Just. Don't. Suck (Part 1)

Nice - good amount of work! That’s no joke on the Tabatas. Burpees at your height and weight are almost a strength move LOL. Keeping a rep per 3 second pace is pretty darn good.

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Can you do a Front Squat with a closed fist? If you can keep the rack position with your hands fully wrapped around the bar, then you can throw out the mobility variable.

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I needed to figure out some cardio ideas that don’t smoke my quads. You inspired me to do burpees. I’m not sure if I succeeded in sparing my quads but it was a good session.

Carries, rowing, burpees, jumping rope

The past few weeks I’ve done a good variety of conditioning and I think it’s exactly what I need. Ultimately, general physical preparedness (GPP) training is what I need for work. Endurance, explosiveness, speed, and agility are all important and the variety will help me get better at multiple things.

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You should look into Real World Tactical if you haven’t already. That dude is a fucking tank

Hey, bumped over here to respond, yeah as mental wellness starts to come more and more into the light an officer wellness program that focuses on the mental aspect as well as the physical is going to be more and more in demand and positions will be created for folks that want to really push it, out of curiousity how much psych training is there in the academy? I talked to an officer I know from back home and they said it’s covered, but only in a cursory fashion, which is odd to me seeing as how most of the folks you (as officers) deal with tend to tip the scale on the mental issue side as opposed to the normal (Oppositional Defiant, manic-depressive, unable to control emotions).

My second Academy gave us a full week of Mental Health First Aid and other verbal classes to help us deal with the mental population. A large proportion of the people we deal with are “mental” by our standards. But I think we’re allowing people who are just childish assholes to have a scapegoat with a label. “I have bipolar” (un-diagnosed and untreated) among other excuses for their behavior.

The reality with psych training is that it’s no different than active listening training. Listen to what people are saying, empathize with them, and have a dialogue rather than barking orders. Law enforcement used to be “Ask, Tell, Make” but it’s changed directions a bit. We’ve had numerous training sessions regarding “verbal judo” (as we call it). It teaches to tell people why you want them to do something. Give them options. And slow down a bit so everyone has time to process what’s going on.

It makes sense to me but it always has. A lot of people ask “why am I being arrested?” before they’re even in handcuffs. The old way was “shut up and do what I tell you”. I’ve always done my best to tell them exactly why so there’s no longer any confusion. Sometimes they say they want to do something and won’t let you put them in handcuffs so you turn into a negotiator. The old school method is to go hands on and force them. It’s probably more ego than anything. “You do this because I told you to.” I’m in my 7th year and never even been in a fight on duty. It helps to be bigger than everyone but I also stay pretty mellow and talk with people.

As far as mental health for officers our department doesn’t do much yet. That’s one of my long-term goals here–to implement an officer wellness program that starts the day you’re hired and addresses all aspects of the job. The divorce rate in law enforcement is high. A lot of cops have financial problems. Rookies ought to be counseled early on about managing the stress of work, managing finances, and managing their physical health. Hopefully by teaching people about it on the front end of their career it can keep it from becoming a problem in the middle or on the back end. Spouses also need to be made aware of what they’re getting into. If they don’t understand what’s going on with their spouse and why he/she is so bitter and stressed it can drive a wedge between them. If they understand the job then they can try to help their spouse cope with the issues or at the very least just not take it personally.

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Haha, burpees seem to smoke my quads! I was doing burpees between front squats at one point and boy oh boy were my quads lit up.

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Yeah, I don’t think I succeeded. They didn’t hurt my quads much but I have decent mobility and feel like I’m using the hip hinge movement to get up. After doing the push-up, I bring my feet back under me in a jumping fashion and land in my squat position. I’m pretty good at the hip hinge…which is probably why I struggle to stay upright during my front squat and truly use my quads. They still do a lot of work but my body wants to use my hips as much as possible.

It also wasn’t too brilliant to jump on the bike…that was all quads.

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Absolutely agree with this point, saw it in the juvenile facility that I worked in every day.

Yep, right in line with most psychological teaching, helps them feel less out of control, more likely to respond in an appropriate fashion if they feel they’re making the decision.

In my last job the divorce rate was something like 70% (wild land fire) and it was ridiculous to me, have you put together any type of plan to attack it? I’m curious because (prior to moving and switching jobs) I had planned on seeking grant money in an attempt to tackle the outrageous amount of divorce and drinking issues that seemed to go hand in hand with the job. I think that there is going to be a lot of money freed up in the future for these types of programs, especially if they are put in place with First Responders in mind, if you come up with a well rounded approach you’re going to be able to write your own check.

The eternal problem for fit parents.

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My short-term goal is to start running a group strength training class once a week at our City gym. We have a brand new facility. A Sgt with whom I work is partnering with Wichita State University to gather data about officers stress and health (or lack thereof). Once the data is collected he will present the results to the City and ask for more rewards/incentives for officers to take care of themselves. Right now we can get $100 each year if we pass the initial hire PT test. Not many people do it, including me. I just never make time to go to the Academy and do it.

You really need solid data before you head down that road. Grant money would definitely get the City on board since all they care about is money. I’ll keep that in mind as this develops. My hopes for now are that the results are bad (and should be unless the sample is skewed) and the City goes “What can we do to fix it?” That’s when I step in and say, “Hey, I have a B.A. in Exercise Science and I’m a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist as well as a Tactical Strength & Conditioning Facilitator. I can help!”

I’m already an employee and all they need to do is give me a new role/duty and it technically won’t cost them a penny.

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4.27.17

Forgot to weigh myself this morning…

Yesterday’s Nutrition: 3020 calories, 241g carbs, 105g fat, 219g protein

Today’s Training
Done at the City Gym during my 30 minute “lunch break”. This was a bodybuilding workout since I’m not deadlifting.

Pull-Ups
2x10, 7-3-2 (double rest/pause)–these are always harder when I’m at work. I blame the added weight of my uniform and boots.

Back Extensions
3x10 @ BW between sets of pull-ups

Superset/Circuit
Straight-Arm Pull Down
3x10 @ 60

Lat Pull-Down
3x10 @ 150

Incline DB Row
3x10 @ 50’s

Face Pull
3x10 @ 80

Back Extension
3x10 @ BW

Lying Leg Curl
3x10 @ 100

I decided to roll through these back to back with a little rest between rounds. I managed to put them in a decent order and fatigued the lats on the pull-downs and then moved to the middle traps during the rows and face pulls. Felt good and was fast.

Reverse Cable Curl 21’s
2 sets of: 8 full/8 top half/ 8 bottom half @ 100lbs

***Eating at Texas Roadhouse for my sister-in-law’s birthday tonight so I’m trying to plan ahead and eat accordingly…a.k.a. I’ll be hungry most of the day and then gorge myself.

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Well, crap. Dinner was changed to Longhorn Steakhouse due to the wait at Texas Roadhouse. I did great. I was at 2920 out of 3000 calories after dinner.

And then I found out first time guests get free dessert… And I lost it.

Chocolate Stampede

2430 calories 130g fat, 288g carbs, 28g protein.

Serves 2 but I ate about 70% of it.

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4.28.17

Went to bed at 231.2 lbs, woke up at 225.0 lbs. Going to cut back on calories today and probably tomorrow and/or Sunday to make up for last nights debacle.

Yesterday’s overall nutrition: 4621 calories, 416g carbs, 207g fat, 234g protein.

No planned training today; I used my lunch for my physical therapy appointment. My QL and glute medius are still tight as hell, but PT felt good. He did some stim on my glute area. As odd as it sounds, it felt good. The goal is to fatigue the muscle(s) so they’ll release and quit being so damn tight.

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4.29.17

Woke at 222.2lbs

Took off work early yesterday due to my sinus infection. I’m struggling to talk so going to calls at work is a bit tiresome. Doc gave me an antibiotic and a round of prednisone. I’m hoping the prednisone will help my hip/back too. I’m back at work today; hoping my voice holds up.

Yesterday’s Nutrition: 2028 calories, 169g carbs, 58g fat, 148g protein

Didn’t eat much yesterday. The sinus infection helped kill my appetite. I finished the day with 3 scoops of protein powder because I was way low on protein. And then I had 3 Corona Lights because they tasted good and felt good on my throat.

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4.29.17 Training

Hit the City gym for my break because it’s cold, rainy, and very quiet. I was able to steal some time and stayed for longer than 30 minutes.

Bench
5x2 @ 185 lbs, accelerate the concentric

Leg Press Top Half
3x20 @ 360 lbs

Leg Extension (slow eccentric)
3x10 @ 100 lbs

Standing DB Press
55’s x 5
60’s x 4
65’s x 3
60’s x 5
65’s x 4
70’s x 3
60’s x 5
65’s x 4
70’s x 2

Between sets of all of this I did some stuff to try to help my QL.

Side Crunch (hold cable handle that was anchored high and crunch down)
2x15 @ 100 lbs

High to Low Cable Twist
2x10 @ 80 lbs

Low to High Cable Twist
2x10 @ 60 lbs

Standing Cable Hip Adduction
3x10 each leg @ 30 lbs

Felt like I did more than that…because I did

Edit to add:
Reverse Cable Press-Down
2 sets of 8 full/8 bottom half/8 top half @ 130 lbs

Conditioning
Tabata on the Airdyne!!!
Bad idea…it sucked. One time through for 8 total rounds and I was done. My quads actually hurt while I recovered.

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You look to be stronger relatively on your OH pressing than bench. I’m same way. Wonder if this is normal for taller and more fast twitch guys…

I haven’t actually compared my bench and OHP. Coach Thibaudeau wrote an article about strength ratios once upon a time. I’d have to look at that. Today was a light day for bench. I’m doing the Layers System on my first pushing day of the week and then I just do 5 sets of 2 focusing on accelerating the bar. It’s something from CT’s 915 program where he programmed a strength day and an explosive day. I want to bench more than once per week so I stole that for my second pushing day.

Found it.