4 Ways to Begin Implementing a Fitness Routine at Your Agency

Do you ever feel left out on the fitness island at your agency?  Like you’re trying to move a mountain… but the mountain won’t budge?

We hear you.  Loud and clear.  Whether you’re fighting the bureaucratic red tape at a behemoth agency with thousands of employees, or the budgetary (and willpower) constraints at an agency with just a handful officers, implementing a fitness regimen can be a mammoth task.

So where do we start?  We’ve outlined a few places to begin having the conversation.  These are just a start – and you’ll have some more work ahead of you.  So read on to find the launching points that have worked well for us.

MONEY

One of the best ways to convince “the powers that be” that implementing a fitness (or “wellness”) program at your agency is a wise investment is to talk to the bean counters.  Whether your annual budget numbers in the millions or the tens of thousands we have to be able to convince the purse holders that this is a process that will save them money.

While some of this data can be difficult to extrapolate with a direct $ amount, it is clear that for companies and agencies worldwide who implement some type of wellness or fitness program, fewer days of work are missed due to injury, fewer injuries are experienced (both on and off duty) and insurance premiums go down – at least as much as the healthcare system will allow.  Employers end up with happier, healthier employees who are getting paid for the work they were hired to do, rather than staying at home and healing. 

When you consider the job that we perform, building injury resilience is of utmost importance for our people.  Low back, hips, knees and shoulders are all major pain points in our profession, and implementing a program (such as EFT) that focuses on officer fitness makes even more sense.  Not to plug our product too much, but this is a primary reason we offer our rehab programs built with doctors of physical therapy as included programs.

For agencies of all sizes, this means an increase in revenue from enforcement, community relation building and less overtime budget for covering missed shifts.  This also allows for fuller staffing with healthy, motivated employees which leads to more proactive police work that leads to positive headlines and good publicity.  And if that doesn’t pique their interest into the validity of the mission, keep reading – we’re not done yet.

 

 

 

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MORALE

We all know that morale in our present day and age is… not where it used to be.  Implementing a program that allows officers to train regularly will improve morale across the spectrum.  If we look good and feel good (physically AND mentally) then we will perform better.  With the confidence developed through training, we will make better decisions more often – which continues to build our confidence and the esprit de corps that brought many of us to our current agency.  This positive feedback cycle can have generational impact not only on the community within the agency, but also in the community they serve.

We’ll take more pride in the day-to-day grind of the job.  The community will feel more confident in our ability to resolve their problems if we show up looking fit and sharp.

Fitness also carries with it a natural and healthy competitive edge.  If we’re entering healthy competition with our coworkers on a regular basis, there is a natural desire to always strive to be better - especially in an industry where we value the hard-charging, Type A personalities.  We will constantly push ourselves and others towards improvement that will, in turn, have positive effects in all aspects of our lives.

MANPOWER

While these two factors may sound like enough to motivate your chain-of-command, you may need to present a unified front to continue to push the ball forward.  

If you’re the “fit cop” that’s always trying to elevate the standard, it is easy for the brass to brush you off.  But if you have multiple officers – and even your Association or Union pushing for a fitness program, it becomes much harder to ignore a team of high-performing individuals who want to raise the bar across the department.

If we can be honest with each other for a moment… the best beat cops and best “bosses” usually maintain for themselves a high standard of excellence.  In physical and technical training and in the effort that they put into the job and their people.  This is a snowball effect that often starts with fitness.  This is also the type of person that we can rally around and start to get some real change rolling.

All it takes is one individual who refuses to take “No” for an answer and constantly searches out ways to make positive changes around them. 

The harder YOU work, the more you’ll help others want to work hard.  Before you know it, you have your whole shift, unit or agency asking for more.

MARCHING ORDERS

So… we’ve convinced our Chain of Command that we need a new program.  We’ve convinced the bean counters that the juice is worth the squeeze.  We’ve got the numbers to back us up.

What now?

We’re glad you asked!  Effective Fitness Training is continually working to help agencies by giving program access to the entire workforce.  If you remember from a couple years ago, we gave away a MILLION dollars’ worth of programming to agencies across the country and we are currently working with a handful of those agencies, as well as others who have inquired since that event.

Now this is not to toot our own horn, but to emphasize that we have been working with agencies to find out how to provide the best product to the greatest number of people.  We take a hard look at what an agency needs and offer guidance, coaching and programming that helps to solve their problem.  

Our agencies are assigned a Coach whose role is to be there for the officers and help them meet the needs and goals lined out by their employer.  We’re also happy to talk with employers about how to get the buy-in from their officers and how to make it as easy as possible to get their people going.

From our website: “Our mission is to create effective Law Enforcement Officers and enhance their career by optimizing their performance, limiting injuries and reducing stress through education and science-driven fitness.”

This is what we strive for every day.  This is what we can help your agency provide for you.

So what are you waiting for?  Let’s get to work!  We’re here to help.

If you're interested in inquiring for your agency, click this link!