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Kinesiology students team up with police academy

June 7, 2010

Being physically fit has a different definition for police and other public safety officers than for the rest of us. That makes their fitness training especially important.

CSU Monterey Bay is working with Monterey Peninsula College's Law Enforcement Academy to improve the fitness level of students in the academy's six-month program.

The academy class that graduated in early June included police recruits, sheriff's deputies and park rangers. The 48 members of the class assembled on a recent Tuesday afternoon in the university's exercise physiology lab, where CSUMB students – under the direction of kinesiology professor Kent Adams – gave them a basic fitness assessment by checking their flexibility, body composition and blood pressure.

The recruits went through the same process at the beginning of their training; the comparison gave them an idea of how much their fitness level had improved.

"Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) dictates a regime of physical fitness and training as part of each recruit's course work," said John Darling, a retired Monterey County sheriff's deputy who works as an instructor at the academy.

"Their assessment results don't figure into their grade," Darling said while watching the CSUMB students do the testing. "It allows them to know if they lowered their body fat or lost weight."

CSUMB Police Commander Earl Lawson, an instructor at the academy, made the connection with Dr. Adams and the university's exercise physiology lab.

"This is a great opportunity for kinesiology students to get hands-on experience," Dr. Adams said. He added that the students – all members of the campus Exercise Science Club – volunteer their time.

Darling noted that the fitness level of firefighters and police officers is declining. He suggested that reflects what's going on in society. It's no secret that America is getting fatter. According to studies, one in five Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 – the prime recruiting age – is obese.

A recent story in USA Today reported that overweight and out-of-shape recruits for police, fire and emergency medical services are presenting increasing problems for agencies around the nation.

Harvard School of Public Health professor Stefanos Kales said no national studies on recruits exist, but in localized studies researchers "consistently find that among police and firefighters, generally three-quarters are overweight and that includes one-third who are obese."

In photo above, a CSUMB kinesiology major measures the flexibility of a student at the MPC Law Enforcement Academy. Photo by Don Porter