hey all I am looking for Ideas on whats good to train cops for the job they have out in the street they need good grip and pulling power and speed to chase people …so cops shouldnt train as bodybuilders but more as athletes what does everyone in T-Nation think. if the experts give some thought on it great…
kevin
nypd
Kev, sent you a PM.
If I was a cop I would lift- any good protocol from CW or CT etc, run sprints, and I would do a martial art, with my choice probably being judo or ju-jitsu because of its focus on grappling.
Or you could just balloon up to a shameful fat-ass 300 pounds like many American cops. When there’s trouble, just pull out your Glock.
I think you are on the right track by emphasizing the pulling muscles and grip. I would also focus on adding lean body mass to their frame as that will always help in a grappling situation, which Police Officers find themselves in quite often.
I would look at pointing them toward the following movements:
Heavy Cleans-Combines speed and power.
Squats-strengthens their base.
Pull-ups-switch grips for maximum development.
Barbell Curls-Heavy cheat curls, for obvious reasons.
Sit-ups
There are other movements as well, but I would start them on these.
Good Luck,
Zeb
thanks all for the comments…im in good shape not great but ok…I didi hurt my shoulder thou getting a man with a gun a month ago and ever since then I feel alot of pain I am going to go for Active relese tech soon see if that helps…what programs on here do you all think I should do?
I like the Westside for skinny bastards program. If you are also going to be doing martial arts, lifting more than three days a week may produce less than optimal results.
I think any sort of powerlifting type program would be ideal for maximal strength, speed.
Great recommendations so far.
I train at the same time as some of the officers employed by the city I work for. We have our own weight room in the basement of the fire station so I run into those guys quite a bit.
There are 4 or 5 officers that train there out of the 17 man force. They all seem to favor circuit training, supersets, or power style jump sets that CW and others recommend. They almost always utilize full body routines. Only one of them trains for powerlifting and bodybuilding. He follows a 5x5 style split routine. They all place a huge emphasis on grip training.
Honestly, your best may be to search the archives and find a routine that you think you’ll enjoy that fits your schedule. I’m partial to Westside style training so I second the WSSB suggestion.
I hope that helps. Good luck.
Cops should train like combat athletes
(I am both and that is what I do).
Powerlifting is great as the lifts do not require the technical development that O-lifting does. Throw in high intensity short-burst cardio such as pad and heavy bag work, interval sprints and calesthenics to develop lasting power. Place a very heavy emphasis on shoulder endurance(important for fighters and for firearms handling), core strength and serious grip work(ironmind.com is the place to go). Of course, nothing beats sparring and wrestling live, but most cops I have trained shy away from this.
Make sure your guys understand basic healthy nutrition too.
Martin Rooneys Training for Warriors would be a good book to get you started.
Look for a recent article by Street Bull. It should be right up your alley.
Without question…CrossFit.
so far great stuff…so guys…U all made me think of alot of stuff thanks
[quote]Croooz wrote:
Without question…CrossFit.[/quote]
That system is the biggest “muscle eater” on the face of the planet! If you want to be a skinny cop then that’s the program for you.
Im not down at all on crossfit, but I think it has too high a cardiovascular component for police work. Cops - tactical athletes if you will - don’t need to go forever. The name of the game is short burst output(wrestling a jerkoff on the side of the road, clearing a room with an entry team etc.) I cant think of a law enforcement activity that would demand intense cardio for 30 or 40 minutes. I have never personally been involved in anything like that.
Zeb hit on something else important here.
Intimidation is very important in police work. I know that word doesnt sound nice(we can call it constructive authority if you want), but its true. A pissed-off 230 pound cop is much scarier than a pissed-off 150 pound cop. Yes, I know the 150 guy can be a badass and the 230 guy could be a pansy steroid puffball, but before we even get to the point of a conflict, size and a certain “look” can end trouble before it starts.
Crossfit would almost certainly hamper any attempt at adding solid body mass.
[quote]ZEB wrote:
Croooz wrote:
Without question…CrossFit.
That system is the biggest “muscle eater” on the face of the planet! If you want to be a skinny cop then that’s the program for you.
[/quote]
ZEB, I’m not going to claim to know anything about conditioning for low enforcement officers and military, but with adequate calorie intake CrossFit seems to produce some big guys. If you go to their website and search ‘Form follows function’ and you’ll get a photo of a 200+ athlete who runs and does pull-ups better than I do at thirty-forty pounds lighter.
The WODs do have a tremendous metabolic impact, though - there’s no denying that.
Ross:
Yes, we all need an “adequate calorie intake.” However, that adequate level can be far easier to maintain if we are not doing endless (and needless)running just about each and every day. Sometimes to the point of nausea.
They also add Gymnastic balancing movements. Granted Gymnastics is a fine sport and I have quite a lot of respect for Gymnasts. However, what is the point of a Police Officer wasting his valuble training time on some nonsensical (for him at least) Gymnastic movement when he can be using that time for Squatting for example, with the appropriate set/rep system.
Here is my biggest problem with crossfit: There method trys to be all things to all people. Which by definition makes it a poorly constructed program. How can you craft a program specifically for a Police Officer and have that same program also be perfect for a Track & Field athlete and a Football player as well? You can’t! Crossfit would do well to get the advice of many top flight Coaches from all walks of life, such as what T-Nation does.
They brag about puking on that site! How many times do we have to read, on this very site (T-Nation), that this is not the sort of fitness regime that we need in order to build muscle? And in fact, not the best program to build cardio endurance. It, might however be the best program to promote burnout! Don’t get me wrong I have had many a Squat workout where I was ready to toss up some cookies, however that is the exception not the rule.
I am not stating that a crossfit workout will not get you into decent cardio condition. It may very well do that if you can continue the torrid pace over an extended period of time without burnout. And if you are one of those rare types who is blessed with a mesomorphic body type, it might not tear down to much muscle. But to recommend this type of training for a Police Officer is ridiculous!
Better you taylor a program specifically for the task at hand. As JD430 states quite succinctly regarding Police work: “The name of the game is short burst output.”
If a Police Officer is to train specifically for his job, he would not pursue any sort of program that tears down muscle the way crossfit in fact does!
Better we have a well muscled Police Officer who is capable of tapping into that power as need be during a typical Police action (yes there is a typical Police action). Also, better he look the part in order to deter someone from violence.
I don’t think the bad guys care how many times that you threw up during the past month. For that matter I’m sure they don’t care how well you can do a standing back tuck.
If you want a good program for Police work you need look no further than the T-Nation search engine.
being a cop and a strength trainer, i can tell you that Deanosumo hit it on the head: strength train, sprint, and grapple. somebody else said pull-ups, which are a must. I train cops off-duty, and if they’re concerned about PT for the job, then i always have them do pull-ups. somebody else mentioned hypertrophy training for “command presence,” but it really depends on the individual.
Ross,
I think some of these programs simply weed out people who are naturally big.
I have a friend in the 82nd airborne. Always kinda big and fat. Given all the exercise etc he is about 220 of almost all muscle. I would not get the same results from going in the military. I would end up like my dad did weighing in at a rail thin 145.
You should tailor your training to meet your specific needs. Considering what others have said in this article, I think a powerlifting approach with martial arts training(sparring etc.) would be ideal.
[quote]ZEB wrote:
Ross:
Yes, we all need an “adequate calorie intake.” However, that adequate level can be far easier to maintain if we are not doing endless (and needless)running just about each and every day. Sometimes to the point of nausea.
They also add Gymnastic balancing movements. Granted Gymnastics is a fine sport and I have quite a lot of respect for Gymnasts. However, what is the point of a Police Officer wasting his valuble training time on some nonsensical (for him at least) Gymnastic movement when he can be using that time for Squatting for example, with the appropriate set/rep system.
Here is my biggest problem with crossfit: There method trys to be all things to all people. Which by definition makes it a poorly constructed program. How can you craft a program specifically for a Police Officer and have that same program also be perfect for a Track & Field athlete and a Football player as well? You can’t! Crossfit would do well to get the advice of many top flight Coaches from all walks of life, such as what T-Nation does.
They brag about puking on that site! How many times do we have to read, on this very site (T-Nation), that this is not the sort of fitness regime that we need in order to build muscle? And in fact, not the best program to build cardio endurance. It, might however be the best program to promote burnout! Don’t get me wrong I have had many a Squat workout where I was ready to toss up some cookies, however that is the exception not the rule.
I am not stating that a crossfit workout will not get you into decent cardio condition. It may very well do that if you can continue the torrid pace over an extended period of time without burnout. And if you are one of those rare types who is blessed with a mesomorphic body type, it might not tear down to much muscle. But to recommend this type of training for a Police Officer is ridiculous!
Better you taylor a program specifically for the task at hand. As JD430 states quite succinctly regarding Police work: “The name of the game is short burst output.”
If a Police Officer is to train specifically for his job, he would not pursue any sort of program that tears down muscle the way crossfit in fact does!
Better we have a well muscled Police Officer who is capable of tapping into that power as need be during a typical Police action (yes there is a typical Police action). Also, better he look the part in order to deter someone from violence.
I don’t think the bad guys care how many times that you threw up during the past month. For that matter I’m sure they don’t care how well you can do a standing back tuck.
If you want a good program for Police work you need look no further than the T-Nation search engine.[/quote]
ZEB,
Again, your arguments regarding LEO training in particular sound somewhat persuasive and I am familiar with neither the rigors of the profession nor how to train for it, so I repeat: I'm not making any claims whatsoever about LEO training.
However, with regards to CrossFit in general, I disagree with you on at least one point: CrossFit's WorkOut of the Day (WOD) is not especially conducive to wasting muscle away or straining the CNS. CrossFit involves a lot of activities that strain the cardiovascular system, but steady-state aerobic work shows up no more often than once, maybe twice a month. Max lift days show up more frequently, but the exercises are constantly and very intelligently rotated to avoid overstimulus. Compared to a Westside PL training template, CrossFit's CNS load is very light. Compared to a distance runner's schedule, they do almost no running.
I don't endorse CrossFit without any reservations; right now, I am training the OLs, not doing the WOD, and I do find it a lot easier to gain weight squatting three times a week and periodizing my lifting normally. Ultimately, though, when I have built up my strength and speed to a better level through OL and I'm going for the total package - high scores across the board for every aspect of fitness - I'll do something like the WOD, even if I don't do the WOD as prescribed. It's just hard to practice weightlifting, gymnastics, and aerobic/anaerobic conditioning simultaneously without moving towards a CrossFit-style training template.
Ross:
When they are not running they are doing a circut style lifting regime (sometimes mixed with running. It’s still centered around cardio training. In addition to that their focus on skilled Gymnastics movements are simply not needed, especially for stree cops.
Also, I never said that crossfit strains the CNS. There are many ways to overtrain and burnout other than frying the CNS. One such way is over doing the cardio which crossfit is famous for. How many workouts will the average trainee perform where that are vomit inducing before they call it quits?
You cannot be all things to all people and get it right!
Glad you agree with my premise.