
The Cooper Institute has worked with fitness programs in law enforcement and public safety since 1976. Significant legal, scientific, program and policy changes have occurred over the years to provide new directions. Questions addressed in this two documents include topics that relate to fitness and job relatedness, fitness testing, fitness standards, scientific validity, legal issues, and fitness programming.
Common Questions Regarding Physical Fitness Tests, Standards, and Programs for Public Safety
Note: Click link to purchase our Physical Fitness Assessments and Norms booklet.
The Division of Education provides training to help establish fitness programs in law enforcement and public safety. Some of the courses that may align with your organization's interests include the following:
Fire ServiceThe Cooper Institute offers a Fire Service Fitness Specialist course just for the fire service communities! The Cooper Institute Fire Service Specialist Course aims to combat injuries and preventable deaths by teaching the necessary training in fitness leadership and technical skills.
The emphasis of this course focuses on anatomy, resistance and cardiovascular training, nutrition, and specific lectures on lower back health and the new NFPA fire standards: NFPA 1582 and NFPA 1583 are included. Participants also undergo individual fitness assessments and medical screenings.
The following courses may also have special applications within your fire service organization:
MilitaryThe Cooper Institute has long been recognized as a world leader in research-based physical fitness education and training. This has included a long-standing relationship with our armed forces in helping prepare military personnel to achieve their mission readiness physical fitness goals.
This relationship has led recently to the development of a new course specifically designed to promote effective leadership strategies in the implementation of circuit and interval training programs. These exercise systems utilize an easy-to-use template format and time-efficient approach designed to provide greater exercise benefits in a significantly shorter period of time.
The Military Exercise Leader course is designed to teach group leadership and exercise principles to enhance your unit PT program. It incorporates elements of exercise physiology, nutrition, group leadership skills, circuit training format, interval training, and walking mechanics – all focused on developing attentive and effective unit PT programs incorporating all fitness levels and environments.
The course will also provide guidance on developing programs to be held in-garrison or deployed, in or out of fitness centers, and with or without exercise equipment so that your unit and individual PT programs stay consistent with standards. Objectives of this course is to implement an efficient timed exercise system that will reduce exercise-related injuries, improve mechanics, increase adherence, and save large amounts of exercise time.
We currently provide a number of other educational and training opportunities on our campus as well as at off-site opportunities around the world for these organizations. Below are a few of the courses we teach that may suit your needs: