Instant Fitness Would Be Nice – But!!!

April 20, 2009

Yes indeed, instant fitness would be nice, but we’re afraid that isn’t going to happen any time soon no matter how hard you wish it might be so. If you want to be fit to pass the police entrance exams, then you have to do it the old way – by the bootstraps and working your butt off.

Fitness is not just something you need to do to pass the police exams. It’s something that needs to be done for the rest of your career in order to keep on top of the rigours of your job. Those who don’t keep in shape do pay the price for it at some point. And, whether that is not being able to chase a suspect any longer because they are out of shape or not being able to handle a violent offender because they don’t have the muscle strength to do so, not keeping fit comes home to roost one way or another.

This gets us back to the observation we made in an earlier blog posting that policing and keeping fit are lifestyle issues. You are either in the lifestyle and attain and maintain it or you don’t, there are no two ways about this. If you knew your safety depended on you being in shape, being able to run, climb fences, scramble under unusual objects and chase someone on foot for long distances, wouldn’t you make sure you are in tip top form? Of course you would.

Sure it takes time and effort, but look at it this way. It took time and effort to become a cop in the first place. You worked your tail off to study for the exams and learn stuff that you never thought it would be possible to figure out. You made it through some rough exams and that wicked psychological assessment and you got your badge. So how tough is it then to keep in shape? You have to spend the same amount of time doing that as you did getting to be a cop. It’s time well invested if it means your personal safety.