The Top 10 Fitness Exercises for Police Officers

Police work is physically demanding, whether you’re sprinting during a foot pursuit or struggling with a resistive suspect. In fact, you should think of yourself as a tactical athlete. What’s that, you may ask? Tactical athlete is a term used for people with professions whose physical fitness is a critical part of the job - it could mean life or death.

Why Exercise Matters for Police Work

1. Stretching: To reverse inflexibility from sitting at your desk or seated patrol, and maintain healthy muscles in order to perform and keep up with your intense training regiment
2. Cardio: To prepare for emergency responses and chasing suspects on foot and train your heart in order to improve your overall fitness
3. Muscular Strength: To prepare for resistive suspects and increase lean muscle mass in order to keep your body strong

Tactical athletes include soldiers, fire fighters, and police officers - like you! In your line of work, being fit is more than just a goal - it’s a must. Add these exercises to your next workout so you’re ready to protect your community, your coworkers, and yourself.

The 10 Best Exercises for Police Officers

1. Russian Twists

This exercise works your obliques, a side muscle which is used when getting in and out of your patrol car or when suddenly turning to pursue a suspect.

What you’ll need: TheraBand Pro Series SCP Exercise Ball and Medicine Ball

Instructions

1. Lay on your back on top of a stability ball with your feet flat on the floor
2. While holding the medicine ball, contract your core, lift your shoulder blades up off the ball
3. Twist side to side moving your arms and waist at the same time
4. Maintain a tall spine while rotating the shoulders to the left and right respectively while keeping the lower body stable

2. Endurance Runs

Running is a great low-cost way to keep yourself in shape and improve your cardiovascular health. While orthotics aren’t required, they can keep your feet more comfortable as you run.

What you’ll need: Vasyli+Prior Sports Orthotics

Instructions

1. Go on a thirty minute run at least twice a week
2. Start with a short distance and add mileage as your fitness improves
3. You should be able to hold a conversation while running

3. Sprints and Agility Training

Chasing after a suspect or running while responding to an emergency? Avoid getting winded by doing sprints to stay fit.

What you’ll need: Agility Cones

Instructions

1. Lay the cones out in a line
2. Sprint from the starting cone to the end cone and back in a straight line
3. Next, sprint there and back while weaving between the cones
4. Then, sprint there and back in a straight line once more
5. Take a short break before repeating the sequence

4. Jumping Rope

Tired of your normal cardio routine? Try jumping rope instead. For an even greater challenge try this weighted rope. The added weight will sooner increase your heart rate compared to a thin, nylon rope.

What you’ll need: Weighted Speed Rope

Instructions

1. Use your wrists to spin the jump rope and jump straight up, only a few inches off the ground
2. Don’t hunch over, keep your back straight
3. Aim for one hop per rope turnover and about one hundred jumps a minute

5. Box Jumps

Don’t let your next foot pursuit story end with “he escaped over the fence”. Box jumps help you add vertical height to your jumps and make it easier to overcome barriers, like fences.

What you’ll need: Plyoboxes

Instructions

1. Stand with your feet hip width apart
2. Slightly bend your knees and bring your arms straight behind your back
3. Jump up and land with both feet on top of the box, knees bent, hips back, back straight, and arms extended in front of you
4. Step down to protect your achilles tendon and work your glutes. Make sure to alternate the foot you step down with!
5. Repeat

6. CLX Chest Press

Use elastic resistance bands for a quick exercise you can do at home. This looped band is versatile - you can also use it for bicep curls, squats, and push-ups.

What you’ll need: TheraBand CLX Resistance Band

Instructions

1. Hold one end loop in each hand with the band around your upper back and shoulders
2. Keeping your hands at chest level, slowly push your hands straight out until your arms are fully extended
3. Hold, then slowly bring your hands back toward your shoulders, repeat

7. Kettlebell Swings

When out in the field, sometimes you have to exert power and strength together to complete a task. This exercise combines both power and strength. Your swing should be a fluid, controlled movement.

What you’ll need: CanDo Kettle Bell

Instructions

1. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent, and toes pointed slightly out
2. Hold the kettlebell between your legs using an overhand grip with both hands
3. Bend your hips and swing the weight so it is between and behind your legs, then squeeze your glutes, extend your hips and swing the kettlebell up
4. Swing the weight back down between your legs while slightly bending your hips and knees, immediately extend your hips and knees and begin the next repetition

8. Swimming

For a low-impact exercise that puts less stress on your joints, try swimming. You can add weights to enhance your workout.

What you’ll need: Aqua Power Swim Ankle and Wrist Weights

Instructions

1. Fasten the weights around your ankles or wrists for added resistance then swim laps back and forth in the pool
2. You can also use the weights while doing water aerobics or water-running

9. Dips

Another great tool to utilize for an upper body workout is the dip machine! You can also do dips using parallel bars.

What you’ll need: Dip bars/parallel bars or dip machine

Instructions

1. Grasp one parallel bar in each hand and jump up so your arms are straight
2. Lean forward about forty-five degrees
3. Bend your elbows lowering your body into the dip, your upper arms should be at least parallel to the ground (shoulders below your elbows, if possible) and your elbows tight to your body
4. Straighten your arms returning to starting position, and repeat

10. Mountain Climbers

A great cardio move to add to any full body workout to kick up your heart rate between sets! Add this exercise to any HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workout.

What you’ll need: Just yourself

Instructions

1. Begin in a plank position and engage your core
2. Keep your body in a straight line and your hands stacked below your shoulders
3. Bring your right knee forward, under your chest, keeping your toes off the ground
4. Return to plank position
5. Bring your left knee forward, under your chest, keeping your toes off the ground
6. Continue switching legs, bringing your knees in as quickly as possible, like you’re running
7. Make sure to lean into your hands and not push your hands away from you!

The Problem with Patrol Cars

The problem with patrol cars, whether you are on a stakeout or driving around town, is the time you spend sitting down. Being sedentary for hours at a time puts a lot of strain on your lower back. One research survey found that nearly 55% of police officers in the study had chronic or recurring back pain since joining the force. Only 8% of these respondents had pain before joining. Sitting in a patrol car, standing for long periods, and wearing duty belts can all contribute to your pain. Get relief using these tools.

A Stretching Exercise for Your Back

What you’ll need: TheraBand Pro Series SCP Exercise Ball

Instructions

1. Lay face down with your stomach on the ball
2. Support yourself using your hand and feet
3. Allow the weight of your arms and legs to stretch your lower back

Pain Relief Solutions

Stay fit using these exercises so you’re ready for whatever the job throws your way.

Not an officer yet, but hoping to become one? Check out these exercises to prepare you for the police physical ability test.

References
Brown, J.J., Wells, G.A., Trottier, A.J., Bonneau, J., & Ferris, B. (1998). Back Pain in a Large Canadian Police Force. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2tJffTd

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