Relationships Between Physical Activity, General Health and Fitness, and Job-Specific Fitness in Law Enforcement Officers

Sedentary behaviors contribute to police officer fitness declines during their career, which may affect job performance. Physical activity (PA) could benefit general and job-specific fitness. This study derived relationships between PA and general and job-specific fitness in 60 officers (48 men, 12 women) from 1 law enforcement agency. Officers completed a questionnaire assessing PA (weekly strenuous, moderate, mild exercise sessions; activity score) and resistance training (RT) (resistance training frequency [RTF]; weekly sessions for 3 months [RT3M]; sessions in past 7 days [RT7D]). General fitness measures included resting heart rate (RHR), blood pressure, body composition, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), sit-and-reach, grip strength, push-ups, sit-ups, and the YMCA step test. Job-specific fitness tests included an obstacle course, body drag, climbing tasks, and 500-yard run. Partial correlations controlling for sex calculated relationships between PA and RT with general and job-specific fitness. The sample was quartile split using activity score and examined by univariate analyses. Strenuous PA sessions related to RHR, WHR, push-ups, and sit-ups; activity score related to RHR and sit-ups (r 5 60.27–0.36). Resistance training frequency related to RHR, WHR, push-ups, and sit-ups; RT3M related to RHR, push-ups, and sit-ups; RT7D related to push-ups and sit-ups (r 5 60.31–0.43). The top quartile had a lower RHR than the bottom quartile and greater sit-ups than the bottom 2 quartiles (p # 0.03). There were no significant results for PA and job-specific fitness. Strenuous PA related to lower RHR and WHR, and better muscular endurance. Resistance training frequency related to lower RHR and better muscular endurance. General PA may not be sufficient for training job-specific fitness.