Here’s my second plate of my post-workout meal. NACHOS!!
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In person might be a more effective way to go? Well I wish you luck trying to slay your giant. Good workout too.
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Hey Big J
I salute your determination to do something good for others, especially for fellow officers.
I just don’t understand why your leaders wont acknowledge that we need to be treated as humans.
We see shit and deals with it everyday, it drains the system just like a heavy shit load of deadlift.
You are on a mission man. Don’t give up.
And a heck of a workout, of course finish it of with a run 
When you give people coaching for free they are actually more likely to drop out just because they haven’t invested anything into it.
Regarding training being fun versus effective - I agree with you. Most of the people I train are on very simple programs. I do spice it up just a little bit, because it has to be enjoyable and interesting. (No bosu balls though)
Chase your dreams man, but be smart about it.
Thanks, @littlelee!
I’m sure you see it there too. If you bring up something new then the first thought is how much will it cost and how will it affect staffing.
I think we should have a facility with a qualified coach/trainer where officers can go work out on duty. Well, what I want would cost money **and ** affect staffing. Heaven forbid we invest in the actual humans doing the job.
It’s actually cheaper in payroll’s eyes if a guy gets burnt out and quits. They see a 7 year salary being replaced by a rookie salary. I used to think it was cheaper to keep employees instead of constantly training new ones but I guess I was wrong.
That’s why my first hope is to incorporate it with my current job. A steady paycheck is pretty nice! It’d be glorious to be a strength & conditioning coach for the department while keeping my paycheck and benefits!
I’ve found other departments around the country that actually care. They have full time staff in the gym. Officers are encouraged to train during their shift. Maybe it’s a pipe dream for a big agency but I know it’s possible. Unfortunately, our department isn’t fully staffed and a recent study determined we need even more people than we have on the books now. We’re constantly short about 30 people and the study said we should add 50 more.
So far the City’s budget for the next three years has the same amount allotted for police salaries so that tells me they have no intention of listening to the staffing study results. Typical government work.
I don’t think I’ll land my dream job until staffing is fixed…and I don’t think that’ll ever happen.
4.24.18
Woke at 236.0 lbs which is a PR for this bulking phase. The funny thing is that I’m pretty sure that I was under my calories Sunday (resulting in low energy yesterday) and I was under again yesterday because my stomach got upset in the afternoon and never really recovered. It felt like it was in knots and all backed up.
I didn’t expect to be 235 today but here we are at my highest weight yet. Maybe everything is inflamed from the beating I gave myself yesterday. I’m hurting this morning.
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RECUMBENT ELLIPTICAL
20 minutes L5 while reading about law enforcement fitness program studies
STRETCH & ROLL CLASS
I feel better
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How compelling is your goal? You want to train cops/first responders because that’s near and dear to your heart, right? Well what’s stopping you?
There’s a million different ways to go about it. I’ve heard of police departments that have fitness competitions/runs/lifting competitions to get officers engaged. You could run one of those.
Maybe do a fat loss comp with a $10 entry fee, winner takes the pot. Should be legal as long as you don’t keep any money. Cops are competitive if nothing else. You could help all the entrants with their nutrition and hold them accountable, prod them along. “C’mon man, you really going to let Smith show you up?”
There could be a good niche for you to fill. You know the fitness a cop needs. You could start a blog about your training and surgery recovery and how it affects your police work. As you get interest, offer services.
Change your mindset. It’s not: “Who will let me?” but: “Who will stop me?”
You take gang member scumbags into custody, so I know you aren’t shy.
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I’ve been thinking about this too. I’ve been thinking about how to generate interest in any type of program and there are basically two ways to motivate people: the stick and the carrot.
The carrot seems to work better and it’s much more defensible than the stick (i.e. mandated fitness standards vs reward based fitness tests). I’ve thought about promoting various challenges like you mentioned. Police are always competing with firemen. We do a boxing match annually with them. Last year I was picked up for the softball team and we played a game at our pro field before the local independent pro team played.
I think a strongman type medley could be fun. Obstacle course runs could be fun. The only downside to all of those is that I think I’d just be having gatherings of people who are already fit and take care of themselves. I’m not sure if it’d generate much interest from the people that really need it. Ya know, the ones who nearly score perfect on the top five risk factors for heart disease (smoking, poor diet, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes).
The reason I’d like for it to be sanctioned by the department is because these lazy bastards need a really big carrot. Things like being able to do it on duty, getting credit towards our wellness rewards program*, and getting in-service credit could go a long way to get the stubborn ones moving.
*Our city wellness rewards program gives huge reimbursements for insurance premiums if you complete the program (annual physical with blood test; blood results within norms; complete online “Journey” through insurance portal if blood results are out of norms; go to the dentist or eye doctor once). I got $511 last year for just reporting what I would do anyway.
I’m considering ways to do this on my own during my personal time, but I think it’d still be a good idea to at least get a blessing from my department. I think I’d really need their support if I started organizing competitions and challenges. I could probably go to the community for sponsorships and donations to help develop incentives like awards or gear (shirts, bags, etc). Again, it might piss off someone sensitive if I don’t let them in on it.
I’m not giving up. Someone has to push for change or else it won’t happen. I’ve been reading up on nationwide initiatives and contacting other departments who have good programs. I found a study from over 10 years ago of a national organization partnering with other big national agencies and they tried to run a pilot program for officer wellness and fitness due to our poor health (they estimated police only live 2-5 years after retirement). I found the follow-up report and it said they had trouble finding departments who were willing to participate. The few that did obviously had positive results. That article just shows the stubbornness of police to change.
All available resources are also going to training since there seems to be a “war” on police these days. When bad things happen to a mentally deranged criminal then it’s our fault and we need more training on how to deal with mentally ill people. We’ve been getting more training on how to not be racist (we don’t have a problem here). Recently we had an officer shoot at a dog in a panic and injure a little girl when the bullet fragmented off of the ground. He was fired. We had training at in-service about how to deal with dogs and read their body language.
That last one was actually useful but you can see how our training demands are increasing. These are hot topics with the public so they take priority. These are all additions to the training we already have in place.
Again, I’m not giving up, but I’m not going to be self-sacrificial either. I might be able to retire in a few years and get 25% of my ending salary. If I were to do that then I’d switch over to teaching where I can do what I want with high school kids. I’d enjoy either gig, but it’d be nice to figure it out with the police department so I don’t have to change careers… but it’d also be nice to have summers off 
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4.25.18
Woke at 235.0 lbs. I’m pretty sure I didn’t eat enough again yesterday. My wife’s grandpa passed away late last year. The family divided up his stuff and we ended up with some awesome furniture. I had to go pick up a china cabinet (lower and upper portions), a bedroom dresser, and two end tables and haul them into my house. It’s all very well made and took a little muscle to move around. It definitely didn’t help my back recover from Monday’s workout.
GSS&S W5 D4
BENCH
135 x 5 x 2 sets
185 x 5
245 x 2 to make sure 230 didn’t feel too heavy
230 x 5 x 5 sets
PULL UPS
BW + 25 lbs x 5 x 5 sets
OHP
120 x 5 x 5
PENDLAY ROW
180 x 5 x 5
REV CABLE FLY
30 x 10 x 5 sets
STRETCH & ROLL CLASS
Wish I could force myself to do this at home more often.
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4.26.18
Woke at 235.6 lbs.
Today is rest day and my first day back to work. It was actually quite busy for a Thursday. I’m glad it’s rest day now because I don’t feel like doing much. Tomorrow is the start of week 6 which is the last week of 5s. 265 on squat and 355 on deads are on the menu.
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That is some serious weight for 5x5s. Rest up man!
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The weights are starting to get intimidating. I’m glad I get to test the waters with 3 x 5 tomorrow.
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It always gives me a rush when I get to attempt some intimidating weights. One of the best feelings in the gym is destroying a 3x5 or 5x5 with weight that made you doubt yourself… I have a feeling you’ll do great man. You got this
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It’s always the 4th set that’s the hardest mentally.
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Yeah multiple sets of 5’s on the edge is very rewarding, at least when successful finish.
Go crush them weights Big J
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4.27.18
Woke at 236.4 lbs.
Guaranteed Simple Strength & Size W6 D1
2 LAP DYNAMIC WARM UP
SQUAT
45 x 10
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 3
265 x 5 x 3 SETS (belt on 3rd set)
superset with
JUMP SQUATS
4 x 5
POWER CLEAN
185 x 3
205 x 3
235 x 3
DEADLIFT
355 x 5 x 3 (back tired, with belt)
WALKING LUNGES
50s x 5 ea x 3
RDLs
225 x 5 x 3
FARMERS WALK (trap bar + straps)
315 x 30m x 3
CONDITIONING
Run 1 lap, rest 90 sec x 4 (65, 63, 63, 60)
rest might be a bit short.
AAAAANND SPENT
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Alright, impromptu physique check-in. 1) I wanted to show off my awesome patrol tan (left arm only). 2) I wanted to prove to @littlesleeper that my abs are gone since he thought I was being a bit dramatic a few weeks back
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Looking thick though man! I still think you’re rocking a 4 pack if you flexed. Everyone knows that sleeper guy is a drama queen.
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