Plank Owner

Please welcome back Recruit Sarah. In this entry she discusses the demands of physical training, especially when PT doubles as an incentive to improve. Conditioning can not only be important for dealing with the physical demands of the job, but can assist officers in dealing with the long term effects of stress.

 

“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” ~Winston Churchill

Chaos.

People are shouting all around me. Instructors are aggressively imploring the recruit class to “keep our butts down!” Fellow recruits (those that are actually able to breath at this point) are yelling encouragements: “It’s all in your mind!” “Push through!” “We can do this!”

Normally an encourager, I am not contributing much at this point. The muscles that control my ability to breath and speak concurrently, and the parts of my brain controlling same, are preoccupied with keeping my body parallel to the ground.

It’s Friday.

It’s 5:15 pm (1715 for all the recruits that mock me for not speaking in military time).

It’s raining.

The recruit class is proned out in a plank position in the Academy parking lot. We are being punished “motivated” by the steadfast, insistent Physical Training (PT) Instructors.

Most weeks of Academy include 2-3 sessions of PT. The classes are based on CrossFit® principles. Being an officer, our bodies must be honed for multi-functional (as opposed to singular, repetitious) movements. We might have to go from sitting for hours to an all out sprint across unpredictable landscape, scale fences and then be prepared to engage an uncooperative person bent on escape at all costs. Our fitness will be tied to possible life and death outcomes.

The PT Instructors are all current police officers. They live daily the challenges that I can only imagine. They chose to spend their time at the Academy to make us better, urging us to challenge our perceived limits. Each PT session is intentionally planned to ensure we are physically and mentally prepared to face the rigors of a career as a police agent. Do we occasionally need some extra “motivation” to get the point the PT staff is trying to drive home?

Most certainly. Case in Point:

It is Friday of Week 5:

- Already 15 minutes past the end of the workday

- Plank position

- Asphalt digging into my forearms

- Rain soaking my clothes (did I mention it was raining?)

- Ab muscles screaming at the exertion of resisting gravity

Why are we in this position? Not all of the recruits had completed the workout correctly. The PT instructors have been trying for weeks to send the message that we must be attentive to details (keeping track of all reps) and make sure we don’t cheat ourselves.

During a ten-second rest between planks, the recruit next to me drops to the pavement. “This sucks,” he mutters, gasping for breath. I can only smile. My response? “All you can control is your attitude, stay positive.” His facial expression clearly communicates this was not a welcomed comment. For me – reprimand PT is fun. Epic, even. Don’t ask why.

Yet, it is true. My locus of control during Academy starts with my attitude. Planks should suck! A lot. I normally hate planks. My body has no problem telling me it hates planks, too. But, with the right attitude, planks seem much more palatable.

Planks will forever invoke this memory of my muscles screaming, alongside the other recruits. Rain pelting my back and dripping down my face. It should have been an awful feeling. Instead, it was galvanizing and invigorating. Forty-four of us meeting an obstacle head on and surviving the motivational moment together. Perhaps this is a preview of what it will be like to work as a team with our future departments (hopefully without the need to plank…too much).

“If you are not enjoying the journey, you probably won't enjoy the destination.” ~Author Unknown