School’s Out For Summer!!
While this means I still report for duty Monday morning, it does mean the kiddo is out for the next few months. How does this challenge the quest to become fit? Well, the hotter it becomes, the more kiddo seems to enjoy snacks inside while watching TV. Yes, I have been known to watch a few episodes of Barney while sharing snacks from his bowl.
This week, and the wonderful Memorial Day weekend was spent cycling through the open sugarcane fields lining my city. I’ve enjoyed returning to my bike. I’ve cycled for years and always found it a great way to shred pounds while allowing for the well-timed carb load!!
I’ve finally put my ego aside and begun attending regular yoga classes. WOW! what I have missed in the way of breath and balance control. The stretching will only help my cycling and the ability to hammer the pedals longer at a higher Heart Rate.
Week 14
Here’s to holding each other accountable when the couch looks inviting and the snacks endless.
Weight
– Don’t know. Seriously, didn’t even step on the scale.
Exercise
– Consistent days of longer distance cycling has allowed my body to ajust to the sore “seat”
– Mixed days of running, and even a day of running right after a bike. How I used to rush through the transition area during triathlons I’ll never know.
Eating
– moderation has become the key, but I have been back to the evening ice cream bonaza. Only not a pint at a time.
UNO Ring & BP
– BP stayed in the 130s range. Consistency.
– The UNO ring slips on and off without hanging up on swollen knuckles or fat fingers.
Monday – Sunday Goals:
– Three high-intensity cycling days with moderate to high sustained heart rate.
– two yoga sessions.
– bring lunches to work or prepared meal at home.
– Increase hydration.
How are your efforts going? Don’t just read this and dismiss it. Make a commitment today. You have peer support, CopsAlive.com expertise, and a champion fitness adviser all ready to help.
Our CopsAlive Fitness recommendation is that learn what balance is and what it means to your life, your career, your health and your fitness.
When we provide our Armor Your Self™ training seminars we talk about how to strengthen your “self” mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually and one of the overriding concepts of the seminar is the concept of “balance”.
Ask yourself “Is my life in balance?” The more important question might be what does a balanced life or career for you look like?
According to Dictionary.com several definitions of the word balance include:
bal·ance
[bal-uhns] Show IPA noun, verb, bal·anced, bal·anc·ing.
noun
1. a state of equilibrium or equipoise; equal distribution of weight, amount, etc.
2. something used to produce equilibrium; counterpoise.
3. mental steadiness or emotional stability; habit of calm behavior, judgment, etc.
4. a state of bodily equilibrium
So in our training program we ask if you are you balanced:
Mentally?
Physically?
Emotionally?
Spiritually?
Finding balance in all these areas is a fairly involved process and it does require your conscious effort. In Scott’s example this week he broke with cop macho tradition and tried yoga. He found as I have that it is a lot more difficult than it looks and as you get older it really helps with your overall flexibility (That’s another AYS key concept and we’ll talk about that in another article!).
If you have ever studied any martial art you know that many of the routines require you to find not only physical balance but also a mental one as well.
Try this exercise to develop physical balance: The next time you put on lace up shoes or boots do it standing on one leg. Put both your socks and shoes on and tie them while balancing on the other leg. How’s your balance? Could it use some improvement? This is something you can work into your normal daily habits to build and improve your physical balance.
How is your emotional balance?
Do you ever find yourself cussing and swearing at other drivers while you are off duty? Do you do it while on duty?
Try this exercise: The next time you catch yourself losing your cool, take a few deep breaths and repeat the phrase “I’m calm” or “I’m under control”. Practice this often enough and you will find that you don’t have as many outbursts to begin with.
You can learn more arousal control and other types of mental conditioning techniques in our recent article entitled “Train Like a U.S. Navy SEAL”.
Finally, how is your career/life balance? Do you work too much? Is there anyone in your life asking your to stop working so often or getting upset when you are away so much or called away at odd hours?
Balance is a choice like everything else in life and only you can define your priorities. If you haven’t taken the time to write out a life plan we would encourage you to do so. You can find a planning sheet and more information in our article: “As a Cop Are You Achieving Your Vision in Life or In Your Career?”. Click on the article name-link and use the worksheet you can download from that article to determine your priorities and then set a plan to maintain your balance between all the things in your life that demand your attention.
Tell us how else we can help you and leave us your comments in the boxes below.
As we have mentioned, in addition to Scott and Kim, we are also following Rae Timme and the CNN Fit Nation promotion. Rae is a 57 year-old mother of three and a 25 year corrections officer who now serves as the warden of a medium custody men’s prison for the Colorado Department of Corrections. Every year CNN selects iReporters to race in a triathlon with Dr. Sanjay Gupta and the Fit Nation team. This year we’re giving six lucky readers a road bike (with all the necessary accessories), a wet suit and a gym membership to help them prepare for the Nautica Malibu Triathlon on September 8.
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/fit.nation/
Rae said on the CNN site that she has read all the scary statistics about the mortality rates of people who work in corrections and found that they have the second highest mortality rate of any job; on average, a corrections officer’s 58th birthday will be their last. That motivated her to apply for the CNN Fit Nation team.
If you are following Rae’s twitter feed at twitter.com/TriHardRae you will learn that she swims 1 to 2 days a week, she doing a lot of running of 5-6 miles at a time and just completed the 32 mile Elephant Rock Bike Tour here in Colorado.
Keep up the good work Rae we are rooting for you!
Photo Credits:
“Rock Balancing” as Creative Commons by: Kingzoot on Flickr.com
EDITORS NOTE: Our Fitness Monday articles are an ongoing feature as CopsAlive.com follows Police Chief Scott Silverii, Ph.D. on his quest to lose weight and get into better shape, and Lt. Kim Lane as she prepares for the NPC Masters Nationals in Pittsburgh, PA. We are also keeping track of Warden Rae Timme with the Colorado Department of Corrections, a member of the CNN Fit Nation Team, as she prepares for the Nautica Malibu Triathlon on September 8. We all know that fitness is critical in law enforcement, but we don’t always do what we know is right. Over the next couple of months you can follow Scott, a Police Chief; Kim a Patrol Shift Commander; and Rae a Department of Corrections Warden, as they open up their lives to you. We invite you to also participate in any way that you choose to improve, your fitness and, your ability to survive a career in law enforcement. We also encourage you to support Scott and Rae with your comments, emails, Tweets and Facebook entries.
Follow Rae on Twitter at: @TriHardRae
Follow Scott on Twitter at: @ThibodauxChief
Please encourage them and let us know about your efforts at improving your fitness in the comment boxes below
CopsAlive.com is written to prompt discussions within our profession about the issues of law enforcement career survival. We invite you to share your opinions, ask questions and suggest topics for us in the Comment Box that is at the bottom of this article.
At The Law Enforcement Survival Institute (LESI) we train law enforcement officers to cope with stress and manage all the toxic effects and hidden dangers of a career in law enforcement.
Our “Armor Your Self™: How to Survive a Career in Law Enforcement” on-site training program is an eight hour, hands-on, “How to” seminar that helps police officers and other law enforcement professionals armor themselves physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually to survive their careers in police work. To learn more CLICK HERE
The concept of “True Blue Valor™” is where one law enforcement officer has to muster the courage to confront a peer who is slipping both professionally and personally and endangering themselves, their peers and the public. It takes a system of organizational support and professional leadership to support and foster the concept of courage and intervention. We will train your trainers to deliver this program to your agency.
To learn more CLICK HERE
Our “Armor Your Agency™: How to Create a Healthy and Supportive Law Enforcement Agency” Program includes critical strategies that you will need to build a system of support and encouragement for a healthy and productive agency. To learn more CLICK HERE
CLICK HERE to read more about The Law Enforcement Survival Institute.
CLICK HERE if you would like to contact us to learn more about training for your organization.
I’m John Marx, Founder of The Law Enforcement Survival Institute and the Editor of CopsAlive.com. Connect with me on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
CopsAlive.com was founded to provide information and strategies to help police officers successfully survive their careers. We help law enforcement officers and their agencies prepare for the risks that threaten their existence. Thank you for reading!
