NCJ Number
189115
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 49 Issue: 5 Dated: June 2001 Pages: 75-77
Date Published
June 2001
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the areas of concern for those police officers wanting to achieve or maintain physical conditioning and health: physical strength, cardiovascular conditioning, and nutrition.
Abstract
When planning a physical fitness program it is useful to determine in advance what a specific job requires. SWAT officers need incredible upper body strength but most officers come from the patrol division and want to enhance the fitness characteristics needed for that assignment, such as physical strength conditioning. For strength, particularly upper body strength, there are several exercises but the simplest, most basic remains the best: the push-up. Start slowly when beginning a push-up routine. Get a calendar and mark goals on it. Along with sit-ups or crunches, push-ups will provide dramatic increases in physical strength and stamina in a very short period of time. Once officers have achieved a level of fitness they are comfortable with they can move on to other, more challenging strength exercises. While strength is good, cardiovascular fitness is crucial. Walking is one of the easiest and most beneficial of all cardiovascular exercises. Use the walk as a relaxation tool as much as a tool to build endurance. Once comfort is built with walking several miles progress can be made to other activities, depending on the specific job. Nutrition is one of the biggest stumbling blocks for police officers as a whole. One of the major ingredients to any nutrition program is tailoring it to what an officer is trying to achieve, whether it is to lose weight or gain weight. Consult with qualified nutritional advisors. Recent studies indicate officers who are in good physical condition are involved in far fewer uses of force than other, less fit officers.