Members of Law Enforcement and the military have a job to protect and serve others. At times, they need to think about themselves and their team mates as well. Combat effectiveness is not limited to gun skills. Being physically fit is non-negotiable in the tactical arena. We are all built differently and have accrued miles of varying numbers. Some of us have been broken and repaired, battered and bruised through an abusive work style or ageism. Some LEOs work horrible shifts and can’t muster the motivation to better themselves physically. If you are strapping forty pounds of lightweight shit onto an already gelatinous mess of cottage cheese, you are not only less effective in the field but are a detriment and a liability to your teammates and to those who you need to protect. Make a functional PT program part of your normal. Much can be achieved in thirty minutes daily to ensure you can leap a five foot wall in full kit, run 400 meters and body slam a douche nugget fleeing from a crime scene.
Patrick McNamara
SGM, US Army (Ret)
Patrick McNamara spent twenty-two years in the United States Army in a myriad of special operations units. When he worked in the premier Special Missions Unit, he became an impeccable marksman, shooting with accurate, lethal results and tactical effectiveness. McNamara has trained tactical applications of shooting to people of all levels of marksmanship, from varsity level soldiers, and police officers who work the streets to civilians with little to no time behind the trigger.
His military experience quickly taught him that there is more to tactical marksmanship than merely squeezing the trigger. Utilizing his years of experience, McNamara developed a training methodology that is safe, effective and combat relevant and encourages a continuous thought process. This methodology teaches how to maintain safety at all times and choose targets that force accountability, as well as provides courses covering several categories, including individual, collective, on line and standards.
While serving as his Unit’s Marksmanship NCO, he developed his own marksmanship club with NRA, CMP, and USPSA affiliations. Mac ran monthly IPSC matches and ran semi annual military marksmanship championships to encourage marksmanship fundamentals and competitiveness throughout the Army.
He retired from the Army’s premier hostage rescue unit as a Sergeant Major and is the author of T.A.P.S. (Tactical Application of Practical Shooting).
Gunfighter Moment is a weekly feature brought to you by Alias Training & Security Services. Each week Alias brings us a different Trainer and in turn they offer some words of wisdom.
Tags: Alias Training and Security Services, Pat McNamara, TMACS Inc
Very well put. I think this every time I see an overweight patrol officer. (Which honestly seems to happen more often than not) It’s not very comforting to know that’s who will be responding if I ever need to call 911 for backup.
Whenever I see a very overweight person in an aisle seat, it’s not very comforting to think that’s who’ll be in front of me/crashing about in the event of a water landing. I weight this, however, against the advantage of cover against rogue beverage carts/gun fire.
Highly recommend Pat’s book, “Sentinel”. For those who no longer operate in harms way or just your average civilian sheep dog, it is an excellent tutorial that proposes you consider yourself the protective detail for your family. It is a great primer on the mindset and methods of situational awareness for everyday life. It also stresses keeping your “combat chassis” ready to react to emergency situations.
Can you carry your wounded child at a dead run for 50 yards to get to cover from an active shooter? Can you pick up a 40 pound chair and heave it through a restaurant window to create an escape route in a fire? All points he makes and reinforces with others. If you have a family, you are their protector. If you are 80 lbs overweight, smoke, and your most recent physical activity was waddling away from the latest episode of, “I got a coupon for the chinese buffet!”, you are an epic fail. If you wear a badge, you are putting your brothers at risk as well as your family. A coronary in a crisis does nothing but create another casualty for first responders and leaves your family in harms way.
Decide to be healthy. Make some cardio and endurance and strength training part of your “new normal” as he calls it. It’s the same as a financial investment but with much more profound consequences. You’ll feel more alive and the stress relief will show it’s benefit in many other facets of your life.
A common reason people stop training is joint pain/injury. And while the pain may be acute, it’s only the last straw: The “broken back” really comes from all the 10,000 bits of straw piling up. (See also: Not flossing.) So, a couple of suggestions:
1. Your muscles may recover 48 hours after a workout; but your tendons, ligaments, and cartilage take longer to recover from the same microtrauma.
2. “Dude, this exercise totally strengthens your joints!” No, no it really doesn’t. Likewise, some exercises are not recommended (e.g., dumbbell snatches; BB up-right rows; sit-ups; high-rep front-squats; anything involving the coat-rack/Smith machine).
3. The reason bars/dumbbells at high-end training facilities have revolving and thick-grip sleeves/handles is that they reduce the stress on the elbows and wrists. Likewise with other features (e.g., the shape of J-hooks; multi-angled bars) and machines. Ditch your concrete blocks on a stick and other Kmart/DIY equipment.
Also, here’s a basic test to see if you’ve been paying attention to your body’s health: Lie down, then have someone stand on your calves. Are you screaming in pain?
And stop doing CrossFit.
A lot of CrossFit gyms are not part of the problem, I agree. Main site WODs done by bandwagon jumpers are.
The brand is the problem, not individuals doing the right thing under the name of the brand.
Do you think the Games athletes are doing it? The head office would have you believe it, but good old fashioned iron work and some aerobic activity at a very high level is the name of the game, with sport-specific skill work thrown in. Recipe for success since forever.
I should specify, “at a high level” – of precision.
Cops are the worst offenders, and I can say that, being one. The lack of mandatory PT standards in most agencies means not only lessened performance on the job, but excessive sick time, disability leave/retirements and a statistically significant shortened life span. The SWAT studs don’t count, they don’t get there until the fun’s over, and the medics are cleaning up the mess.
Well put – short and to the point. Out of shape cops are an embarrassment to the rest of us.
As long as dept’s don’t have PT standards (or standards that anyone could pass), guess what you’ll have – out of shape LEOs. EO bullshit getting in the way of maintaining effective personnel.
EO’s a load of bullshit and it’s sad to see fat blobs struggling to get out of cruisers and breaking a sweat trying to take handcuffs out. If you can’t maintain a personal fitness routine for yourself to keep yourself in shape, then you can strap on an apron and be the department’s cleaning lady. Equal Opportunity has no place in jobs where fitness can be the difference between life and death and John Doe’s rolling up in his vic to the McD’s for his 2 Large Fry/Mac Combo.
Amen, amen. Being fit can not only save your life, but the life of another. It is just as important, if not more, than carrying and having adequate training. Basic hand to hand skills are important as well.
Valid points for sure. All those slamming on LEOs though, maybe if you lived the life for about a decade you’d have a better understanding of what leads up to looking like that.
Mandatory standards are not so much the issue. Law enforcement and the rigors of it chew people up and spit them out. There is approximately zero support system in place outside whatever the individual creates themselves. There are plenty of symptoms of unhealthy living besides being a big old fatty – many of those go hand in hand with law enforcement work.
Look on the bright side – the more overweight unhealthy cops there are out there, the lower public employee pension costs are.