One mistake coaches commonly make in designing workouts for law enforcement is grouping everyone together. Certainly a detective has different physical requirements from a beat cop or a SWAT team member. That being said, strongman training has benefits for all of them.
From car pushes and prowler, to tire flipping and the farmer’s walk, strongman training builds functional strength like no other training. Some strength coaches consider strongman training the bridge between the weightroom and the athletic field because the physical qualities transfer directly to the field.
Variations of strongman training have already been adopted by law enforcement. At many police academies, recruits can be seen performing exercises such as dummy drags and hand-over-hand rope pull variations as a part of their training. Likewise, SWAT teams compete against other SWAT teams in yearly regional competitions.
During these competitions the teams are required to complete an obstacle course, typically a few miles in duration, in which tactical skills and physical abilities are meshed into one team workout. The teams’ tactical skills are displayed in tasks associated with their work, while their physical abilities are put to the test in a combination of endurance and modified strongman exercises. From tire flips and atlas stone carries, to lifting and hoisting awkward implements, these tests are truly a measure of physical capacity and mental toughness.
Five Strongman Exercises for Law Enforcement
One of the downfalls of strongman training is the potential for injury from using improper technique or excessive repetitions. As with any exercise, the risks are always there, but considering the high degree of working mechanical parts involved, particular care must be taken to ensure proper technical proficiency. In training, once technique breaks down, trainees must take adequate rest periods. Here are a few pointers:
· Find a PICP coach to teach proper technique and implement use.
· Undergo a structural balance evaluation prior to engaging in strongman training. Muscular imbalances, movement dysfunction and pre-existing injuries can be exacerbated with strongman training.
· For strongman exercises that have a vertical or compressive element, start light and ensure technical proficiency to minimize the risk of injury.
Tire Flip. Position your hands under the tire, wider apart than shoulder width, with arms extended or slightly bent. Rest the top of your chest and front part of your shoulders against the top edge of the tire, with your chin down on top of the tire. Position your feet under your hips or slightly behind, with hamstrings resting on calves and knees even with or just inside the elbows. The back remains in a neutral or slightly arched posture, with heels off the ground in the start position.
Begin the exercise by extending the hips, with your rigid torso creating a wedge between your legs and the tire, driving the tire forward and up. Once the bottom side of the tire is at hip height, extend at the hips and drive a knee forward and upward into the tire while pushing the tire up and over with your hands. Do not attempt to deadlift and then curl the tire. This is a recipe for disaster because the stress on the shoulders and elbow flexors can lead to a rupture of the biceps tendon.
Farmer’s Walk. Stand between two farmer carry handles in proper deadlift position, with hands equally distant from the edges of the hand grips. Holding a rigid neutral or spinal posture, deadlift the handles up to your sides. Begin carrying the handles for a set distance or time, maintaining control of your body and the handles. Along with its positive benefits on upper body strength, the farmer’s walk is an excellent tool for building strength in the vastus medialis oblique (VMO), as the foot strikes during walking provide tremendous eccentric overload of the VMO.
Sled Drag or Dummy Drag. There are many different methods of sled dragging, but for law enforcement purposes the backward sled or dummy drag is preferred. Two versions of the backward sled drag are the hips-extended and hips-bent versions. For the hips-extended version, face the sled and grab the sled handles. Lean your torso backward, with hips fully extended. The feet should be no wider than hip width apart. Keeping the hips extended and torso leaning back, begin taking small strides backward, focusing on driving through the ball of the foot for greater VMO muscle recruitment.
The hips-bent sled drag consists of the same setup, but the hips and knees are bent, with the upper thigh parallel to the floor and torso perpendicular to the floor with shoulder blades retracted. The upper thigh and relative torso position remain the same throughout the entire exercise. Without raising the butt or leaning forward, begin “moonwalking” backward, dragging one foot backward while completely extending the opposite side leg. The foot stride is very short, with the nonworking foot dragged back only until the toe is even with the opposite heel.
Hand-over-Hand Rope Pull: Attach a long rope to a dragging sled. Sit down with knees slightly bent, and hold the rope at the opposite end, and with feet anchored against a brace. Reach forward and begin pulling the rope hand over hand while extending your torso and hips backward. Maintaining your vision straight ahead, try to maintain a slightly rigid posture, creating an efficient rhythm between arm pull and torso/hip extension.
Keg Carries: This exercise can be performed with the elbow-bent technique or the arms-straight technique. The elbows-bent variation engages the elbow flexors more and can be done with more speed, while the arms-straight variation engages the abdominals more but is much slower due to the position of the keg relative to the trainee’s quads. Stand in front of a side-lying keg loaded with sand or water. Grab the ends and lift the keg with proper rigid neutral posture. Once the keg is at the arms-extended or arms-bent height, begin walking for a set distance or time.
Here is a sample modified strongman workout to get you started:
Exercise Distance Sets Tempo Rest
A1. Tire Flip 3-5 8 X0X0 10s
A2. Sled or Dummy Drag 30 yards 8 NA 90s
B1. Farmer’s Walk 20 yards 5 NA 30s
B2. Hand over Hand Rope Pull 25 yards 5 NA 90s
For more information on Modified Strongman Training, pick up a copy of
Applied Strongman Training for Sport. Then get started and get in shape for work!