Maupin, D.J.; Schram, B.; Canetti, E.F.D.; Dawes, J.J.; Lockie, R.; Orr, R.M. Developing the Fitness of Law Enforcement Recruits during Academy Training. Sustainability2020, 12, 7944.
Maupin, D.J.; Schram, B.; Canetti, E.F.D.; Dawes, J.J.; Lockie, R.; Orr, R.M. Developing the Fitness of Law Enforcement Recruits during Academy Training. Sustainability 2020, 12, 7944.
Maupin, D.J.; Schram, B.; Canetti, E.F.D.; Dawes, J.J.; Lockie, R.; Orr, R.M. Developing the Fitness of Law Enforcement Recruits during Academy Training. Sustainability2020, 12, 7944.
Maupin, D.J.; Schram, B.; Canetti, E.F.D.; Dawes, J.J.; Lockie, R.; Orr, R.M. Developing the Fitness of Law Enforcement Recruits during Academy Training. Sustainability 2020, 12, 7944.
Abstract
Law enforcement is an intermittently physically demanding job, interspersed with long periods of sedentary activity. To prepare for the physical demands of the job, law enforcement agencies enlist recruits into academies with a focus on physical training. Often academies focus on aerobic based exercise despite anaerobic fitness being strongly correlated to occupational tasks. The objective of this article is to analyse the changes in fitness of police recruits during academy training. Initial and final fitness test results, encompassing muscular power, strength, endurance as well as aerobic and anaerobic fitness, were measured to analyse changes in fitness. Dependent t-tests showed significant increases (p < 0.05) across all fitness tests, with a trend towards larger increases in aerobic and muscle endurance-based tests. Recruits from this academy tended to have higher fitness results compared to other academies and were either average or below average compared to age matched standards in the general populations. Physical training should persist for recruits beyond the academy to continue develop fitness throughout their career. Academies should add a focus on muscular strength and power training as these measures relate to occupational tasks, which may better prepare recruits for demands they will be expected to face in the field.
Keywords
Conditioning; Police; Anaerobic Fitness
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
