body Volume
BLOCK A: Your choice here. Pressed for time? Running through this as a circuit might work. Rest at least 60-90 seconds between movements. Or pair up a couple movements and knock those out before moving on to another pair. In the end this is just a volume/hypertrophy day.
BLOCK B: Sculpt the guns. In all seriousness this stuff does get a bad reputation but after talking to a good physical therapist I think it makes sense to get some of this kind of work in. Concentrate on the eccentric or “lowering” portion of these lifts. Think of it like loaded stretching to help keep the tissue healthy while the overall program mainly concentrates on compound movements. Not to mention it's not a bad look to have muscular arms when somebody is trying to figure out whether or not they want to fight you.
I can’t believe I just spent a paragraph convincing people who work in this profession to do arm work. In hindsight I probably didn’t need to that. Most of you were going to do curls regardless…moving on.
This should be a pretty quick workout and if time permit's go for a walk. Get outside if you can.
Day 6: Anaerobic Threshold
Options-
You can Ruck if you’d like with some intervals like I wrote in the military plan (will publish example in future article). But I also like kind of a Strongman or Carry Medley here. Self Defense training is good too. Rounds for 3-5 minutes of rolling in BJJ or heavy bag work intervals are all excellent options.
If your schedule or your body tells you that you need a break, take this day for recovery and do the workout the following day. Remember, think long term. If the training week takes you 10 days to complete it is not the end of the world.
Move at a pace as fast as possible, but not so fast that you just gas out and just move painfully slow the majority of the round. I know that is super clear, specific instructions and no questions are coming to mind...Might take a workout to figure this pace out, but the talk test works well. If you can say a broken sentence while you’re in the middle of a round, you’re probably good. If you can only say some sounds you’re going too hard. If you have a HR monitor, if you’re in decent shape the range is probably 160-175 bpm. If it goes over that, slow down or stop to get it back in that zone. If you’re younger or in very good shape 170 +/- 5 beats is probably OK. Remember these are guesstimates. You can always start in the lower range and then after a week or two bump it up as well if your fitness allows it.
A1) Sled Push- Think lighter and farther, 1-3 minutes
A2) Sled Drag- Same as above.
A3) Carry Variation. Same as above.
A4) Bear Crawl- Just go down and back from whatever distance you have been hitting for the sled and carries. This is a bit of a gut check but don’t get too sloppy.
Rest between rounds – 3-5 minutes or so. You should be somewhat recovered before going again. I also recommend active rest. Walking, rower, stationary bike if you have it, etc.
Week 1: 3 Rounds
Week 2: 4 Rounds
Week 3: 5 Rounds
SYNOPSIS of Phase 1:
This is the foundation to prepare your body for the harder and heavier stuff later. This is not designed to totally destroy you. You can’t afford it. You can’t obliterate yourself in the gym then strap a gun on your waist and go enforce the law right after.
Don’t mistake what I am saying. Work hard. However you still need to be able to protect the public, peers, and yourself. On off days you can push it a bit more. I’d still leave a little gas in the tank. You never know as an off duty cop what could be thrown your way.
Same as the military plan, I wrote 3 weeks of programming but still have a 4th week listed. This is where you need to listen to your body. If your life stretched this plan out over 5 weeks maybe you had so much rest between hard training days you just repeat another week with a bit more volume or load. What I recommend for most people doing this program...just repeat week 1 or 2’s volume and load. Ensure you’re recovered for the next phase.
For custom individual/group programming or facility design, please see below:
