Top 3 Reasons a Home Gym is Essential for Police Officers

Nov 30, 2021

As Law Enforcement Officers, we know that most of us have the following in common...

Time is limited due to the nature of the profession. Long shifts, night shifts, rotating shifts, mandatory overtime, working holidays and weekends, inconsistent schedules, etc.

These things can make getting to the gym on a consistent basis more difficult.

We also know that staying healthy and maintaining or improving your physical abilities can add up to a lot of time (and money) invested.

With that being said, it is an absolutely essential investment, because nothing else matters if you do not have your health.

Finding a way to keep yourself physically prepared for job duties, having personal time to improve and work on you and your health, and time for some "iron therapy" couldn't be a more necessary component of your life.

ENTER - Home Gym Essentials Giveaway - LEARN MORE

Common Excuses For Cops to Not Train

Either you've heard these before... or you have used them yourself.

"I don't have time."

"Gym memberships cost too much."

"I don't have a plan to follow."

"I don't want to be judged."

"I don't want to be known as a cop at the gym."

We have heard these excuses for years and there is a solution...

Build a home gym.

Benefits of a Home Gym for the LEO

1) Financial

Minimal equipment is needed for an effective training session at home. We typically recommend:

1 light set of dumbbells or kettlebells
1 heavy set of dumbbells or kettlebells
A plyo box or bench

Having these 3 tools in your home gym would cost a few hundred dollars at most. If you're savvy enough on Facebook Marketplace, you could easily cut that cost in half.

Here are some affordable additions to the gym that can be beneficial:

The long term savings of building your home gym are exponential.

Gym memberships can cost anywhere from $30-150+ dollars. Over the course of a year, that can add up to around $1,000. Think of the equipment you could purchase and OWN for $1,000.

This investment can pay for itself very quickly.

On top of that, you save money on commute costs since your gym is a walk away in the garage or in the other room!

2) Time Saver

Time is our most valuable asset - especially as a Law Enforcement Officer with very little free time to begin with.

It goes without saying that having a home gym can save you time. Like mentioned above, you won't need to make time for any of the following things:

Commute
Prepping a gym bag
Waiting for specific equipment being used by someone else
Shower after training

But what about the time saved that can be dedicated to other important things in our lives?

Think about the extra time this can gift you to spend with your family, your kids, friends and other loved ones.

How about the time you can dedicate to other essential training such as defensive tactics, firearms, and other Continuing Education courses?

Or time for YOU. Decompressing, having fun with your hobbies, meal prepping, getting groceries, learning, relaxing, SLEEPING!... All the necessary things to take care of you.

An extra hour or two can go a long way.

Having a home gym allows you to make better use of your time, have additional free time, and ultimately use precious time to take care of yourself, your loved ones, and enjoy your life more.

Another huge time saver is having a program that's already structured with police work as the main focus.

The Effective Fitness Program uses the Minimal Effective Dose Method which allows us to reap the max benefits of training in the shortest amount of time. Being efficient and getting the most bang for your buck is the #1 goal! Your workout does not need to be longer than 45-60 minutes.

Click here to read more about the Minimal Effective Dose we use for LE fitness programs.

3) Convenience

This aspect of a home gym goes along perfectly with everything stated above regarding financial savings and time savings, but there's more to it.

For one, the gym can never be closed.

Two, you can listen to ANY music or podcasts that you want.

Three, your family and friends can come in and train with you!

We also recommend training in your gear 2-4x per month - who wants to do that in a commercial gym?

Along with training in our gear, we should be working tactical skills into our sessions such as tourniquet application, dry firing, memory drills, etc. under high heart rate and fatigue.

We know that most of our team does not feel comfortable doing this in a commercial gym with the public staring at them or interrupting to ask questions. Even worse, many gyms just wouldn't allow these drills to be trained.

At home, this type of training is not a problem.

For free workouts that include tactical skills such as TQ application, click here!

Wrap Up

An investment we recommend making: The Home Gym.

This amenity goes further than just being able to train more often.

Your home gym will:

Save you time which is a treasure in this profession
Improve your physical fitness and tactical skills as a Law Enforcement Officer by allowing you to train like one
Improve quality of life by allowing you to spend more time with the family, friends, and even pets that you care about most
Aid in making you the most effective Police Officer you can be

Remember... "You can't train too much for a job that can kill you."

Build a home gym and use it to your advantage.