What I’ve learned as a Trainer

                I’ve been a personal trainer for the last 4 years, a weight trainer 2 years prior to that, and a volunteer coach for a few years prior to that. And over the years I’ve learned a lot when it comes to training, coaching, and the industry. Below is some of my random thoughts of what I’ve learned, enjoy.

• Everyone should learn to lift
• Everyone should learn how to move their body
• Everyone should learn to move more in general
• Squats, such a basic movement done wrong by many
• Push-ups (see squats)
• Deadlift, great exercise for lifting heavy
• What’s the best training program out there? The one that you can stick to.
• You can’t do high intensity every single day, every week of the year; give your body a break
• Recovery is how the body improves
• Variety in training is important, but it doesn’t mean constantly changing your routine every day
• Never stop learning, always improve
• Barefoot running, not for everybody
• And if you’re gonna run barefoot, gradually build up to it
• It took time to get that beer belly, don’t expect it to be gone in a week
• And don’t expect endless crunches to get rid of it (spot reduction does not work)
• Nutrition, vitally important whether your goal is to lose weight, gain mass, improve performance, etc.
• It’s always good to have a goal to shoot for, helps give purpose to training
• Have some fun when training, even when it hurts
• Runner’s need strength, triathletes too (hell, endurance athletes in general need strength)
• Exercise alone isn’t the best way to lose weight (exercise + good nutrition is), but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it
• If you can, get a training partner. They keep you accountable and stay motivated
• Weight loss and fat loss are not the same; if I had to choose one, I’d choose fat loss
• To succeed, you gotta have “The Drive”
• There’s a difference between working out and training; working out sounds boring, going through the motions. I like the sound of training, it sounds purposeful.
• Heavy strength training is great, but never underestimate the power of bodyweight training

Police Test Warm-Up (PARE/POPAT/SOPAT/COPAT)

                Warming up for your police test is essential if you want to do well on test day. So many people going into their test, whether it’s the PARE, POPAT, SOPAT, or COPAT, fail to take advantage of what warm-up time is given to them before their test. Some have the false belief that shouldn’t do anything at all for fear of wasting energy, but that is so far from the truth. Here are a few reasons why you should warm-up:

1. You ‘prime’ the body to get ready for action
2. Your muscles are warmed up and loosened and ready to go
3. Your joints get loosened up, decreasing the chance of injury
4. Your HR slowly increases, that way it doesn’t jump from 0-60 when you start your test; it’s already elevated
5. It gets you mentally ready, which is crucial when you’re hurting at the end and you need to dig deep to find that extra gear

                I’ve put together a basic warm-up routine that you can follow for your next test. It’ll take you about 10 min to complete. If you’re among the first 3-5 to test, you can still take advantage of the warm-up. If you’re around the middle of the pack or near the end to test, you can redo parts of the warm-up as your turn is about to come up, that way you get the body ready again.

Below is the routine: 

• 4 laps around the gym
• High knee grabs x 10
• Walking lunges, forward, reverse x 10
• Shuffle walk x 10

The following is done half the length of the gym (~40-60ft)

• High Knee skips x 2
• Straight leg skips x 2
• Butt kicks x 2
• Star Shuffle x 2
• Back pedal x 2
• Carioca x 2
• Power Skips x 2 (full length, rest 0:30 between skips)
• Sprints x 2 (full length, rest 0:30 between sprints)

If there’s time, run a couple laps of the course and practice the push/pull. Finish with:

·         Forward and back legs swings x 10 (per leg)

·         Side to side leg swings x 10 (per leg)

·         Forward arm circles x 10 (one arm at a time)

·         Backward arm circles x 10 (one arm at a time)

·         Arm crossing x 10

·         Arm swings x 10

To see how most of the routine is performed, watch this video:

Do I Need to Run for the PARE or POPAT?

                Maybe it’s my bias to running, but my answer to that is a resounding YES! Whether it’s the PARE, POPAT, COPAT, or SOPAT, I believe it’s very important to include a healthy dose of running into your training program, especially for the PARE and POPAT. Like I said, I do have some bias to running as I consider myself a runner, but if you’re serious about becoming a police officer, realize that you’re going to be starting out on the streets and walking the beat, and you’ll more than likely encounter enough foot chases. You’ll also be doing plenty of running during your training, so it would be good to get a start now if you haven’t done so.

                How much running should you do to prepare for your test? If you’ve never run before, find a good coach to teach you how. As simple as it looks, it’s more than just getting one foot in front of the other. Without good technique, the chance of injury increases. It may not be right away, but over time it will develop. If you’re already running, find a good coach. Even if you already know how to run, it’s still a good idea to consult with one from time to time.

                When you’re starting off, don’t worry about getting a lot of volume in. Three to four times a week, anywhere from 20-40 min is a good start. If you have to break it down to run/walk, so be it, you can build yourself up to a continuous run. Don’t worry too much about how fast you run either. Find a good rhythm that you can maintain and stick with that. As your aerobic capacity increases, your speed will naturally increase.

                You can include interval and/or hill training into the mix as well to provide some variety to running. Intervals is a bit of a catch all term; you can adjust the intensity to be  high or low, the interval can be long or short, time based or distance based, and the rest can be manipulated. You can be creative with intervals. Hill training can also be time or distance based, steep or slight, and varying rest times.

                If you want more bang for your buck, then perform high intensity intervals or hills with short rest periods. But do realize that this type of training can lead to burnout quicker and greater chance of injury if done too much and too soon. Understand your current fitness level and how much time you have to get ready for your test. Obviously the more time you have the better, but just be careful you don’t jump out of the gates and do something your body wasn’t prepared for.

                Need some help with training? Shoot me an email at redline.conditioning@gmail.com.

Specific Push/Pull Strengthening Exercises

                As important as cardio training is for the PARE (or any police testing for that matter), the push/pull machine can be a make or break deal if you’re not strong enough, particularly for women (especially petite women) due to lack of strength compared to men. But, if you incorporate a good strength training program, along with some technique work, you can get through the push/pull with relative ease.

                What are some specific strengthening exercises you can perform? A combination of heavy strength training and bodyweight training. Here’s a list of exercises:

Push	Pull
Bench Press Push-Ups Sledding	Standing or Seated Rows Inverted Rows Pull-Ups

                The bench press and standing (or seated) rows can be performed with heavy weights for 3-5 sets of 4-6 reps. Push-ups, inverted rows, and pull-ups can be performed as bodyweight only, or with resistance, depending on your strength level. For novice trainers, work on perfecting your technique first before you lift heavy. Intermediate and advanced trainers, challenge yourself with heavier weights or different variations of the bodyweight exercises.

                I haven’t mentioned sledding yet. This is a “fun” exercise that works the entire body. It emphasizes leaning into the weights and not just relying on your arms to push, but your entire body, particularly the legs. Choose whatever weight is challenging (beginners can just slide). You can use a sled, a prowler, or be creative for it. Below is a video where I place a couple plates on a mat, which worked just fine:

 

                You can go for time, go for distance, or a combination of. You can combine it with other exercises, as you saw in the video. Sledding is also great for building up your conditioning.

                Start incorporating strength training into your routine, even if you have no weights or a gym to go to. Bodyweight exercises are still great options and can be done anywhere and with infinite variations.

Controlled Falls: After the Vault and During the Push/Pull

                In a post I put up a few days ago, I discussed the methods of jumping over the vault. The jump is just one aspect of the vault; the other one is landing and controlled falls. Once you’re over the vault, you have to make sure you land in control before you perform the falls. Depending on what lap you’re on, you will drop to either your front or your back.

Front Falls

                When you drop to your front, make sure your chest and hips touch the ground at the same time. Failure to do so will result in repeating the fall. You want to make the fall as quick as possible; I always like to say “as soon as you’re down, you’re up.” Remember, time is ticking and the more time you spend in one spot, the slower your test time will be.

                Commonly, when people drop to their front they end up being parallel to the vault. But nothing says that you have to fall that way. I encourage people (if they’re able) to land and face forward when they drop on their front. Why? Usually people who land parallel end up making a big arc around the start cone on their way to the next lap. By facing the cone, when you get up you end up making a bee line for the cone, saving you some time.

Back Falls

                The back falls are usually the slowest to get up from between the two falls. With the back fall, you want to make sure you’re landing flat on your back; both shoulder blades and hips should be touching at the same time. Don’t worry about your legs; they can pretty well do whatever, just as long as your back is flat.

                The back fall is slower because of the amount of effort that’s needed to get up. People will try to get up like they’re performing a sit up or they rock their body to get up. Even if you’re strong, the sit up isn’t the way to go because it uses too much energy (and not everyone can do a good sit up). Remember, you want to conserve as much energy as possible for the push/pull. The body rocking isn’t a good idea either for two reasons. The first is you end up rolling on your back, losing the flatness and therefore not performing the back fall correctly. The second is you waste time rocking.

                How do you get up faster then? One way is to use one leg to help you out. Some people like to swing one leg up, and then use that same leg to swing down as they sit up. That leg swing gives you some momentum to sit up. This is a good alternative to the body rocking. The other way people will use the leg is to swing it up and then grab it with both hands to help pull themselves up. Both are good methods to use.

                The one I highly recommend is the rollover method. Instead of sitting up or using a leg, what you do is roll onto your side to get up once you’ve fallen on your back. I like this method because you use less energy to get up compared to the other methods, and you make a direct bee line to the start cone.

PUSH/PULL CONTROLLED FALLS

                Since we’re on the subject of controlled falls, I should touch briefly about the controlled falls in between the push and the pull. Essentially you’re performing the same type of falls. Make sure to always face the machine every time you drop. So when you fall on your front, your head is toward the machine; when you fall on your back, your head is away from the machine, but your face is still toward it, not turned away.

                Also, when getting up from the back fall, you could still perform the rollover method, but you have to make sure you still get up toward the machine. This would be one case where I suggest you do the sit up method or you use your legs to get yourself up. It is only 4 falls total that you’re performing, 2 on your front and 2 on your back, so do what you can at this point. Just remember to spend as little time being flat on your back or front.

                Whatever method you use for controlled falls, make sure you practice it. You’re better off sticking with something you know rather than trying something new on test day.