You made the decision to join the academy. Whether it be for firefighting or law enforcement, sometimes questions on time, stress, and energy management begin to arise. You were working out, maybe lifting weights, going on runs, and/or even indulging in various specialties like Jiu Jitsu. The struggle happens, when, you either 1) have physical fitness training within the academy or 2) you struggle to delegate the little time that you are not studying for tests. Either choice, the ultimate question becomes, how do you adjust your training with the little amount of time that you have, the little amount of energy you have left, or without being too sore or run-down in addition to PT in the mornings. You know that you HAVE to find a way. You just don’t know how. First, we have to go over many concepts that will assist you time and effort management.

Understand the Game Plan

Purpose of Academy

As the academy setting is an environment in which cadets learn foundational skills, knowledge, and techniques associated to the tactical profession that will grow and develop throughout their career, this environment must also provide a framework for physical fitness preparation and education. Jabai Performance explains within The Purpose of Academy Physical Fitness Programs that programs should be structured in a way to provide cadets with preparations for new hire testing, be adjustable and modifiable for various fitness levels, and educate cadets on how to sustain longevity of health throughout their career and retirement.

Program Structure

If the academy has a physical fitness program, the instructor running the program should have a basic ideology and mindset towards the design and structure of that program. Program approaches and mentality towards the process should be explained and discussed with the academy class. Strength and conditioning programs are designed and facilitated in phases, with specific target goals and objectives outlined for each phase. As a cadet, you should be asking instructors, if not already explained to you, what their objectives and outcome goals are for the upcoming training block/phase.

Understand Your Baseline

Physical Attributes

It is critical, when participating in any form of physical fitness program (supervised or not), to assess your current health and fitness level prior to participation. You should gauge the following components:

• Muscular strength: total amount of force exerted in a single effort
• Muscular endurance: ability to perform multiple repetitions and contractions
• Cardiovascular (aerobic) fitness: being able to sustain aerobic work for a longer period of time; ability to acquire oxygen/nutrients and transport to working tissue
• Agility and Coordination: being able to change direction accurately and smoothly
• Flexibility and Mobility: range of motion (through local/global movement assessments)
• Power: exerting a large amount of force in a short period of time
• Speed: how fast you can get from point A to point B – locomotion
• Physical Fitness Knowledge: how much you know about fitness, exercise, and programming

Baseline testing is typically facilitated within the academy as either entrance testing or a pre-testing method to physical fitness programs. Testing should be explained to you, as the results should also be displayed as individualized reports (although sometimes an academy setting may utilize leaderboards as forms of competition and encouragement).

It is your responsibility to look at your results of any form of assessment and understand how this applies to your performance. Take the time and effort to review your performance. Evaluate where both your strength and weaknesses are.

Understand Your Experience/Level

Experience with resistance training and various other forms of physical fitness training can be obtained from experiences, exposure, and involvement with training groups in the past. For many, physical fitness started with health or P.E. class, followed by possible sport involvement. Involvement in sports could have led you to perform exercise within a weight room, or strictly within a field/court environment. Unfortunately, because of our past, sometimes we hold on to it as the truth. This “truth,” is then how we tend to approach our own physical fitness training as we either prepare for specific goals or make decisions to be physical active again. The truth is, nothing says that what you were taught is actually true. Nothing says, or filtered, what you learned and how you trained was actually appropriate. Fitness training, especially coaching in little league and school sports, has always been devoured by the lack of standards regarding coach qualifications and education in exercise science / kinesiology. I hate to (and boldly say), just because you were coached to lift a certain way,.. do NOT make it right or appropriate.

Additionally, for those of you that embraced lifting weights and working out by yourself, may or may not have been correct either. Not that there is a one set way to prepare, but you should be aware of appropriate movement patterns, programming, technique/cues, forms of progression, and various other principles of preparation. This takes years and experience to develop. If you have never had someone monitor or observe your training methods, it may be beneficial to make sure a qualified strength and conditioning coach analyzes your movement and has a glance at your approach to training at the very least. Don’t even get me started on what qualifies someone to actually give training advice. That is a whole different conversation. But, feel free to reach out if you have questions or concerns.

Understand Your Goals

Making the transition from the general population to tactical profession means understanding that there should be additional requirements, goals, and objectives associated to job duties and tasks performed in the field. Cadets should understand that you should consider the fact that you will have your own individual goals (possibly physique/looks or accomplishments) and occupational goals (being able to perform physical ability testing, new hire testing, or selections courses). Sometimes the goals are very specific, such as being able to complete a course within a given amount of time. Sometimes the goals are specific, but have an open threshold, such as just trying to improve in specific areas of a course or testing. And then sometimes goals are not associated to testing, and you wish to be able to perform job tasks or duties with less effort or become more efficient at performing them. No matter what your goals are, you still need to understand the big picture (long-term), in order to dial in the details (short-term).

Long-Term Goals

Just like with any form of planning process, one must know the ultimate goal they are trying to achieve before he or she can dial in the details to that plan. Regarding long-term goals, these are objectives or goals set out for many months or even years at a time. For example, performing well on a physical ability test within the academy or even chasing performance improvements for an upcoming new hire physical test can be a long-term goal. Other goals could consist of performance enhancement for defensive tactics (associated to the profession) or simply running a triathlon or marathon (more personal based goals). These goals are not accomplished over just a few weeks, and definitely not achieved over night. Therefore, they take longer to progress towards and see noticeable changes.

Short-Term Goals

In order to track our progress towards those long-term goals mentioned above, we must come up with strategies towards achieving them. For example, what are things we can perform daily, or even weekly, that allow us to work towards that ultimate goal? Short-term goals are basically indicators, that show us we are on the right track. I see short-term goals as 1. measurable performance indicators and 2. measurable compliance indicators.

Performance indicators are components we track with fitness assessments, quizzes, or periodic forms of testing. This shows we are progressing in that area, not working backwards.

Compliance indicators are just that, to-do lists, regiments, or scheduling’s that push us towards achieving our goals.

Compliance indicators show us we are showing up, while performance indicators show us that we are making adaptations in the right direction. Efficient goal-setting will implement both of these forms of indicators for long-term success.

Are You Recovering?

Time and time again, people really drive to exert themselves more and more. Maybe this is you. Maybe you are someone that tries to just keep moving, keep doing, keep exerting effort without rest. One of the best phrases I have ever heard in the world of preparation, was that, “Performance can be defined as being able to execute, recover, and EXECUTE AGAIN. Not just constantly acquire strain and fatigue for lower levels of effort. This is paired with the emphasis that we all need time to recover from the stress we obtain. Then, and only then, can we perform at our best, at optimal.

Energy Levels

Energy levels are, simply, just that.

• Do you feel well rested?
• Do you feel like you have the energy to stay alert and active?
• Do you feel like you have the energy to give your best effort?

The thing about energy levels, is that sometimes it is not the morning time that gets us. You can feel refreshed and fully alert in the morning, while completely drained and unable to stay focused around mid-day (or later). Energy levels, your ability to stay focused, and your level of drive and effort to perform activities outside of academy class should be evaluated daily. If you do not have energy throughout the day, what could you manage?

What could you change?

Is it a sleep issue (or sleep hygiene)?

Is it an issue with managing recreational activities? What about obligations, responsibilities, and/or boundaries?

If you don’t have energy, there has to be a reason why. You can’t always just deem it as “part of the academy.” Yes, the academy is exhausting. Especially for those that may have not had to be fully invested into an education program for awhile, or, must also maintain employment somewhere else while also going to class. I can not tell you that it is easy. I can not tell you that you are not tired. What I CAN say is, there is always a better way. Even with small changes, can develop HUGE benefits in the long run.

Soreness

If you have not trained in awhile, a few days of PT will rock your world. Sometimes for the good, many times for the not so good. Overuse injuries are VERY common 3 to 5 weeks within the academy setting. Typically, this happens because cadets tend to exercise super hard for the 4 weeks leading into the academy (as if 4 weeks truly prepare you for anything), and then also get beat down for the next 4 weeks in training as a way to mold the mentality of cadets. What this then becomes is 8 weeks of, “From couch potato to broken.”

Rate of Movement

Observations of rate of movement is typically seen in power and strength based tasks where rate and amount of force development (giving a large amount of muscular effort rapidly) is required. When fatigued, it feels like our muscles don’t respond as fast or quickly as we need them too. Additionally, it may feel like your muscles may not be able to contract as hard or as much as they typically do. This means, in the off chance that you did not lose strength or power over time, that your muscles and even nervous system may need time to get rid of the built up fatigue.

Tension/Tightness

Tight and tense muscles can cause irritation, discomfort, and limitations in movement. Aside from the overall risk of injury due to this, tight muscles can also indicate that the musculature may not have returned back to the original, relaxed state. If the muscles do not receive enough rest and recovery strategies (such as stretching/mobility, hydration, and nutrition), The tension can continue to build and eventually lead to an undesirable injury.

What Musculature is being used?

The main purpose of a physical fitness training program is to have some sort of adaptation, growth, or development due to exerting the muscles. Strain (or induced stress) is necessary for an outcome of progress. With this, we need to evaluate what is actually being exerted, fatigued, and developed throughout the academy fitness program. There are multiple ways to breakdown and analyze the program.

Movement Patterns

Typically, training exercises are associated to the basic movements patterns desired by tactical operator performance: push, pull, squat, lunge, hinge, drag, carry, rotate, locomotion. These movement patterns can serve as a checklist of what is incorporated into the training program, and what deficiencies could be developing due to the status of the program. For example, you could evaluate how much pushing/pressing work you perform in training (often seen as push ups or inchworms) versus the amount of rowing/pulling work being performed. If there is a higher ratio of press to pull, then you could consider integrating more pull/row work into your own training regiment. Same thing is considered with squat patterns versus hinging patterns. There should be some sort of symmetry in the balance of the two opposing patterns. Overall, assess what is being incorporated and what could be missing from a movement perspective.

Muscular Development

Another way to break down training exercises is by the musculature that is targeted or fatigued during training. For example, you could evaluate which muscle groups are being used and how often they are used. Address any imbalances when it comes to front musculature versus posterior (back) musculature. Upper body muscles versus lower body muscles. Right side of the body versus left side of the body. Different ways to analyze where we are lacking in our training, will indicate which muscles could be targeted during our own training sessions to make up for the deficit in the program.

What Components of Fitness are Associated?

It is important for you to identify which components of fitness are being addressed throughout the duration of the academy. If a large portion of your training is associated to muscular endurance (since most are), you will then need to explore how to maintain strength throughout this process. Vice versus, if your training relies heavier on cardiovascular health and aerobic training (A.K.A. running), you may have to explore integrating strength, power, and endurance training. Overall, the downside with anything, is that you still have to be careful not to do too much outside of the academy training sessions. While the academy is focusing on endurance, you can ONLY do so much strength work that you would actually recover from. You would need to be very strategic, and work alongside the strength and conditioning coach to make sure your training does not interfere with the cycle/phase of training. A good coach, with resources, will have you phasing through various foci in order to prep the body and system for future adaptations. At the end of the day, communicate your intentions.

What Energy System/ Intensity is being used?

Similar to musculature and fitness components, you have to understand which energy systems are being used throughout the training program. This can be easily seen as three different levels: High intensity at short duration; Moderate intensity at moderate duration; Low intensity at long duration. Based on these three categories, we can then evaluate where our energy and focus outside of training should be. If you are performing very high intensity – short burst tasks in training, you can overload the nervous system pretty fast by also incorporating that into your own training.

Consideration: Are You Eating Enough?

Not eating enough is sometimes never a thought process when we begin a program. What I have found when working with cadets is that typically those that 1) are reading this to learn or empower themselves and 2) train outside of the academy setting, are also making alternative lifestyle choices in other areas. Nutrition being one of them. I have seen, time after time, someone go from eating whatever they want, whenever they want, into eating very minimal and choosing “healthier” sources of food because they want to be the best cadet possible. With this shift, you might not realize how drastic of a caloric or energy deficit this may lead to. What this means is that you go from eating x amount of calories, and simply by switching to healthier options, could cut your daily calorie intake in half, if not more. This definitely leads to weight loss, but could also lead to drastic increase in fatigue, drop in energy/focus, and potential decline in recovery. Don’t get me wrong, I 100% support the shift to healthier food options (which also assists with increases in vitamins, minerals, and hydration), but also consider how many calories you are also burning in a day.

On the flip side of this, I am also going to say that you need to manage your food choices. It can become easy to rely on gas station breakfast, fast food lunch, and fast food for dinner. Do not slip into bad habits and lifestyle during the academy. It can (although does not have to) encourage the same, if not worse, behaviors and choices once you actually graduate and begin working at an agency.

Consideration: Are You Hydrating?

To start off with hydration, we have to understand two things: 1) Hydration is a fluctuating state and 2) Hydration is not a single day/event thing. We know that rehydration protocols have been designed for rapid response to depletion. We “should not” have to get to that point if possible. We have to understand that poor hydration strategies one day can impact the performance (and health) of the next day. This is more of a short term or “acute” aspects. Long-term, lack of hydration can continue to lead to declines in health, performance, focus, and much more. Evaluate: 1) How much are you drinking in the day? 2) Do you drink just water or do you additionally consume enough vitamins and minerals (specifically electrolytes)? 3) How much is (“surprisingly”) coming from a caffeinated beverage or energy drink? 4) Do you consume foods that are liquid in nature that also assist to hydration? 5) How much water is lost throughout the day from various bodily functions?

Consideration: Are You Prioritizing Sleep?

Sleep is a very dangerous subject. Ideally, if we could aim for that 7 to 8 hours as adults, we would be in pretty good shape. We know, during times of stress and powering through obstacles that this fairytale of many hours of sleep (technically 6 to 8 per nights) is just not going to happen. First, if you can make that happen then by all means take advantage of that opportunity. Second, if you can not acquire 8 hours of sleep, then evaluate the quality of the sleep that you are getting. If you only sleep 4 hours, can you make them a good 4 hours? This means, paying attention to sleep hygiene. Paying attention to how you calm your system down, stay away from screens/devices, and create a relaxing environment for your mind and body. Maximize the hours you have.

Consideration: Do You Warm Up Before You Train?

Another consideration, although not necessarily too much about physical fitness away from the academy, is including a progressive dynamic warm up into your pre-training routine. Warm ups help prep the body to perform, while also decreasing the likelihood of injury during that training session. Including a warm up routine that also mobilizes body segments can reduce the negative impact that excessive sitting (or being sedentary) can do on the back, hips, and knees.

Consideration: Are You Moving Throughout the Day?

Evaluating how much physical effort and strain you exert in the classroom or in the field will help you gauge how much you should do outside of the academy setting. Strain (or stress) should be seen as a combination of occupational stress and physical training stress. If you are moving around a lot and performing various strenuous tasks, you might not need to do as much physical taxing activities outside of class. If you are pretty sedentary in class, even considering 30-60 minutes of PT, you might need to include aspects of walking, stretching, or low-impact activities on breaks or throughout the day.

Final Considerations and Thoughts

Some of you will read this article and think there is no purpose to workout outside of the academy class, while others will read this and want to really push their own individualized training. No matter which side of the fence you lean on, this article is not meant to encourage people to train outside of the academy if they are not use to the level of stress/strain. It is also not meant to push someone to take away from the value of an effective strength and conditioning program provided to them by their PT instructor. What I would do, is ask yourself the following:

• Should I really be training outside of the academy setting?
• What was I doing before the academy?
• Am I use to training more than what I receive inside the academy?
• Have I discussed my training goals and strategies with my physical fitness training instructor?
• Are there ways to integrate various other forms of exercise, like jiu jitsu?
• Do I understand the goals and objectives of the program currently being provided to me?
• Is my instructor qualified to provide me with information/insight?
• Is my instructor qualified to provide me with fitness instruction?
• How am I tracking my progress?

Take Action

If you need any help or would love to chat with a qualified strength and conditioning professional, feel free to reach out to us and schedule a consultation.