Fitness Monday – The Power of Inspiration

tour-de-france-logoWhat inspires you to achieve more in your life, your career or with your level of fitness?

This 4th of July holiday provided great opportunities for family, fun, food and showing my siblings who’s boss. OK, actually I overate at a family BBQ, chased kiddo down at a Veteran’s celebration in the park, and blamed the mysterious disappearance of about 6 homemade brownies on my youngest niece. Yes, I was out of character but we all need a break sometimes.

As for exercise, it was another great week to include running, walking and cycling. Despite a month-long pinched nerve I call “getting older,” I found relief in the regular yoga class.

This regular training is also helping tolerate the heat, as our traditional dark navy uniforms offer little respite from south Louisiana’s sun.

Most fun this week has been the long evening walks with my kiddo, and his inspiration to bike ride after an afternoon of watching the Tour de France. I encourage you to… be the inspiration for others as you lead by example – both good and bad examples like I was this July 4th. I’ll tell my sister eventually who ate those 6 brownies, but for now, the kid had it coming!

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Week 19

Here’s to holding each other accountable when the couch looks inviting and the snacks endless.

Weight

– Don’t know. Still not worrying about these numbers.

Exercise

– 5 days of exercise this week by working in running instead of lunches at restaurants. I know the city’s sales tax base is suffering, but I have got to keep resisting every meal eating out.

– I have really appreciated the yoga. I even downloaded an app. Lets see how virtual instructor stacks up to my real one. Of course I have no plans of giving up the real class.

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– Ever really want to do something but just keep putting it off? I call that swimming. Maybe its the idea of squeezing into the Speedo jammers (those are the long ones, not the mankini style.)

Eating

– Long week with kiddo means lots of pizza and chicken nuggets. Hey! It’s summer time.

UNO Ring & BP

– BP has settled into a normal range and resting HR is low 50’s.

– The UNO ring slips on and off without hanging up on swollen knuckles or fat fingers.

 

Monday – Sunday Goals:

– 5 days of cycling.
– 2 yoga sessions.
– 3 morning run 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 advisor all ready to help.

Our CopsAlive Fitness recommendation is for you to harness the power of inspiration in order to be the best law enforcement professional, you can be. Just as we discussed last week with motivation, inspiration can be an elusive thing. First ask yourself: “what inspires me?” Sometimes the question is “who inspires me?” Then find a way to harness that inspiration to get the job done. As Scott suggested with his cycling he has been following the Tour De France which is on television almost every day and gives him the inspiration to get on his bike and ride.

So ask yourself “Who inspires me?” and then write down what about that person do you want to learn from and how can you be like them.

Also ask your self “Where do I get inspiration?” and then leverage that inspiration, like Scott does with his cycling, to push yourself harder.

Fitness does not come easy and finding the reasons to work out every day can be challenging even for the most dedicated. We encourage you to use every trick you can to help you do your fitness workouts every day.

If you done our Armor Your Self™ course then you know that we encourage you to do a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual workout every day to make your “self” strong and resilient in order to withstand the rigors of a career in law enforcement.

Tell us who or what inspires 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 see that she is also doing lots of running, rowing and cycling in preparation for the Nautica Malibu Triathlon on September 8 which is now only two months away. She Tweeted “18 mile bike ride with soninlaw Jeremy, then 30 min run with grandson JT.Thanks guys! Now to PuebloRes on the pontoon”

Keep up the good work Rae we are rooting for you!

Photo Credits:
Photos Courtesy of Scott Silverii

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 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!

About Scott Silverii

Scott Silverii, PhD is a native of south Louisiana’s Cajun Country and serving as the Chief of Police for the City of Thibodaux, Louisiana. Spending twenty-one previous years with a CALEA accredited Sheriff’s Office allowed opportunities for serving various capacities including 12 years undercover narcotics, 16 years SWAT and Criminal Division Commands. Chief Silverii earned a Master of Public Administration and a Doctorate in Urban Studies from the University of New Orleans. Areas of specialization include culture and organizational socialization. A member of IACP’s prestigious Research Advisory Committee, Chief Silverii is also the author of “A Darker Shade of Blue: From Public Servant to Professional Deviant.”
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