Many essential occupational tasks performed by law enforcement officers are physically demanding. There are numerous challenges with developing and maintaining physical fitness within this population. These challenges can lead to a steady decline in health and fitness over the occupational life span and have a devastating impact on officer safety and wellness. The purpose of this column is to discuss physical training program considerations when working with law enforcement professionals and provide potential solutions to these barriers.
Law enforcement officers must perform physically demanding tasks as part of their job duties. Consequently, law enforcement officers must possess an adequate level of physical fitness to perform these activities safely and effectively. Ironically, most of an officer's shift time is sedentary. This, in addition to other occupational challenges, may make it difficult for officers to develop and maintain fitness across the occupational life span. This is concerning when considering that physical fitness is associated with their occupational task performance. In this column, the unique challenges law enforcement officers experience when trying to maintain health and occupational fitness are discussed.
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