Tips from the Instructors

Western MA Regional, Lead PT Instructor Delilah Yee
1. Does your academy do aerobics?
We do some aerobics and most of our workouts incorporate aerobic exercise.
2. Does your academy do weight training with nautilus or similar type of equipment?
No nautilus equipment.
3. Does your academy do a lot of sprint work?
We do a lot of sprints.
4. How far do you run in the early weeks of the academy?
Week one and two, we run 12-15 minutes and work up.
5. How far do you think student officers should be able to run with ease upon entering your academy (Note: Please see P.A.T. document section III E for a 3 mile, 16 week plan to get you going).
1 to 2 miles before coming to the academy.
6. How many push ups and sit ups are reasonable to expect a student officer to be able to perform during the first PT assessment (female/male)?(Note: Refer to the fitness protocols under the Forms section for information on how to do proper sit ups and push ups).
male--push ups 35-45 sit-ups--40-50
female-- push-ups 20-25 sit-ups --25-35
7. Describe the course that you use the most for your distance runs (hilly, flat, a track, a street etc.).
Flat surface
8. What other expectations do you have for the student officers regarding PT?
Enjoy P.T. as some people pay a lot of money to get what you're getting for free. Get the most out of it and use it in there everyday life.
9. What types of injuries do you see the most in the early weeks of the academy?
Do you think they could be prevented with more preparation? Blisters and shin splints which can be prevented if you break in your running shoes and make sure you are running outside and on other surfaces as part of your preparation.
10. Any "pet peeves" in terms of things that you see with new recruits?
No core work and when student officers still do nothing when they know when the academy will start! Student officers should work beyond their potential.
11. What specific "equipment" and clothing do recruits need for your PT program?
Jump rope.

Worcester, Lead PT Instructor Luis Baez
1. Does your academy do aerobics?
Yes.
2. Does your academy do weight training with nautilus or similar type of equipment?
Yes.
3. Does your academy do a lot of sprint work?
Yes.
4. How far do you run in the early weeks of the academy?
Between two and three miles.
5. How far do you think student officers should be able to run with ease upon entering your academy (Note: Please see P.A.T. document section III E for a 3 mile, 16 week plan to get you going).
A minimum of three miles
6. How many push ups and sit ups are reasonable to expect a student officer to be able to perform during the first PT assessment (female/male)?(Note: Refer to the fitness protocols under the Forms section for information on how to do proper sit ups and push ups).
Males- 40 push-ups/38 sit-ups, Females- 25sit-ups/ 20 sit-ups
7. Describe the course that you use the most for your distance runs (hilly, flat, a track, a street etc.).
We use combination of all four running surfaces, although the track is normally used during the first month of P.T. training to evaluate student officers' fitness levels.
8. What other expectations do you have for the student officers regarding PT?
Student officers should be physically well rounded. They should incorporate strength training with their running program.
9. What types of injuries do you see the most in the early weeks of the academy?
Do you think they could be prevented with more preparation? Foot and leg injuries. Due to improper running shoes, poor physical fitness preparation prior to the academy and/or not preparing at all. All are preventable if the recruits take the time to educate themselves on the type of athletic shoe that best suits them and begin an exercise program prior to entering an academy.
10. Any "pet peeves" in terms of things that you see with new recruits?
My “Pet Peeve” is when recruits come in overweight and physically unfit. Recruits need to understand that prior to entering the academy they need to be in good physical shape as P.T. sessions will be conducted in a military like-manner. All recruits are expected to give 100% effort during all phases of P.T. Don’t be a “slacker!” A physical fitness instructor will quickly determine this from the very first P.T. session.
11. What specific "equipment" and clothing do recruits need for your PT program?
The basic clothing for our recruits consists of running sweats, shorts, T-shirts, sweat shirt, P.T. cap, and athletic shoes.

A Message from the Randolph Police Academy! Deputy Chief Christopher Cutter
As you know Randolph is a new MPTC facility and, as such, I’m not sure what the facility will look like or what we will have available to us on day one, but, having this in mind I will offer a few suggestions I think will help you prepare.
• If you are currently performing your cardiovascular conditioning on a stationary bike, treadmill or elliptical machine, get off! At the academy, I don’t have access to these types of machines so you will primarily be getting your cardiovascular conditioning by old fashioned running. Training on these types of machines is good, but they don’t prepare you for the stresses the body encounters while running on grass and roads and this has lead others to a false perception of their fitness level.
• I would suggest you should be running at least 3 miles at a comfortable pace prior to day one and that you should have been doing this for several weeks. Although we will not run this far on day one, this ensures your body is prepared to handle the increase in cardiovascular conditioning, pounding, and strain that you will incur and thus reduce your chance for injury. Please use a sensible plan to increase up to this three mile goal. (Note: Please see P.A.T. document section III E for a 3 mile, 16 week plan to get you going.) If you attempt to reach this point too soon, you again increase your chance for injury, and increase your chances for dismissal. Many of the common injuries I see during the academy are what are called “over use” injuries from doing too much, too soon.
• Purchase a good pair of running shoes. I would suggest you go to a quality specialty store where your running style can be evaluated and you can be fitted with a shoe that will help offset any orthopedic deficiencies you may have. There should be no need to break in a new pair of shoes, however, I would suggest you run in them 4-5 times just prior to day one in case you experience any friction related problems.
• You can expect to experience strength training using a combination of machines, free weights, body weight, medicine balls and anything else I can get my hands on. Notice I said strength training, not body building. Some of you will come in using the same techniques you have seen or been using at the gym for years, but we will not have the time for that. You can expect to do short strength training sessions, performing one-set for each muscle group in a controlled setting.
• You should have the ability to sustain controlled, quality pushups for 1 minute. If you need to rest, rest in the up position, keep your back straight and your hands on the ground. Practice doing a good push up, slowly. If you sag like a mule, bob your head for apples or never lock your elbows they will not count. (Refer to the fitness protocols under the Forms section)
• Have the ability to sustain controlled sit ups for 1 minute with your knees bent and your hands interlocked behind your head. If you need to rest, that’s ok, but do it in the up position with your elbows touching your knees. (Refer to the fitness protocols under the Forms section)
• You will be required to carry water with you during your PT session. Pick something to carry that will be easier for you to train with and get used to it. It should hold at least 20 oz. of water and you should consume 5 oz. ever 15 minutes, or more during hot weather. Sports drinks will not be needed during your PT session. Stick to water.
• Remember the F.I.T. principle. Frequency: you should be doing 3-4 days of cardio conditioning per week and at least 2 days of strength training. Furthermore, you should be doing static stretching at least 5 days per week after your workout (see Flexibility section). Intensity:, you should be training at 70-80% of your maximum heart rate, and you should do this for at least 20 minutes. Add “body weight moves” into your training such as air squats, lounges, split squats, bench dips, mountain climbers and jumping.
• Those of you who have been doing strength training, but who have decided you don’t need to work your legs, think again! Many lower extremity injuries can be directly attributed to the lack of development in the muscles supporting the joints.
• Perform some hill repeats because if I can find a hill in Randolph we will be running on it! Hill training is one of the best workouts to increase leg strength. Find a hill at least 50 yards long and steadily increase your pace up the hill then slowly jog back down. You don’t need to do these at a full sprint up, but do increase your pace from your ordinary 3 mile run. Get used to doing at least 5 (but no more than 10) repeats.
• I expect students to try. Not everyone is going to be the best, but I will suggest to you that I can tell the students who are not trying. This is not going to be easy, so get that out of your head. You will have to work, and work hard, to get my respect.
• I also demand a certain amount of what I would call “military bearing”. Some of you know what this is and some of you will learn. You will address the staff as directed, you will be at attention in formation, you will not use profanities, you will be on-time and you will follow all the other rules as directed. You can tell a squared away recruit when he does the right thing even when he thinks no one is watching.
• You shall report all injuries immediately to the closest staff member; and you shall report any injuries and/or sickness prior to any PT session.
• Although I’m still working on a final plan for your class you can expect to start out running at least 2 miles. We will then slowly increase this distance according to the MPTC guidelines, but in the end you can expect to be doing 5-8 miles. We will usually have one day a week with a long run. The other days will be a mix of interval training, circuit training, and basic core exercises. You will be doing strength training at least two days a week. You will be challenged!

Although some of this stuff may seem like a lot to remember, the key is to prepare and not to expect us to get you in-shape. You should come in the door in-shape and we will hopefully add to your level of conditioning over the 21 weeks. If you choose to do your same routine as you have in the past you will get the same results. I believe intensity is the key element to your workouts. If you’re enjoying your run during your run, you’re probably just maintaining, not getting better. True fitness is hard work and you have the chance to change your life in one of two ways; you can come in to the academy unprepared, risk injury and hate each day of PT; or you can start your career off being prepared with the understanding that fitness is a gift you can give to yourself and your family that will benefit you for a lifetime.

Glenn Dunnigan, Lead PT instructor at the Reading Police Academy

1.Does your academy do aerobics? Yes, we do aerobics one day a week on Thursdays with the two certified (non law enforcement) trainers, Lisa & Tammy, with the class being held inside the drill shed.Tammy is a fire fighter and marathoner while Lisa runs her own personal training business. Both women are in incredible shape with outstanding motivation skills and endless energy.
2.Does your academy do weight training with nautilus equipment ? We attempt to do some weight training with the machines and free weights at least once a week according to the ability groups in the class. The problem we have is that the facility and equipment is the property of the National Guard & there are times when the soldiers are using the facility & equipment. They are very accomodating, though, and usually finish up their workouts when we need to use the limited equipment they have.
3. Does your academy do a lot of sprint work ? Yes! We are big fans of doing the hill repeats, the " Indian Runs", and we like to set up cones in the field that require some slalom & short bursts of speed. We have found that the majority of the recruits improve dramatically in their run times.We also like to do the pole to pole sprints on our runs or we utilize the stop watch to do what we call "the ladder drill" where we climb up & come back down in terms of time. We will be doing our group run, then at one point during the run we do a 10 second increase in speed, rest ( continue the normal pace), then a 20 sec increase, a 30 sec increase, another 30, 20 sec, then conclude with a 10 sec increase. Depending on how the group responds to this and the time we have left, we may do two sets of this.
4.How far do you run in the early weeks of the academy? We don't run as far in the begining as we prefer due to the fact that some, if not most, of the recruits come to the class expecting us to whip them in shape. This slows everything down for us as we could be doing a group run and end up having bodies all over the place in terms of gaps in the formation. Most times we just loop back and pick up the ones that lag behind.
5. How far do you think student officers should be able to run with ease upon entering your academy? At least three to four miles. I would even say that every recruit should have a solid base of five miles coming in to the academy. Marathoners need to start their training in mid December with a solid 10 mile base. A five mile comfortable pace is not unreasonable, especially if you have plenty of advanced notice that you may be entering an academy. But don't just run five miles to say you ran five miles. Challenge yourself on these runs by speeding up your pace or running a track routine to supplement your runs. There is a lot of info out there and people you can talk to about this if you're really interested.
6. How many p/ups and s/ups are reasonable to expect a student officer to be able to perform during their first PT Assessment (male /female)? I think that varies as to their size when they come in on the first day. For example, we had a kid come in a few years back that was 6' 8" tall , 360 lbs with 38% body fat, and he could not do one push -up. He barely made five sit ups and his run was something like 19 or 20 minutes. I think 40 to 50 p/up is a good mark for a male who is in pretty good shape coming in on first test. Also, the s/ups are usually in the same ball park but 30 to 40 is not unreasonable. The Cooper chart (age for male/females) is a very good guide for anyone considering an academy & what level they should be at when they get there.
7.Describe the course you use for most of your distance runs? We are fortunate in that we have quite the variety of running routes in and around the base. We have the woods out behind the old shooting range on the base that combines hills and a cross country feel to the run.
During many of our pre-academy runs with just the PT staff, we have discovered & done some recon of several routes that enable us to select a specific course during the run or we can pre-plan a specific route depending on the group we have that day or depending on how well the recruits are handling the run we are on that day. We usually judge how they feel by simply observing them, how they respond to a simple question, or by utilizing some of our "rabbits" as a barometer. If they are huffing and puffing and the rabbits are starting to drop back then we know where we have to adjust.
We are able to crank it up at times or throw a curve at them by selecting a hill on an isolated side street, running to the track at the middle school, or running the lake which is used quite often for community road races. We even have a parking garage on the lake route that allows us to take them up the stairs while we wait for the rest to catch up with us.
So, in that aspect we have a wide variety of surfaces and inclines to choose from.
8. What other expectations do you have for the student officers regarding PT? We expect them to be locked in, highly motivated, and ready to challenge themselves. We expect them to learn some cadences when they come in so that all of the recruits will eventually get the opportunity to lead their class on a run. It is my opinion that by allowing a recruit to get out in front of the class and do a cadence for a few minutes during the run is not a lot to ask. I feel that it gives the student officer the chance to use command presence , voice command , and leadership skills that will apply on the street when they are put into a position where they are required to move back a large crowd at a scene, disperse an angry mob,etc. You'd be very surprised at what you discover from some of these recruits that have been "under the radar" the whole class & when they finally get their turn, you ask them where they've been the last several weeks.Some do very well.
Although we are not expected to teach them military bearing (we simply don't have the time with one hour of PT) we do expect that they have an idea of how important it is to have some self discipline & motivation coming into the class. Talk to some friends or family members with military experience about the importance of discipline so you have an idea going in how you should act.
9. What types of injuries do you see the most in the early weeks of the academy? Can they be prevented with more preparation? SHIN SPLINTS!! By far, the most common complaint. Probably due to the fact that a lot of the recruits have not prepared themselves physically or their running style is all messed up. They've never run , therefore they don't know how to run properly. Heel to toe & not on their tip toes. I also think that some of these shin splints are a result of the pounding they take on the cement floor inside the drill shed during aerobics.
We always tell the recruits that we ARE NOT orthopedic surgeons or physical therapists and when they ask us how come they have pain here, there or when they move this way, we simply tell them to refer to their doctor or look up their sypmtoms on the internet. If it's a serious injury then they follow policy and file the necessary reports.
Some ankle injuries have occurred from simply rolling the foot on a run or some other event. Shin splints would be the most common injury complaint we receive.
10. Any "pet peeves" in terms of things you see with new recruits? Just the fact that some of them that are so young coming in and knowing that they are pursuing a career in law enforcement & haven't done anything to prepare for it. If they are even considering a career in law enforcement then they must start preparing themselves mentally & physically for the academy. This would be the main "pet peeve".
11. What specific equipment do recruits need for your PT program? The Academy manual spells out what they need in terms of clothing,water bottle, etc, however I would advise (and we usually do at orientation) them to visit a reputable running store and inquire about a good shoe to wear based on their activity level & body size.
12. Any other advice or observations? I guess in addition to the mental & physical preparation, the recruits should start to work on their diet and life changes. Diet is one of the most difficult things to modify in this profession. Start slowly and read up on some recommended changes or get some advice from a certified nutritionist.
Finally, start to make some life changes in terms of the extra curricular activities a recruit may have been involved in prior to law enforcement. Who you hang out with, the places you hang out, the reactions from friends, family, etc, the stress you may encounter.

1. Does your academy do aerobics?
Yes. We have access to a state of the art Health & Wellness Facility.
We incorporate step aerobics into our program.
2. Does your academy do weight training with nautilus or similar type of equipment?
Yes. We cross train using LifeCircuit, Icarian and Freeweight equipment.
3. Does your academy do a lot of sprint work?
We do a fair amount of sprint work incorporated in agility training, which is conducted at Forges Field.
4. How far do you run in the early weeks of the academy?
We believe in progressive training, not too much too fast. We like to prevent unnecessary injuries. We do expect student officers to successfully complete the 1.5 mile run initial assessment with ease. We will gradually increase the duration and intensity to bring student officers to a confident distance of 7.0 miles.
5. How far do you think student officers should be able to run with ease upon entering your academy? Student officers should reasonably able to run 2.0-2.5 miles without any trouble.
6. How many push ups and sit ups are reasonable to expect a student officer to be able to perform during the first PT assessment?
Males Push-ups 35-45 Sit-ups 40-50
Females Push-ups 20-25 Sit-ups 25-35
7. Describe the course that you use the most for your distance runs (hilly, flat, a track, a street, etc.). We have several different courses for our distance runs. Our distance runs are conducted in the Myles Standish State Forest of Plymouth. It is scenic and comprised of flat and hilly terrain. We also participate in several Law Enforcement road races associated with the Plymouth Police Academy – Motivation Runs.
8. What other expectations do you have for the student officers regarding PT?
Our biggest expectation at the Plymouth Academy is to give 100% 100% of the time.
9. What types of injuries do you see the most in the early weeks of the academy? Do you think they could be prevented with more preparation? Shin splints, ankle and knee strains, muscle soreness. Absolutely preventable -Be prepared!
10. Any “pet peeves” in terms of things that you see with new recruits?
Student officers need to practice Health & Wellness, for their careers, their families, themselves.
11. What specific “equipment” and clothing do recruits need for your PT program?
The required PT uniform from the MPTC equipment list, water and a professionally fitted pair of running shoes. Also, bring your heart and a good attitude.