2 Cops 1 Donut
We were asked “what exactly is the point of this show?”Answer: social media is an underutilized tool by police. Not just police, but firefighters, DA’s, nurses, military, ambulance, teachers; front liners. This show is designed to reveal the full potential of true communication through long discussion format. This will give a voice to these professions that often go unheard from those that do it. Furthermore, it’s designed to show authentic and genuine response; rather than the tiresome “look, cops petting puppies” approach. We are avoiding the sound bite narrative so the first responders and those associated can give fully articulated thought. The idea is the viewers both inside and outside these career fields can gain realistic and genuine perspective to make informed opinions on the content. Overall folks, we want to earn your respect, help create the change you want and need together through all channels of the criminal justice system and those that directly impact it. This comes from the heart with nothing but positive intentions. That is what this show is about. Disclaimer: The views shared by this podcast, the hosts, and/or the guests do not in anyway reflect their employer or the policies of their employer. Any views shared or content of this podcast is of their opinion and not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual or anyone or anything. 2 Cops 1 Donut is not responsible and does not verify for accuracy any of the information contained in the podcast series available for listening on this site or for watching shared on this site or others. The primary purpose of this podcast is to educate and inform. This podcast does not constitute medical or other professional advice or services.
2 Cops 1 Donut
Defying the Fat Cop Stereotype: A Conversation with Fit Responder Ted Stern
What if the greatest threat to a law enforcement officer isn't a violent suspect, but their own declining health? Ted Stern, former sheriff's deputy turned fitness coach, pulls back the curtain on the hidden crisis affecting police departments nationwide.
From his raw account of struggling with depression while overweight to transforming into a fitness advocate helping thousands of first responders, Ted's journey demonstrates how physical wellbeing directly impacts officer safety, effectiveness, and mental health. His candid revelation - "When I was fat I was the most depressed I've ever been" - offers a powerful glimpse into the mind-body connection that many officers neglect.
The conversation dives deep into practical approaches that work within the constraints of shift work and high-stress environments. Ted introduces the concept of "floor goals" versus "ceiling goals" - establishing minimum fitness standards officers should never fall below, while recognizing the challenges of their profession. He shares stories of suspects specifically targeting out-of-shape officers as "easy targets" while others backed down immediately when confronted with a physically imposing presence.
Most compelling is the discussion around why departments fail to prioritize fitness despite overwhelming evidence of its benefits. Ted reveals sending 1,300 emails to agencies offering fitness programs with virtually no response, highlighting the institutional barriers facing fitness initiatives in law enforcement.
Whether you're in law enforcement, another first responder role, or simply interested in the challenges facing those who protect our communities, this episode provides actionable insights on maintaining physical and mental health in high-stress professions. Follow Ted's work at @fit.responder or fitresponder.com to learn more about his mission to transform first responder health nationwide.
#police #lawenforcement #cops #bridgethegap #bethechange
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Coming up next on Two Cops, One Donut.
Speaker 2:I can speak from this firsthand. I've struggled with depression from early childhood. As long as I can remember. I mean I remember being nine thinking it'd probably be better off if I was dead. You know, I don't know, nine-year-olds think suicidal thoughts and stuff, but when I was fat I was the most depressed I've ever been. I literally was thinking about it. You know, like life sucks, everything sucks. Why been? I literally was thinking about it. You know, like life sucks, everything sucks. Why? Why even get in shape? Cause I just hate everything, hate myself and and it's a vicious cycle, right? Because that mindset makes it more difficult to to work on your fitness. And then, if you don't work on your fitness, you're not improving that and sometimes you just have to act in faith.
Speaker 1:Disclaimer welcome to Two Cops One Donut podcast. The views and opinions expressed by guests on the podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Two Cops One Donut, its host or affiliates. The podcast is intended for entertainment and informational purposes only. We do not endorse any guest's opinions or actions discussed during the show. Any content provided by guests is of their own volition and listeners are encouraged to form their own opinions. Furthermore, some content is graphic and has harsh language Viewer discretion advised and is intended for mature audiences. Two Cops One Donut and its host do not accept any liability for statements. All right, welcome back. I'm your host, eric Levine, and this is Two Cops One Donut podcast. With me today is Ted Stern, aka Fit Responder. You can find him on the Instagrams. You can find him probably on just about every social media, I believe.
Speaker 2:Pretty much. Yeah, I'm doing really well. Thanks for having me, Eric.
Speaker 1:Hey, not a problem, brother. We've we've talked, chatted a little bit on the, on the grams, and on LinkedIn, where I find that that's LinkedIn and Instagram are my two main platforms when it comes to just connecting with people and trying to find guests, and Ted and I are very like mindset when it comes to fitness in the first responder world, and I wanted to. You know, it's one thing when I say it, but it's a totally different thing when you got somebody that specializes in it and backing that up. So that's why I wanted to have you on here, ted. I'm excited, let's do it. I know, first, for those that just listened to this, if you're tuning in only on Apple or Spotify and you're listening, you have to take the time to go find him or at least watch some of the clips that we put out on this, because my man has a glorious mustache and it it would rival some firefighters for sure yeah, well, now I got the beard, so let's see.
Speaker 2:Let's see if I meant I might have to go back to the stash, because it's sort of like my calling card your signature yeah, it's like the mcdonald's m like people see, and they're like, oh, you're that, you're that. No, I'm not famous by any means, but I get a lot of people who go you're that fitness guy on on social media right For for cops, and it's because of that ridiculous mustache I think that. So I did my military training end of February into. March.
Speaker 1:Well, I had to shave my face and I do it for 24 days straight, so I'm still kind of pumping out some content and people are like who is this, who's this little boy that you hired? So it kind of gives me. You can see the grays coming through. Wisdom, yeah, yeah, wisdom, wisdom, yeah, it definitely makes me. I don't get it. I don't have any gray anywhere else but my beard I mean, I got grays coming in here too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, same thing. It just means we're, we have nice, uh, wise beards. I like that wise yeah I'll go with that too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, excellent. But sir, we we kind of have a standardized format of this show. I like people to get to know you and figure out where you're from and kind of why you got into law enforcement to begin with. First responder role, I'm actually assuming a lot. I don't know all of your background either. I don't know if you do EMS, fire and PD. Some people do a combo of all the stuff. So I'm assuming a lot of things here, but it's cool for the audience.
Speaker 1:One. It's going to give them a little buy-in on you, I believe, if your background is maybe something that they can resonate with. And everybody that got into law enforcement. It's funny. I tell this story often. I know my listeners are going to be like bro, you say this every time you mention it. But I do have a friend on my department who literally became a cop because his roommate became a wanted to go take the civil service test, so he went with him to take. It ends up being one of the best cops I've ever worked with. Shout out to whitton, so funny great, yeah, I'll tell my story.
Speaker 2:So, um, I come from southern california, uh, and I was not interested in law enforcement. Really, I loved watching the show Cops and I thought it looked like a cool job, but never thought about it until I had a girlfriend in college whose dad worked corrections but she always referred to him as a cop. So that kind of got me thinking like, would that be a cool career? I was on track to go to law school and then there was this incident in this cool career. I was on track to go to law school and then there was this incident in this party town that I was in. It's called Isla Vista, which is near Santa Barbara, california, and it's like parties all the time. It's always wild stuff happening on the streets. So there was a big fight that broke out and it was like mayhem there's. These guys were fighting a huge circle, there was a couch on fire and all of a sudden, all these cops show up and they just handle it like badasses and they were super calm and just, just, just, you know, taking names and telling people what to do, and I was like man, that's so cool how they come into this scene of chaos, make everything right very quickly and do it with professionalism, good execution. So that got me really thinking about like man, I think I could do this. Also the idea of going to law school, spending all of my saved money going to school for another three years. I'm like, yeah, this doesn't sound that great. So I figured, you know, I'll try the career. If I hate it I'll do something else. It's a job right. So you know, it's funny, though I didn't know this but my grandpa, my mom's side, was a sheriff's deputy and I had no idea for a period of time he was. So maybe it runs in the bloodline a little bit. So anyways, became a cop and for Ventura County Sheriff's in Southern California Great department. I worked a bunch of different assignments, from custody to patrol, to detectives, to the academy. You know different spots and I loved it. So I'll try to wrap up the story with how I came to do Fit Responder and retire from law enforcement.
Speaker 2:I snapped my ankle on the job. We were warming up for defensive tactics at the academy and we were. I was jump roping and I landed wrong and cool video, by the way, I can post that up. Yeah, it's on video snapping the ankle and I was so sad and depressed about it Went home, you know, and I was. I was laying on the couch with my foot elevated because it had this gnarly swelling and I just had this idea like man, I'm just going to work on fit responder more. So, for those that don't know, that's my online fitness coaching program for first responders.
Speaker 2:I was once an out of shape first responder myself. I was a fat cop with high blood pressure and when I made a great transformation, people noticed. So I started helping people, started coaching them. I was a personal trainer my background so it was easy for me. And when I was sidelined on the couch the injury I really focused more effort on fit responder and it was taken off. I mean it's a great business because when people get fit, they people ask, hey, how did you get fit? So it's like, oh, people become walking billboards for your business. And it was taken off and I loved it. I was making much more money than I was as a cop. I was having fun, I was helping people. I mean every client I dealt with was happy, whereas when you're a cop, you know a lot of people you deal with don't like you and you know a lot of situations you don't want to be in. So that's, that's how that came to be.
Speaker 2:I retired in 2021 because I just had a decision to make, like am I going to go back to work and just kind of, you know, one leg in, one leg out with fit responder, or should I do this full time? And you know, I think there's sometimes. You have these moments in life where there's a lot of things that might make it a difficult decision, but at the same time, in your heart, like in your gut, you're like I have to do this. And I just knew whether that was God or whether it was whatever I just said, I got to do this full time and I also had that same thought this doesn't work out, I'll go back to being a cop. You know they'll, they'll take me back. I was in good terms. I just promoted as well. Um, so I quit, uh and uh. I guess the rest is history.
Speaker 2:I moved to Utah now because, um, some of my wife's family lives out here and I'm like, wait, we don't have to live in Southern California anymore. I mean, I saved so much money out here in Utah. My goodness, it's just better kind of a culture, so to speak, than SoCal for the most part. I do miss the weather in SoCal, but everything else is better here. I got four kids. I have a beautiful wife who is also a sheriff's deputy. What else can I say, eric? Did I miss anything? Was that too long winded?
Speaker 1:No, this is like I said baby, this is all about you. So you did great. Now I've got some back questions though Law school what the hell? That's a weird jump it is.
Speaker 2:So I loved to debate. I love the idea of arguing with someone and winning, and I thought I would love that aspect about being a lawyer, getting in the courtroom, you know, kind of having that kind of a battle. But I realized a lot of the job. I wouldn't like, you know, I, when I talked to lawyers they're like, yeah, you know, it's a lot of book work, a lot of office work, it's a lot of reading, it's a lot of prep. I was like of office work, it's a lot of reading, it's a lot of prep. I was like I don't know and I couldn't really decide on what type of law I wanted to do. There is no way in hell I'd be a defense attorney, for obvious reasons. And yeah, so I you know at the time, like I said, the idea of not going back to school, saving. I had like $50,000 saved up. I'm like I could buy a house right now instead of spending this on law school and going into further debt.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, it made sense for me at the time.
Speaker 1:Now, as your experience as a cop and that you were looking at the law, does it surprise you how little of the law that we really know as a police officer?
Speaker 2:as a police officer. I was definitely surprised getting into the career because I felt like the academy was not good enough to get me trained up to be a cop. No offense to this training academy in Ventura County they're touted as one of the best. But that's what concerns me is that's one of the best, but we spent more time marching than we did on case law, right, you know? Um. So I don't know how things have changed, but, by the way, I went to the academy 15 years ago, so I I'm sure things are a little different now. But yeah, I mean, we don't, we don't know enough, we don't know, we're not trained enough.
Speaker 2:New cops on the street are not trained well enough in case law, in fitness and martial arts and all the things we need to be great at. Uh, it honestly surprises me how well cops tend to do for how poorly they are trained or not poorly, but like for how little they're trained, right, I mean, the training they get is good, but they just you go. You know what? When you're a surgeon, how long do you go to school, right, isn't it like eight years, I think? Yep, um, and then when you're a surgeon, though, most of the time you have time to think, time to plan other people you could bounce ideas off of. As a cop, you're supposed to make split second life-changing decisions. What after a few months in an Academy?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It blows my mind. It's insane, uh it, I mind it's insane, uh it, I think. Cops, if I could, if I could rule the world, I would have cops be one of a very highly paid profession. It would require way more work and and um education to to get that spot. So it would incentivize people who would have otherwise become doctors and lawyers, who want to make 200 grand a year Great, you can as a cop. Um, that'd be my ideal world. We'd have very smart, very capable badasses comprising the majority of law enforcement, because they'd be highly paid, highly trained. It wouldn't you know the old idea of oh I'll just get my diploma, my GED, and I'll become a cop, like no, that wouldn't exist in my world. So yeah, but that's me and, being an idealist, it's never going to happen.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I, I'm with you and I I'm one of those that I speak out quite a bit of problems that we have in policing and how we can fix them. Obviously, fitness is one and we'll get to that. But since you brought up law school, I thought that was a good window and segue to talk about just how surprising it is that we are. We're the jack of all, master of none. We touch on all of these things. We touch on the constitution, we touch on you know state law. You touch on local city ordinances and stuff like that, but we really don't. We focus on it enough to pass a test and then when you get out there, if you work at a department that doesn't get a lot of calls, you are at huge risk because how are you going to retain that If you don't use it? You lose it Right, right.
Speaker 1:And the laws and stuff that we have to know in the case laws that we have to keep up with, that, I hate to say it, a lot of officers don't.
Speaker 1:Um, I I try to make sure at all of my roll calls and now that I'm a Sergeant that I'm trying to mention case laws often as I can think of it or that I find out about new case law. So my guys, at least, are getting that stuff because you're right that you're out there just trying to try to survive, not getting civilly sued, not violating somebody's civil rights, making sure you're doing everything right. In the meantime, you learn how to be a cop like you're. You're you're in self-preservation mode, but at the same time you're learning how to do the job and it's insane to me that we don't pay these guys. And then you want them to be fitness buffs, then you want them to be MMA fighters that don't hurt people and you give them 40 hours of training for the week or for the year I apologize, for the year and you're like all right, we got our liability out of the way.
Speaker 2:It's nuts.
Speaker 1:And then hang them out to dry when they screw up during a fight or whatever.
Speaker 2:It is nuts, it's insane to me and I look back on it being, I think, 22 years old when I got out of the academy and, oh my gosh, I've done a lot of maturing since then. I mean, a lot of life experiences has been had and I'll tell you a story my first day on patrol without an FTO, so I was solo. I'm responding code three by myself to someone being held hostage at gunpoint, and I remember driving on this is insane, like I'm about to handle this. And yeah, there was a big case law question.
Speaker 2:When the incident's unfolding, the person who answered the door goes oh, that must have been my ex calling he's crazy. And we're like well, should we go in to check, can we? She's refusing, right, you can't come in here. And we're like whoa. So I'm sitting there with my buddy and we're like do we have the legal authority to say well, sorry, you're refusing, but we have to enter. Is this exigency? Is it right? So, yeah, that that's a real life example of being new on the job. Going, man, are we doing the right thing? You know, and I don't think I was trained well enough. I'm not necessarily was trained well enough. I'm not necessarily. Of course I could have done extra studying, let's say, and gotten myself better prepared, but we shouldn't have, you know, we shouldn't have that happen. We shouldn't have that uncertainty in a job, as you said, that's held to such a high standard, that's such a target of scrutiny and criticism and public spotlight.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's. It's insane how, how much training we need and we don't get.
Speaker 1:And then we haven't even gotten into the shift differences. So you for people listening, I want you to think about this. We give you all this training. Well, guess what time that training's put on? 8 am till 5 pm. You work midnights. You just got off shift. The only time that this mandatory training for you to go learn bullshit about. You know, cultural diversity or whatever it is that isn't going to help you in the field. If you don't have cultural diversity by the time you're out there, you're a lost cause. Out there, you're, you're a lost cause, uh, in my opinion. So here we are. You can only train 5 PM or 8 AM to 5 PM. You know, now you're sleep deprived. You going in, how much are you retaining? And then you go. You know, let's hope that's on your weekend. Now you had to go in. On your off day you had to go. Do that. Do you see where that cycle ends up? Going like we're torturing these guys. For you know what's the average? Maybe 45 grand a year. I I don't know how long was your academy, yeah, uh our academy was six months
Speaker 1:okay, six months is a pretty standard. There's some out there that are four months. Shoot, I've heard of some that are eight weeks because they're military cops or whatever. And I am a military cop. I can tell you right now we are not ready for civilian law enforcement out there and I'm a part of probably one of the better police career fields in the military security forces for the Air Force. They're very law enforcement oriented, just like the Navy, um army and Marines they're not as oriented they're. They're what they would call, you know, riflemen first or, uh, infantry first, um, not in the air force or quasi military, but um, yeah.
Speaker 1:So when we talk about the length of time, now the Academy that I'm at or my department is I think it's eight months, which is amazing, and we more than double the standard um regs of what the state requires for hours, so that it's really good. And going through that I saw like, oh my god, okay, training, super important. Because even when I got out here you said like having the confidence in some of the things, um, I wouldn't have got that in four months, I wouldn't have got maybe in six months. That's still condensing it. And then the other part that we screwed up and you and I probably went through the generation where everything was block style training. Um, what we do, what we do now, not, it's progressive training. And so for those listening, block style training is like all right, this week we're going over the constitution. Boom, take a test. Now, we're not touching the constitution again. Okay, now we're going to go over a penal code Boom, penal code, get it done for the week. Take a test Okay, cool, they're prepping you for the state exam so you can pass it, and that's about it. And then, once you get through there, you know you do your combatives training. Your combatives training is eight weeks and then you're like boom, we're done with that, we don't touch it again. That is shitty training. I like, I like the like.
Speaker 1:The process that my department does is it's eight months long, but it is. You do control tactics every single day. You're doing, if we teach you day one, health and fitness, health and wellness, I think that's what we actually. That's our first week. We want you to learn health and wellness at the beginning, because we're going to keep reaffirming it throughout the entire eight months. So that's when we, right at the beginning, we talk about sleep deprivation, what you know, not seeing the sun does to you what, um, your cortisol levels will do. I mean, this is at a police academy. You're learning fitness stuff that is crucial to knowing what to do to combat that so you don't become, you know, an energydrinking zombie on midnights that gains 30 pounds as soon as you get out there. So it's important, if you're out there and you know your academy is still block style, you need to get away from that and get into a progressive style. I'll give you another example.
Speaker 1:When we teach combatives, it starts from standing up like you're going to get in a fight. We teach you how to make a fist, we teach you how to make the stance, and then we get into throwing punches and strikes, and then this is the progression of a fight. Okay, they close the distance. Now you're grabbing onto each other. Okay, what do you do from here? Here's some takedowns you can do from standing All right, once they go to the ground. You know we're on the second month and now we're on the ground and we're teaching you guys how to handle yourself on the ground. Okay, we're on the ground and you got a moment to separate. Now you're back up on your feet. What do we do? Now? We transition to our Batman belt. Okay, let's get a taser, let's get some distance weapons, let's do all these things.
Speaker 1:So progressive training that starts at the beginning and it continues throughout the academy, because all that stuff that you learned at the beginning making the fist and and going and closing the distance and then taking somebody down you're going to be doing that and more each week. It keeps progressing down that line like it's a real fight. So it's, it's amazing. So for me, don't like the block training stuff. Guys, get that shit out of here. But when you got cut loose, sir, how, first off, how long were you a cop? 11 years, okay. So you did 11 years. What? What was the size? Roughly like the population size of your county, and then what was the size of your department?
Speaker 2:I could look up those stats. I honestly don't know. I think there was like 900 sworn deputies. I know he served five cities okay so you're bigger than that's.
Speaker 1:that's bigger than the national average for uh department for sure, um, so that's quite uh. What was did you do? Patrol, or were you? Hey, y'all, eric levine, two cops, one donut. I'm out here currently on my military time and I thought I'd take a second to kind of give a shout out to my sponsor, peregrine. I've roughly got about 18 years of law enforcement under my belt and I've seen a lot of really cool advancements in law enforcement. The biggest advancements in law enforcement, I think, are like fingerprints, dna testing and then, more recently I would say, license plate readers. Those things have all changed the game in law enforcement and now I think Peregrine is on that level. That's going to change it up. But I've had people ask me what is Peregrine, and I want to talk about that. Now there's a caveat to it. Peregrine is so in-depth. I'm only going to talk about one small feature that it's able to do, because I can't fit everything that they do in one little ad. All right, I'm going to take you on a little mental journey.
Speaker 1:So if you're law enforcement, you work for an agency. This is for you guys. So follow along with me. Imagine you're an investigator and you're working on a property crime. We'll say a property crime specifically like air conditioning thefts. That's a big one in Texas. You've had two cases this week alone and, typically speaking, unless you go talk to the other detectives that you work with, you're not going to know for at least a week or maybe a month or two that they also have AC thefts that are related to your thefts.
Speaker 1:In investigations there's like this internal gap of sharing information. Here's where Peregrine starts to flip things on its head, so to speak. Peregrine can sift through your reports and start to identify the detectives and the cases that match the similar MO to your cases that you're working, and it can bridge that information and present it to you in an easy to read package. Hold on, it gets better, I promise. Peregrine can scan your CAD calls for related incidents and can even comb through suspect history in your report writing system. Like RMS, it's able to match possible suspects based on the MO and the geographical locations.
Speaker 1:Oh wait, the rabbit hole goes deeper. If you've got a suspect name, peregrine has the ability to analyze your stored body cam videos and search for that suspect's name and find videos of them to give you the most up-to-date contacts with that suspect. And what's great about that? As an investigator, you know your body cam has the ability to geolocate, so you can see the latest locations, specifically where your suspect was last seen. This is just the tip of the iceberg, and all I wanted to do with it is tease you guys enough just to seek out more information. So please reach out to me personally, dm me, or reach out to Peregrineio and just tell them that Eric Levine from Two Cops, one Donut sent you. I don't endorse things I don't believe in and I would stake my reputation on their product. Please check them out, because I know it's going to change law enforcement.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I did a bunch of different assignments. They start you in the jail with the Ventura County Sheriff's Office and then I went to patrol. I worked in Thousand Oaks. I worked overtime, though, at all of our different stations and then did different things, like I was on the marijuana eradication team where cartels were growing you know grows out there in the hills and causing havoc in the environment, and so we would clean those up. And then, let's see, I was a detective. I worked different types of cases there, I got promoted and I went back to the academy as one of the coordinators there and helping with the training and stuff. Um, I'm not sure if I'm missing any other assignments. Okay, I recall, yeah, okay it's interesting.
Speaker 1:You bring up those, the cartels growing um stuff in our country and I've seen specials and some training videos on that and if I don't want to overstep because I this is just from what I've seen, you've seen it personally but when you're saying that they're messing up the environment, they were literally like reverting um the creeks and stuff like that. They were digging up land, they were dropping um chemicals all over uh in the middle of like national wildlife and all that stuff, correct.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and sometimes when I mentioned that assignment, I think people kind of roll their eyes because now marijuana is looked at as pretty innocuous, it's legal in a lot of ways in a lot of states. So people are like, really, you guys have this team to go out and cut some plants down. But you're right, the real bigger kind of problem, at least in my mind, is not kids getting stoned on pot, it was. They were diverting entire streams of water, that's, feeding the different plants and animals down the mountain. They're diverting it all to their grow and using different pesticides, and they also oftentimes had guards with guns there.
Speaker 2:So if you're a family going on a hike and wander the wrong direction, uh, that could be dangerous. So, yeah, I think it was a worthy cause. We would try to surprise them and actually a couple of times there would still be dudes there and, you know, chase them down and arrest them. Um, a lot of time though, they would hear the helicopter coming and get out of there. But uh, yeah, that was a fun assignment. They'd drop us in on a helicopter.
Speaker 1:We see if we can catch them or, and if not, we're just spending the day with a machete hacking down a lot of weed okay, nice, um, yeah, that would be fun, that would be interesting, because I you're right, I did see some in the training videos that we saw that they had armed people out in the middle of. You know, as a person that serves in the military, knowing that I've got cartel members in my country doing that, you know messing up my environment and stuff like that that pisses me off so bad. So, you're right, it isn't just about the weed, it's about the environment and stuff like that. Right, because I want a cool place to hike you know, yeah, you don't want.
Speaker 2:You know the the wildlife getting messed with and, yeah, the pollution from the pesticides. Who knows right?
Speaker 1:yeah, it's, it's definitely a ripple effect. It's when, when you talk about, it's not just the wheat, it's a ripple effect. People get killed, environment getting messed up, wildlife, you know, dropping, and that goes on, for that's going to take a long time to fix in that area. So, yep, yep, all right, sir. Now, in this, what was your? You did a lot of different assignments. What was your specialty before you jumped out, like, what was your, your favorite thing out of all of that and how did you get into it? Oh, that's a good question.
Speaker 2:You know, I mean personally, I would say my, my specialty which wasn't exactly an assignment there, was helping my coworkers getting fit, and that's kind of how Fit Responder was born is. A lot of people noticed my transformation. They saw I was doing bodybuilding shows eventually, even with four kids and working full time. So a lot of my partners are like, man, I'm out of shape, help me out, and so that's what I loved and enjoyed and that's kind of why I thought why don't I just make this my career, like you know, full-time.
Speaker 2:As far as like official duties as a detective, I was pretty good at writing paper. I was quick, I could write a report super fast. So they, they had me do a lot of search warrants, okay. So I wrote lots of search warrants, um, and sometimes live where they're like, ok, we tracked them, we're outside the building, hurry up, get that search warrant done so we can get in there. So, yeah, I would say this is. It became my sort of official specialty as a detective. Well, official, unofficial, because I just was quick and good at it and wouldn't wouldn't complain, and I know a lot of people don't like writing paper.
Speaker 1:so gotcha, let's dive. Let's dive into the, the birth of the, the first responder, not not the business, but in police work. So you, what were you noticing what? Obviously, you noticed something about yourself. You right, I gotta change my lifestyle, but but before that, like as as that idea was coming to birth about yourself, what were you noticing with the career field?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, there was always, always that stereotype of the fat cop, right, or just the fat first responder in general, and I always thought, man, I would never do that, I'm a fit guy, I would never become that, you know. And I I just honestly thought it was disgusting how often you'd see people who are just grotesquely overweight. And, yeah, I ended up getting out of shape myself, working nights, working in custody. About three years into the career I gained about 40 pounds and I thought that, you know, I'm still, I'm getting strong, I'm working out, I'm bulking, you know. But I had a belly and I had high blood pressure. And, um, I got comments from some of my coworkers oh, ted, you're getting a little thick man. And then even inmates. A couple of inmates called me fatty and that's when I knew I was like, wait, I'm being perceived, yeah, I'm like, dang it, I'm being perceived as a fat guy. Um, in fact, one guy was like what are you going to do about it Fatty? And I was like, ooh, that was a gut check, right, like literally and figuratively.
Speaker 2:So, uh, you know, one time I got my blood pressure checked by a nurse in the jail. She's like oh, one, 60 over a hundred. You should check that out. And I was like, oh, that's crazy. I was 24 years old too, like I shouldn't have been that out of shape, um, and I went to the doctor and I don't know what I expected. But he said, okay, here's your prescription for high blood pressure. Like here's, here's your pill, like you know. And I'm like that's it. And he's like, yeah, like what else would you want me to do, you know? Like he was telling me how to get rid of this. Yeah, doctors don't do that, they don't. Yeah, he was like it's okay, it's your genetics, right. You were telling me your mom, your mom's side of the family, has high blood pressure. It's genetic, right. And I'll say this about genetics yes, there are some people who weigh 350 pounds and they don't have high blood pressure. There are some people who are thin and they do. However, we can all still work to improve that.
Speaker 2:Just because you have a genetic disposition doesn't mean that you're doomed that way. Maybe you have a genetic disposition to be fat. That doesn't mean you have to be fat. Maybe you just have to work harder or be a little bit more cautious than others. So, without going down that tangent, that's when I realized, man, I got to do something. So I took it upon myself. I threw that prescription in the trash can before I walked out that door, legitimately, before I left his office. I threw it in the trash because I'm getting healthy. So I struggled.
Speaker 2:You know, I had a fitness coach at the time who was more of a bodybuilder and he was like, okay, I need you to eat every two hours and it's chicken and broccoli and seven almonds. And you know he wasn't understanding when I'd say things which actually happened, like, hey, I was on a traffic collision for like seven hours and I missed two of those meals and I can't work out today Like I haven't even slept. And he would, you know, oh, you must not want this. Bad enough to you, you're, you're, you're making excuses.
Speaker 2:And that's actually how fit responder the idea came to be because I said what if there was actually a coach that knew what first responders go through, understood the stress, the hours, the shift work, juggling the family life, all the things, and tried to make a process that someone could actually stick to rather than just say, like most fitness coaches do hey, this is my process, take it or leave it. If you don't take it, it must mean you don't want it enough. So that bad fitness coach I had was actually helpful because it got me it got me into the right frame of mind that you know there needs to be somebody who specializes this and and can solve it from from the perspective of somebody who's compassionate and understanding of uh first responders. So, yeah, um, that's uh you know, part of of the the background of how fit responder got started that's brilliant, because one of the things that we lack in law enforcement is options.
Speaker 1:You get too many people are like here's the program we have, do it. And you're like, bro, I've my shoulder got knocked out of the socket like two years ago. I can't use the shoulder to do a lot of this stuff. Is there anything you can do to help me? Well, I'm only trained in this, this is what I got. You got to have options and you got to have trainers that know how to work around injury and work around limitations, and that's one of the things that me.
Speaker 1:I'm big into jujitsu and been into combatives for a long time and I learned as an instructor. I can't. I can't keep telling people well, you just can't do this move, you're too fat, you can't do this move, you're too short, you can't do this move. You know you're missing a hand. Uh, I'm just making up that. John Jacques Machado is a very famous black belt instructor. He's literally got a birth defect, one of his hands is a stump and he's one of the best jujitsu practitioners in the world, actually developed no-gi jujitsu.
Speaker 1:Anyways, I get off my pedestal there. That is crucial and I, like I, can already see where your mind was going on that You're like well, here I am being told this is the only way to do things, and you know that's not true. Now you got to take what you know about the career field and adapt that to fitness programs. So that's kind of fun. That would be fun in my opinion. Fitness programs so that's kind of fun. That would be fun in my opinion.
Speaker 1:But I'm a glutton for punishment. But your understanding of shift and how the job goes is going to make a big difference for your market and what you're doing now. So if you're listening to this, guys, think about that next time you decide to get a fitness coach. I would rather have somebody that understands the job and does the job, um, versus somebody that doesn't know what we do. So that's pretty cool. So as you get this going, you develop the idea. Now. Now you got to put it into into work. So you started the bodybuilding thing and you said you bodybuild for a little bit. So did you stick with that guy?
Speaker 2:oh no, well, no, well, no, as soon as my bodybuilding I, I, I. Well, as soon as I really started getting serious about bodybuilding, I wasn't working with that guy anymore. I won't drop his name just because I'm being mean, but, um, you know, I've had a bunch of different fitness coaches because I enjoy learning a new perspective. It's nice to have accountability and, frankly, every professional athlete in the world has a coach. So, you know, I never thought, well, I know everything. I'm a personal trainer, I've gotten myself fit, I've, you know, I've learned a lot. I don't need to learn anymore. I still learn, even to this day, from other fitness coaches and other perspectives. Right, but, yeah, I got.
Speaker 2:I got into bodybuilding because my wife has done a bodybuilding show and she's done a few now. So she got me interested in that and she's like you could do it. You know you, you could do it. And she taught me actually a lot about fitness and was a huge part of fit responder because she had a different kind of approach to nutrition. That's a little unique, um. So, yeah, uh, bodybuilding was more not like I wanted to be a pro. I had no aspirations of it. Plus, as a cop, you're not really allowed to use steroids, which to be a good bodybuilder, you have to, unless you're doing natural shows. So you know I was on legal testosterone. You know doctor prescribed TRT, but we could talk about that if you want.
Speaker 2:But, uh, so bodybuilding was more just like a challenge, like hey can't, what can I achieve? Maybe I can get like peak condition, take some photos, you know, share them with my grandkids one day and and it is a cool challenge it's very hard, like when you are 5% body fat and you are fricking hungry and you have to go do an hour and a half of cardio. Like it is a great discipline builder. Um, I don't know if I want to do a show again, because it's not, it's not healthy, particularly Uh, you know there's no health reasons to get that low, like that depleted in body fat and um it it like the month before the show, it's, it's painful, like I don't sleep well, I'm irritable, it's, it's bad.
Speaker 2:So I, but I did that and I think going through that while working, while having the kids, all the challenges I've been through is what attracts a lot of my clients, cause they're like, okay, you get it, you're, you've been a first responder and a busy dad and you've done the things and you achieved a pretty good level of fitness with all that going on. So you know, give me some tips. So that's yeah, I'm. I'm still glad I did the bodybuilding. My wife aspires to do more shows. I don't think I wanted it. The juice is not worth the squeeze. Personal.
Speaker 1:It may help the business when they see like, oh look, he did this. I could see that, but I would say nine out of 10 cops, that's not their goal and they'll say that They'll be like I don't want to get as shredded as you.
Speaker 2:I'm like, don't worry, you won't do that on accident. No, that's not going to accidentally happen. But I think they're trying to say like, look, don't give me a plan that's going to be that hard. I think that's what they're really trying to say. But yeah, don't worry, I mean to get in good shape, to get fit. Most of my clients are working out, you know, three times a week, 30 minutes, eating normal food. I mean to get to get in decent shape where you look good, you feel good, you're healthy. That's not that that challenging If you do it the right way. If you're doing it the wrong way, it can be very challenging. So I hear lots of my clients say, oh, I already know what to do, I've done, I've done everything. And then they proceed to tell me a bunch of silly things. It is really a waste of time and energy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and okay, I'll give you guys a personal example. I am, four years ago, shredded head. I was built exactly how I wanted to be built. Life changed. I you know promotions, working different shift. I didn't have the time to put into it like I did when I got that way. And here I am, 42. And I was like you know what? I want to get back to that.
Speaker 1:So I had made a plan, I don't know a year and a half ago, and I was that's. I just followed the same prescription I had given myself when I did it the last time. Well, guess what folks? Um, at 42, that lifestyle no longer works for me. That worked. Then I did the same exact stuff and I'm yes, I'm fit and I'm healthy. Don't get me wrong. Go run three miles right now, no problem. That's great, that is being healthy. I'm a healthy person, but I don't have the desired look I would like, and that's just because of my age.
Speaker 1:Things have slowed down and changed, so I had to reach out to a friend that is around the same age and ask him for advice, because he does kind of the same thing that you do or you did for the department. He's a what we call a fitness ambassador. So I reached out to my buddy, went to the academy and I goes hey, dude, I'm, I don't know what's going on. I was like I just I don't have it anymore. It was like all my times I've slowed down, you know, just naturally. Uh, I don't run as fast as I used to. The heart and the mind are still there, but the body's just like no, we, we don't have it anymore. So I'm like all right, what do I do? Cause I am struggle bus over here and he's like well, let's take a look at what you're doing. And so he looked at that and, um, he broke it down.
Speaker 1:And the thing that I like when, when office, I think what helps officers a lot is the education behind it, when they understand why they're doing what they're doing and you can explain that to them. You've just sold a cop because now he gets it versus. Here's your mission. Go do that. That's kind of how we're driven as cops. But when it comes to ourselves, I got to know why. I got to know what's. What's the logic and reason behind what I'm doing. Is that something that Fit Responder does? Oh, 100 percent that's.
Speaker 2:And I always tell clients like, please ask all the questions because this is an educational thing. And my most recent fitness coach for a bodybuilding show in 2022 was the opposite, when I'd say hey, man, last time you wanted me to get lower in body fat, you had me up my cardio. This time you're telling me to decrease my food. How do you decide between the two? And he goes well, I'm not here to educate you, I'm here to coach you.
Speaker 2:Dude is a dumb ass. I mean, well, okay, not dumb ass, he's just a jerk. Okay, so he's a guy who's, who's trained a ton of bodybuilders, so he's got a lot of credibility. But you know no bedside manners, so to speak. I mean, I've heard from many people they're like this guy is such a crappy coach Cause he's not a coach. He'll just tell you hey, I'm here to tell you what to do. I'm not here to get have you educated? And I think he said something to the effect of go get an education or take a class, if that's what you want. I'm here to tell you what to do. And anytime I'd ask him hey, why are we doing this, or why do that, or what's the purpose behind that? He would think he would take it personally like I'm doubting him. I train coaches. I create or excuse me I train pros. I create pro bodybuilders. Why are you questioning me, dude? I'm sure it's good advice. I just want to know the reason why behind it, like I'm not doubting you, man, we have this conversation so many times.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, like, my favorite thing is when a client asks hey, man, you know, you told me to use this type of bread as opposed to that one or this. This is why, yeah, I love that, because I'm like, clearly you take an interest in this and you want to improve yourself and your knowledge. Now it's my, my wonderful privilege to to give you that, that knowledge, so that you can do this yourself and succeed long-term and teach other people, yeah, you know. So, yeah, that I mean it's. What's great, though, is the bad coaches I've had have really helped me learn what really makes a good coach you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and again, when I understand the why behind what I'm doing, my buy-in is all there, like you've got me and for me, one of the things I was screwing up on for people in their 40ies Now, um, I'm used to running pretty hard, like I. You know, if I go do three miles, almost every time I run three miles it's like I got to do better than I did the last time. I got to do better than I did the last time I wasn't training myself, I wasn't getting the, you know, zone two or three, heart rate versus state. You know, staying in that as a steady pace versus I was always in like zone five. And so, as you guys start to learn these things and understanding what the different zones can do for your body and all these different things, like they all compliment each other and well, if you're only staying in one range, well you're only going to get one type of result. So I'm sure my heart's super healthy and strong, but I've got to slow.
Speaker 1:I got to slow my roll and that's what we're doing right now is, um, some, some uh, zone two training at the beginning and end of my workouts and, um, you know, a lot more lifting versus um. You know, I, um, was pretty big into the kettlebells and stuff like that all the time, so I was always keeping my heart rate just jacked and wasn't helping me, wasn't for my goals, we'll put it that way Wasn't helping me for my goals, which it used to. It used to be great, you know cause I could eat whatever I wanted and still get the results I wanted.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and what you're reminding me of a lot of misconceptions that people have around fitness, like, maybe a misconception is like it's not a workout unless I'm my heart rate's like you know, crazy and I'm sweating like crazy, right, and maybe that was. Maybe I don't know if it was that was your opinion at some point or if that's just how you thought you're going to get.
Speaker 1:It was for a long time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you thought that would get you the best results, right. And I hear stuff from clients all the time like, well, I'm not sore, so is it not working. Or like I'm way sore, so I shouldn't do that again. And it's like not, well, no, let's talk about this. So there's a. I think, yeah, I think a lot of us could learn a lot. Like I'm still a student, I mean, I know a hell of a lot about fitness, but there is so much to learn. And just because, as you mentioned earlier, just because something worked for you in the past doesn't mean you should repeat it again, or that that's the optimal way to to get results this time Right. So, yeah, that's one of my favorite things about coaching. Um, I mean, my favorite thing for sure is just when I when gratitude, when people talk about how it's changed their life and how fitness has helped them be a safer cop, better firefighter, better husband, better wife, better parent, safer cop, better firefighter, better husband, better wife, better parent. That's my favorite thing.
Speaker 2:But, yeah, pretty high up there is also when people get that aha moment. They're like, oh, okay, so, yeah, so I shouldn't be running as much as I am right now. No, you shouldn't. Right Like I've had overweight guys go, yeah, I mean I've been running every day but my feet are killing me and I'm like you're too heavy to be running long distance. My man, let's not run at all until you lose that weight. And they're like what, don't run at all. I'm like, yeah, no running period until you are not 50 pounds overweight. They're like, oh, really. Like so, yeah, like I love those aha moments, cause I know I'm like cool, they're going to take something big that's going to help them for the rest of their life.
Speaker 1:Now, yeah, yeah, I agree. And with that I want to kind of get into for cops listening out there, cause there's going to be a lot of cops that listen to this. Um, how and why do we start to fall apart? Let's kind of go down that path first as cops, so they can start seeing the signs and symptoms to get ahead of it, because we all are susceptible to it. I myself had fallen victim to it, but I knew it. I was like all right, if I get to this point, I'm going to step it up, and I did, and I'm disciplined enough for that. But there's some people that they don't recognize it and then they get further behind than they want. Then they're too depressed to get started. So I kind of want to go into, like, the signs and symptoms and how you would suggest to get going.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a great question. It's like at what point are you reaching rock bottom, so to speak, and decide okay, now it's time to change. And unfortunately that is subjective. It's different for everyone, right? I've had people who are just, maybe they've gained 10 pounds and they're like I am disgusted with myself. This needs to end now. I've also talked to people who are 300 pounds on a fistful of medications and they're like I still got it, I'm not the worst on my department, and you know. And they're basically delusional and everything in between, right, and you know, and they're basically delusional and everything in between, right.
Speaker 2:So, of course, I think law enforcement in general could do a better job at setting a standard, right, like hey, this is the annual fitness test we all need to pass. That could be one reminder of oh man, I'm out of shape, because I think a lot of people refer to the past. They think about the last time they were in a fight or a foot pursuit, or how they used to be able to perform, and they don't know that they're way worse off now. So, as far as the factors that lead to somebody getting out of shape, as a first responder, there's many, right. I mean, typically it's the hours, the shift work, the stress. Your hormones are certainly out of whack. Your stress hormones, you know, juggling family life and the culture amongst first responders tends to suck. When it comes to fitness, it's like all right, let's, yeah, let's, let's do some some dip and let's go out to eat at this crappy restaurant, get the free fast food and just slam caffeine all day long. It's not you know the bad. Let's do a pizza party and a donut party. I mean, in detectives we had donuts a couple of times a week up there, easily, I mean. So there's a lot of factors that lead up to it.
Speaker 2:So we all need to have some kind of a standard, and what I talk about with my clients is I call them floor goals and ceiling goals. So ceiling goals is when you're crushing it. You're like I'm I'm hitting everything that I want to do, I'm in the shape I want to be in, I'm operating on my highest level. Floor goals is like what do I accept as my minimum standard? Okay, so we need to have floor goals for both, I think, our routine and ourselves as far as, like our physical abilities. I mean you could have floor goals and ceiling goals for your finances, for anything else, but let's stick with fitness, right?
Speaker 2:So floor goals would be like let's say this hey, no matter what, I'm going to at least work out twice a week and no matter what, I need to be able to run a mile, no matter what, I need to be able to do 10 pushups, right. So I'd love to set these floor goal kind of standards with clients, because then it's like, hey, you're going to get thrown off by all kinds of crap overtime, shifts and injuries and whatever else but family responsibilities. But we need to say to ourselves I will never allow myself to get below my floor goals and let's keep them simple and something that we know we can realistically do. You know, for some clients I'm like is that going on a 10 minute walk every day? Is that, I mean, at minimum, can we do that? Yeah, okay, we can do that, great. So I think when you set the bar and you set some standards for yourself, then we can actually have sort of a test to say am I falling behind here? Am I falling behind too much? You know and again, that's subjective for everyone, right? For, like a top level athlete, their floor goals may look more like a common person's ceiling goals right. Their basics of what they need to get done might be like an extreme challenge to the common folks. So we all need to take a look at ourselves, both in our personal and professional life, and say what is the standard I'm okay with meeting, minimally right.
Speaker 2:As a first responder, I mean I can suggest some floor goals. Maybe that is being able to run a half a mile without getting completely winded. Maybe that's being able to do a pull-up. Maybe that's being able to do 10 pushups. Maybe that's being able to do 10 push-ups. Maybe that's being able to do, uh, 50 unbroken, uh, body weight squats, just like air squats, right? Um, that I mean. I'm not saying that has to be your, your floor goals, but that could hopefully help.
Speaker 2:Some of the listeners here think, yeah, what, what are sort of the minimum standards I should be able to do and go test it. You think you're awesome, that adrenaline's going to help you rise to the occasion whenever. Go to the gym and just do yourself a favor go get on a treadmill, sprint for two minutes straight, do 20 pushups and then go punch a bag for two minutes and see if you last. I bet you 95% of first responders couldn't do that, that test. I just said go sprint for, let's say, one minute, do 20 push and go punch a bag with fury for two minutes. I bet you most will gas out in that four-minute stretch, let's say. But that might simulate something you're going to have to do a fight, a foot pursuit, a saving your partners, rescuing some kind of a victim from something. But yeah, hopefully that made sense with the floor goals and ceiling goals and kind of setting that standard.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. I'm actually going to make a clip out of that. So, thank you. Now, as officers get going in their career, especially new officers, I think they're the most, one of the most, susceptible to. You know, midnight's has more of the fun. Let's just put that out there. That's my impression anyway. So when you're on Midnight's now you're fighting nature. You're really fighting the way that we're built. You're built to be in the sun, but as a guy that's been a cop, you know 18 years, the majority of that's been on midnights, because I love it, I think it's fun. However, it wreaks havoc on your life and you've got to know how to combat that.
Speaker 1:So I'll tell you what my idea was, growing in policing, when I first heard about kettlebells what a kettlebell was. A lot of gyms doesn't have them. Especially early in my career, I think Rogan kind of brought them to the forefront and now kettlebells are everywhere. But learning about kettlebells, I was like, oh man, I can put one of these in the car. You know I can. I can strap that bad boy down or throw it somewhere in the car and then when I got downtime, I can knock out 25 kettlebell swings. You know, um, or or you know there's a bunch of different inverted lifts or whatever all the different things you could do with a kettlebell. You could do with a kettlebell and I would pack my own food. Those are the two big things.
Speaker 1:That, for midnights, for me was a game changer, because you start looking at your options. You got 7-Eleven. You got, you know, a couple of fast food places that would stay open 24 hours. Those are not good options. And a lot of 7-Elevens. For the longest time they didn't even have healthy options. You got the pizzas that's been rotating all day and maybe some of those taquitos and a hot dog. Like I don't want any of that stuff. So for you newer officers out there, get. My advice is get in the habit of packing your own lunch, bringing something or, you know, just depends on where you work. Where I work, there's a lot of healthy options. We got a tom thumb right down the so I can go grab a rotisserie chicken every day if I wanted to. I love rotisserie chickens, it's. It's a good, good meal to have a lot of good essential fats in that bad boy. I eat the skin too, so sue me.
Speaker 2:I like it too. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So, um, yeah, that that's one of the things is figuring out what to do. And another thing that you're talking about floor goals and ceiling goals. I had a game that I learned in the military called tops and bottoms, and no, it's not what you're thinking, you're just perverts. Top of the hour, you do 25 push-ups. Bottom of the hour, you do 25 sit-ups. You know you're always doing something assuming the schedule works, that you can do it because you could be on a call and your job is just sitting perimeter. Well, I can knock out 25 air squats while I'm sitting there watching a perimeter. It's not gonna hurt nothing. So it's just using the time while you have it, always doing little things that that add up in the long run. So, um, but for you you're the pro, I'm not. I'm. I'm wanting to hear what you've got to say. What advice are you giving these guys that get stuck on midnights, and can you kind of give them a little background about exactly what not seeing the sun does to them, if you've got that training?
Speaker 2:yeah, no, absolutely. I mean, I mean we're. We have this circadian rhythm that is meant for sleeping at night and being awake during the daytime. I mean, it's very obvious. I don't think I have to argue that point. But you know, there's also the lack of the vitamin D and the.
Speaker 2:I think some of the advice that you gave is really good, especially bringing your own food every day. I brought my food every day to work for all 11 years, no matter what my assignment was. That's probably the biggest thing you can do, right, so you can eliminate oh, I've had nothing else to eat. I had to go to Jack in the Box. I had to go to 7-Eleven, like no, you don't have to, and even such, though there's decent options there, right. Like you can get a protein bar, you can get some beef jerky, you can drink water. It doesn't have to be a monster energy drink, right. So, yeah, there's some of those tips. I mean I was on nights for a long time, like almost half of my career.
Speaker 2:I think we could also do a way better job with our sleep routine, so optimizing the sleep you get. A lot of first responders are like oh well, you know, my hours suck and my shift sucks. So therefore, my sleep's just gonna suck like sure, but let's, let's do the best we can with it, right? Do you have a good routine to get to sleep? How's you know the sleep hygiene, so to speak? Do you have blackout curtains? I, you know a lot of my clients. I recommend you get earplugs and do white noise so it can kind of eliminate some of the noises that might wake you up. Otherwise, and do the same routine stay off your screen, screen time two hours before bed. Um, do the same thing before you go to bed each night. Which kind of signals to your circadian rhythm. Like, all's time we got to start going to sleep, um, but, uh, yeah, I mean night, night shift. I think it'd be nice if we could, um, you know, give officers a better opportunity to adjust to it. So here's what's crazy, eric, I don't know if you've heard about in canada, most of these guys are on these things where, like you, do like two days of days, then like, yeah, nights and two days a day, and they're always rotating and it's so, and none of them like it. I've never, oh I never met one who said, oh, this is a great schedule. Every single one's like this is awful. So my other recommendation, then, is, like, try to stay on one or the other. If you can, try to stay on the same um kind of sleep and wake schedule, even on your days off, if possible. It obviously easier said than done when you have kids, family and sporting events and blah, blah, blah, but that'd be another tip I have, uh. So yeah, it's just about optimizing the sleep that you can get, making it the highest quality, um, and you're right, like on nights, like you, you know, whatever your assignment is, you can still stay active.
Speaker 2:And one point you brought up is you said little changes, something about making lots of small changes, and that really is how to get fit. You see, people are out of shape and they're like all right, I need to get in shape. So they go crazy. They do 75 hard keto workout for two hours and oh screw it, I'll never be fit. And I almost wonder, like, do people purposely make it hard so that when they fail, they can just go? You know what? See it? I tried. It's not meant for me when, in reality, like one of my my clients, erica, she lost over 120 pounds. She was I was just talking to her yesterday. She's like man, it was just a lot of tiny changes, like I didn't have to make any huge change in my life.
Speaker 2:It was just, you know, with every, everything I can do, it's like, how can I make this a little bit better for my fitness? So, like you said, like if you're on on perimeter, do do 20 air squats, get the blood flowing, do a foot patrol. If you're on perimeter, do 20 air squats, get the blood flowing, do a foot patrol. If you can, you know, bring some resistance bands or kettlebells, like you said, and do a 10 minute little pump up and this will encourage your metabolism. Right, it'll even help you stay awake at night, which is another benefit. You don't have to slam so much caffeine, park further away from things if you can, right, and do just walk. Take the stairs as opposed to the elevator. These are little things that people don't think are going to make a big difference. You know they they would rather do the two hour brutal workout to to say that's what they did for their fitness instead of all the little things. But yeah, the the easiest and biggest needle movers are just doing the little, all the little changes, like you mentioned.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think it's important also that we kind of touched on but we haven't really dived into this. Your spouse if you are a cop and your spouse, you have to educate them as well, and it doesn't always go well when you're the one trying to educate your spouse. So for departments out there, one of the things that where IMAT does, we actually have a spouse course where they come in and we talk about all the things that your new officer is going to be going through, and part of that is the education of what is going to happen to the body when they work these midnight schedules, because they're all going to be rookies and most of them are going to get cut loose on midnights, if not all of them. And here's what's going to happen to them they're going to get home, they are going to be crashing big time. The cortisol levels are going to be through the roof for them because they're just not used to that type of schedule and they're not seeing the sun. So when these cortisol levels go up, now you've got, you got a slug, you're going to have a slug for a husband and you need to understand why that is because, if not, it's going to lead to arguments and you're going to be like well, why is why? Why is it? When your friend calls from work, you're all of a sudden right back to.
Speaker 1:You know the, the fun, exciting guy. Well, that hypervigilance crash that happens from policing. So that's another thing that you need to talk about. He's at work, he's up here hypervigilant all day long. He gets home, cortisol levels spike, testosterone probably dips and all of a sudden you got a slug that doesn't want to go do anything, doesn't have the motivation to do stuff. But the moment a friend calls, his body goes into work mode. The hypervigilant spikes up. That's why it's not you, it's work, he's. His body physically reacts like he's back to work. Work, his body physically reacts like he's back to work and that is what is happening.
Speaker 1:So we need to take more time to educate not just our first responder, but we got to also educate the family, because it's important that they understand as well and that they can help out with that. And this is why I tell my guys get your eight hours. It will make the world of difference. Get your eight hours. Everything else from there will improve. But that has to be you and your family's biggest priority, because at the end of the day, if you get in a shooting or anything crazy, the first thing they're going to want to know.
Speaker 1:One of the first things is how much sleep did you get? Did you just come off of a part-time and then go work your full-time job? What did you do? How you just come off of a part-time and then go work your full-time job, what did you do? How many hours did you put in? How many hours of sleep did you get? You only got four hours of sleep.
Speaker 1:Well, now you're going to start facing some liability towards what you did because you made a poor choice. So this is why it's important for the family to know this stuff and understand the critical reasons why because it could affect the whole family he could make the wrong, wrong decision to shoot. He could make no decision and get shot because they're not thinking clearly and it doesn't just go for patrol guys, this goes for anybody that works at a desk. It's even more important, in my opinion, because now you're got a sediment lifestyle all the time and you need to. You need to have support from supervisors and you and that's how you and I were talking about that the other day I'm like I got my guys working out like I don't just walk the walk or talk the talk and walk the walk. So it's important to have the support from your staff members as well, or your co-workers as well, so I'll get off my soapbox.
Speaker 2:Well and to your point, man, spouses ought to look at their first responder spouse in terms of them taking care of their health and fitness as much, maybe even more, of a priority, than a professional athlete would Cause. If a professional athlete fails, maybe they'll lose their job on their team, but if a first responder fails, they may lose their job or their life or cause somebody else's life to be lost. So I would argue that the focus on fitness and health is as important for a first responder as it is for a professional athlete. So, as the spouse, you do need to give them space to work out, to meal prep, to write whatever they need to do. And I'll give you a kind of a funny, maybe sad, example.
Speaker 2:I remember talking to this dude and he's like yeah, I want to join the Fit Responder program. I'm like awesome man, so we're talking about the money. And he's like okay, let me go talk to my wife. And he's like, man, she says no. And I'm like, okay, let me go talk to my wife. And he's like man, she says no. And I'm like, really, and he goes well, can I talk to her too? He's like sure, man, he calls her over. Hey, hon, you know, come over here. So I'm like, all right, so we go, we go talk, and she's on the line with me as well, and I'm like what would you rather spend the money on?
Speaker 2:She said, well, our fence in our backyard has been falling over. We need to paint it. It's been long overdue. I said, cool. So when you get your fence fixed and it looks all pretty and you look out, but your husband died because he couldn't, you know, hang in a fight, couldn't make it in a foot pursuit, had a heart attack, whatever, you're going to feel good about that. And she literally burst into tears and he's like oh, she just left the room. Man, Guess what, though? He signed up. He signed up for the program and he got in great shape. And he's like man, I'm glad you were straight up with my wife about that. You're someone other than me telling her. But yeah, I mean, fitness ought to be one of our top priorities. I mean, of course, yes, it's also great to know case law and to know martial arts, and those are probably the two biggest things other than fitness.
Speaker 1:But I mean, they all work together.
Speaker 2:They all exactly. They're all synergistic, right? If you're fit, you're going to be better at martial arts and you'll also have a clearer and sharper mind as well, right? So all those things work well together. But yeah, I mean, as a spouse like you, need to be supportive of your first responder spouse in terms of them taking care of themselves, because it is a career that they're happy and they're doing well. They took care of themselves, I mean, and if someone makes it to retirement and didn't take care of their health and fitness, they're probably the lazy, sloppy, miserable dude we all know, or gal. So it's the ones who do take that extra effort to take care of themselves, especially in terms of their health and fitness, that are the happiest, live the longest and prosper the most. I mean.
Speaker 1:Yeah, my dad. My dad did a 30 year career um retired and he's a nationally ranked judo practitioner. He's I mean, he's in his sixties and he's still competing. Uh, he does jujitsu tournaments um, he's just, he's an animal like he. He's still whooped my ass like it's like there's no challenging my dad.
Speaker 1:He'd still work me like this, that's so cool yeah so I mean it sucks for me because it's always going to be held over my head that my dad just beat my ass if he wanted to, but no, he's. That that's the key. You know most cops, you know they first five years of retirement. If they get past that, that's a good thing. Most don't make it. Most a lot die in their first year and then most die in their first five years of retirement if they had a full career. So that's something to talk about.
Speaker 1:And building the habits as early as you can in your career is going to give you that longevity well past once you're done. So those are things to consider. And I'm glad you brought up mental acuity and stuff like that, because that is another point that I was trying to make about our people that sit at desks detectives and you know real-time crime center people I was telling you about that earlier and things like that. Your mental clarity makes you a better cop. So I get the mindset that a lot of cops will have is like, well, I don't have to work out and do as much stuff as I did because I'm not wearing all that gear anymore. I don't have to be out on the streets.
Speaker 1:Well, if I tell you that you'd be a better detective because you'd be able to put pieces together quicker, faster and more accurately, because you're fit, versus having brain fog and not thinking as clearly and maybe you missed something critical. That could be simply because you weren't staying fit. Yeah, why not be the best detective you can be? Why not do these things? And it's only going to benefit you overall. So when I tell people I'm like one of the simplest things you can do to get better at some of these brain jobs is just staying fit, it's crazy how much clearer and better and sharper and faster you think when you are in good shape.
Speaker 2:It cannot be overstated, the number of my clients who, within a few weeks of starting the program, they say man, I feel better, I have more energy, my mood has improved, I can think more clearly and quickly. I mean, I've heard this countless times and I've seen it myself too, because I think a lot of times we think of our brain and body as almost separate things. But they're part of the same machine and if your machine is sick and being overburdened, you can't expect the brain to be working optimally. I mean, uh, your central nervous system, literally is is impacted by the extra fat you're carrying on your body. I mean, it's going to affect your joints. It's going to tell your body at the end of the day, yo, we need to take a break. I mean, just like, if you're rucking around with 40 pounds on your back all day, at the end of the day, yo, we need to take a break. I mean, just like, if you're rucking around with 40 pounds on your back all day, at the end of the day your body might say, hey, yo, we need to chill. You know?
Speaker 2:So with these, these guys who are fat and out of shape, they're walking around with all this extra fat on all day and, of course, you go home, you're you're exhausted, you're tired, you don't want to think, you don't want to do nothing. I mean, cause, thinking does burn calories and it takes energy. Um, I don't know if you know this, but, like they've talked about chess tournaments and sometimes, when these guys play for hours, it's the equivalent of working out for hours, as far as, like the, the, the, the energy burn. So, um, yes, like you, when you're optimizing your body, you're eating better, your nutrition and hydration is solid, you're sleeping and you're working out. Like that is the cheat code, that is the lowest hanging fruit to excel in life in any capacity.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I, and it creates. This is what I want people understand too. One of the biggest problems we have in policing is suicide and with that, the being out of shape and not staying fit. Depression is a real issue in policing. Staying fit not having to take a pill, you know, for depression like that's one of the first ways you can start combating having signs and symptoms of depression is just getting in shape and that will create a actual chemical change in the body, which is one of the things you need. Now there are, there is clinical depression and stuff like that. So I'm not saying it's a cure-all, but it can help, and it can help in most people and can help combat the suicidal issues that we have Absolutely, and I can speak from this firsthand.
Speaker 2:I've struggled with depression from early childhood. As long as I can remember. I mean, I remember being nine thinking it'd probably be better off if I was dead. You know, I don't know, nine year olds think suicidal thoughts and stuff. But when I was fat I was the most depressed I've ever been. I literally was thinking about it. You know, like life sucks, everything sucks. Why? Why even get in shape? Because I just hate everything, hate myself.
Speaker 2:And it's a vicious cycle, right? Because that mindset makes it more difficult to work on your fitness. And then, if you don't work on your fitness, you're not improving that and sometimes you just have to act in faith. It's just in, like. You know, I've had clients where I'm like look, I know you have no desire to do this, I know it doesn't feel like there's even a reason to, but do me a favor, man, get some sunshine, go for a 20 minute walk today, put your phone away, don't, don't look at it, don't think about anything. Just go for a big walk, take some deep breaths and, you know, tell me how you feel afterwards. And they're like dude, I feel a little better. Man, that was actually really nice, you know. So sometimes it takes acting in faith, like just doing this stuff before you believe in it or want to, and you can see how it starts pulling you out of it, out of that depression.
Speaker 2:And I would say most people who are depressed are not giving themselves a fighting chance to see if they could improve, if not completely cure it, by improving their lifestyle, by eating right, getting hydrated, sleeping and working out. Obviously there's other things like having a good network of friends and talking, and like I'm not saying that, as you said, it's not necessarily a cure all for everybody and some people may very well just need to be on medications and there ain't nothing else you could do about it. Um, I'm glad I didn't get on any antidepressants at the time and I'm glad I didn't get on that high blood pressure pill, because I think I could have potentially taken the route that a lot of people do. Hey, I'm, I'm depressed, fat and um, and I have high blood pressure. Guess I'll take antidepressant meds. Guess I'll take blood pressure meds, you know nowadays. Guess I'll take GLP-1 to lose the weight, ozempic, right.
Speaker 2:But like, as much as people don't want to hear this, it's probably your fault. Your lifestyle sucks and it's not the career that's preventing it. Yes, it's making a challenge for you, but you can do it. You just got to take the right steps, maybe network with the right people and, like I said, sometimes you just got to act in faith, Like all right, let's see how this goes right. I'll give it a shot.
Speaker 2:I'll try this out, and I've had many clients who sign up for my program say that they go. Yeah, what else do I got to lose man, I'm fat, depressed, I hate life. I guess I'll. That's all I ask. Give it a shot. See what happens, let's. Let's see what happens three, four weeks from now, see how you're feeling then.
Speaker 2:And what's beautiful then is then you get belief because it's like, no, I see it working, I'm feeling better man, I feel good, like I'm happier. And then the momentum ball is crazy. It's like all right, like I'm excited, I'm looking forward to working out. Never thought I'd say that. I'm looking forward to meal prepping, never thought I'd want to do that. I hear this from clients constantly. So, yeah, not to be long winded about it, but you're right. I mean depression, ptsd, anxiety, irritability. These are things first responders feel like it's just become part of them, but it doesn't have to be that way. Take care of yourself, and maybe sometimes you just have to act in faith and suspend your belief until you see how much your life could change when you do focus on your fitness and health.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I, I think you kind of touched on. You know when people are considering, you know the working out and the difficulty behind that, and they're like I don't want to get started. And then you also have the, the ignorance, and I hate I know it's a controversial words People don't like hearing that All I mean is just the lack of knowledge. You just don't have the education behind certain things, one that's hard for people to admit, you know. You know, like, just like the self-accountability stuff, I have had a lot of cops like, man, I eat good, I eat good.
Speaker 1:And I'm like, what are you eating? Like it's all meat and and cheese and all this stuff. And I'm like, okay, fair, like that sounds good. I'm like, where are you getting it? Well, I go to, you know, this taco stand man. They get all the meats fresh cut. I'm like, oh, dude, you're eating tacos. I'm like, don't get me wrong, I I'm with you, I love me some tacos, but that they're cooking, you know, in lard and um, who knows what else, and then you're eating these tortillas. I was like that's where a lot of your issues are coming, bro. I'm like, how many of you have loan? There's small street tacos. I'm like. Well, every street taco has at least two tortillas on them, so you've got that and whatever special ingredients that they're adding to that.
Speaker 2:And then welcome to my life. Right, like, oh, I did great, I had chicken and rice. What do you mean? Well, I went to panda express, I got the orange chicken, I got the fried rice. I'm like yo, there's different versions of chicken and rice.
Speaker 2:Man, yeah, yeah, I mean nutrition man and, yeah, no one likes being called ignorant because they think that that's synonymous with stupid, but what you mean to say is that you just not have, you are not aware of the proper way to approach something. We're all ignorant to many things. I am ignorant to a ton of stuff, but when it comes to our own health and fitness, I wish our schools did a better job teaching us that kind of stuff, instead of the freaking Pythagorean theorem and some crap that I'll never use.
Speaker 1:Pythagorean Remember that yeah, Pythagorean Foil method First outer, inside, last, that's the only math thing I remember Right. How many times have you used that in your life, Eric Never?
Speaker 2:Never. I became a cop. Were you taught anything about taxes, no, no Interest rates, how to interview for a job, how to be fit and healthy? I mean, good Lord, our education system is freaking awful.
Speaker 1:Interactions with police. I think that's a class that should be taught. When you learn your driver's license. That should be because that's the most likelihood of you having an interaction with a cop as a young person is a traffic stop, so I think when you get your license or you're going through driver's education, they should have a policing portion of that where you learn how to interact with the cops.
Speaker 2:I agree that could be a one hour class. It doesn't even have to be that much. It's like you're going to get pulled over in the law states that you shall identify yourself with the drivers. Right, Like normal stuff, Right. And if a cop says to do X, Y, Z, comply. If they're doing the wrong thing, battle it later in court and sue and win a bunch of money. Don't fight, Don't resist, Like you know, like you'd think this. Yeah, that would be great education. But we can only wish, I guess. Yeah.
Speaker 1:We'll see It'll improve. That's something I'm hoping two capsulindona can bring out there. So got some things coming down the line. So, always about education. That's pretty much themed. What we've been talking about all day is the education side, and nutrition is a huge, huge failure when it comes to police getting out of shape, as we think we know. Like you said, said I'm eating chicken and fried, right like you think you know. But, man, you're just surprised to see and then the portions and you're like, well, what did you eat? Well, man, I had, you know, I made an omelet and I threw some meat on there and stuff. I'm like, okay, what'd you put on there? Um, I threw brisket on there. How much brisket did you have? I don't know? Like 12 ounces. I'm like, god damn dude. Six eggs. Man, I can eat a bunch of eggs. Eggs are good for you. I'm like, all right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I can tell stories for days. I mean, I had a guy who was very smart, um, and you know, he, we, we couldn't figure out why he wasn't making good progress. And I'm like, well, let's, I'm like all right, let's, I'm going to be a detective here, let's go into what are you eating, dude, I know I gave you a meal plan, but let's go through it meal by meal. And it turns out he's like well, yeah, I was adding a bunch of peanut butter and granola to my oatmeal for flavor, quote unquote just for the flavor, bro, because I just wanted some extra flavor. Yeah, my man, but you're also adding 500 calories.
Speaker 1:And sugar.
Speaker 2:I have you at a 500 calorie deficit. No-transcript right because you had some, some tomatoes in your meal. Well, yeah, right because it's a vegetable it's not even a vegetable, right, right, yeah, that's like oh my god, those are extreme examples, but I would say pretty much every client I've worked with had something they were doing that they didn't realize wasn't optimal. Right, Because I mean, think about as a cop man, probably 10 years into your career you learned something new at some point.
Speaker 1:All the time.
Speaker 2:You're like well, I didn't even know you could approach that way, Didn't even think you could do it that way, right? So all of us, no matter who you are, need to be a student, open to new information, to an open to another approach, like I'm a fitness coach who has helped thousands of people. If somebody said, hey, I don't like the way you're doing your diet, I think it's wrong. Let me tell you, I'm not going to immediately say you're an idiot, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I'm not going to hear you. Now, I'm going to go. What do you have to say? Why? Show me the research, tell me what you have and I'll look into it. Be open, because if your ego and pride is in such a position that you won't even entertain the idea of somebody else teaching you something new, you need to put that ego and pride in check.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, like they say, you can't fill a glass that's already full. If you're coming to me with a full cup, I'm sorry. I I'm gonna let you know right away like you're fighting me on everything that I'm trying to tell you you're. You're either open to this or you're not. If you're not open to it, come back when you are, then we'll have that discussion. But right now you're not trying to hear anything.
Speaker 1:And I get it a lot with the podcast stuff, because I'll put, you know, a reel out and I'll talk about something and I get trolls and people all the time no, it's wrong because of this, because of that, because of this. And I'll say, okay, well, let me try it. I'll try to give my explanation. That was a waste of time. They didn't want it. They didn't want to hear anything I had to say to begin with. So I'm just like oh, you're a cup that's full. Okay, fair enough, I'll move on. You you're not in a position to take any of this information in, so why waste your time? Yeah, back off, and when you're ready to talk, like this is what I have.
Speaker 2:But cops can relate to this. How annoying is it when you get a cop who's not, doesn't have much time on. They're like I already know what I'm doing. They don't want to listen to you, they have. Or somebody who's a traditionalist like, well, this is the way we've always done it and they're not willing to entertain a better option. How annoying is that. Guys, it's all, it sucks. We all know it sucks. It's like. Why do so many of us act like that? With fitness, I already know what to do. I already know how to hit a calorie deficit. I already know how to count my macros. What are you going to teach me?
Speaker 1:yeah, come on, man, when you come in with, this is how we've always done it or this is why they're changing it. You've already pissed me off and annoyed me. Oh, I hate that. Cops hate change. A lot of people hate changing their job. I'm the opposite. I like it. I look at it as a new challenge, a new way to test my brain.
Speaker 1:But I do think mindset has a lot to do with what we're talking about. You have got to flip it in your mind that you're ready and you got to stick with that and then have a support system. Hopefully you have a support system. That does help out a lot. And having a good coach like Ted here, um, having somebody get behind you and tell you what to expect, having all the expectations laid out in front of you, is a good way to get your mind behind what the goals are. And, like you said, baby steps All right, here's the big goal, but let's focus on these little goals that we can accomplish every single day and it helps build these healthy habits. And but I think having the mindset, it's like a smoker you're never gonna quit smoking until you've made up your mind. Is that from?
Speaker 2:tony robbins, I don't know, because he gave this example. He's like when you talk to somebody like I'm a smoker, you know, I just always been a smoker and that's just. That's just I got.
Speaker 1:I think I got it from my grandpa. He smoked like three or four packs a day at the age of 50. He goes, I'm done, I don't think, just quit cold turkey. Camels yeah, I remember his cigarette too, camels, unfiltered, he was a, he was gangster. So yeah that, like 50 years old, he was like I'm done on his birthday, just stopped. I was like holy crap. And he had his mind made up and he was done. And he, he was right, he quit, changed his life for the better.
Speaker 2:Yeah, one of my favorite client stories I talk about Michelle. She was very overweight two days before Thanksgiving. Said I'm done with this, I need to get fit. And most people would be like, don't you want to wait till after thanksgiving? Like waited two more days, two more days. I want to wait right, I probably would too michelle, you're dumb.
Speaker 1:You should have waited two days, right you?
Speaker 2:think we wait two days.
Speaker 1:I'll eat my one last absurd day of eating and then I'll yeah, I'm glad you put it that way day, because it would have been a feast all day long. I wouldn't have stopped. Exactly, we'll start tomorrow. I've got the calories for this workout.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right, well, you'll feel my workout for the next day. Her mindset, though, is like I am so done with this. I am no longer that person anymore. I cannot be that person anymore anymore. I cannot be that person anymore, and that that really kind of just like your grandpa, right? Just like you know what. No, like I don't have to be that way anymore, I'm done. It's. It's who you identify yourself as Like.
Speaker 2:Yeah, if you're like I'm a smoker, that's just how I've always been, I'll try to quit, we'll see what happens. That's not likely somebody who will be successful. But if they were to say you know, I've smoked for many years, but I really can't stand that about myself, I don't have to be a smoker, I don't need to be a smoker, I'm done being a smoker, that person sounds much more likely to be successful, right? So, yeah, who do you identify? As you know, even even if you've been fat your whole life, stop saying stuff like I'm just the fat guy, I'm thick and that's how I've always been and that's how my family is. You're just basically saying out loud like I'm never going to change this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Think about how many examples of people have lived a certain lifestyle for decades and they change on a dime. They're like no, I'm done, I'm putting my foot down, I'm no longer that person anymore. I don't need to be that person anymore. So check yourself, check your mindset.
Speaker 1:And this goes into policing training. People know this that we're being sized up every time we handle a call, not necessarily from a bad guy, could just be a civil issue or something like that that we're getting put in the middle of or whatever. But the perception and reception that you get when you come in as that stereotypical you know chief Wiggum coming up like you're if you're chief Wiggum mindset but come in fit you have a better chance of being taken serious and listened to and all of that versus being tested by the guy. That's like I think I can outrun this guy and get tested that way. I mean I want to eliminate as many possibilities as people making me do my job as possible, and an easy way to do that, guys, is just by staying in shape.
Speaker 2:The countless examples of that. I mean the number of times because I was both the fat cop and the really fit cop. So I've seen both sides of that. I've had inmates call me fat and people who disrespect me because they size me up and they're like yep, you're out of shape, you're lame, and I've had the opposite.
Speaker 2:I remember there was one dude who my partners were dealing with. They wanted him to just get back in the back of the patrol car. He was already cuffed. He just wouldn't. He was standing there. They didn't want to use force on him.
Speaker 2:They're like maybe, maybe you know like they kept talking to him, right, so I just showed because I'm like there's three units on this, there's nothing going on, what's happening? I show up. And I walked up to the guy and he I swear I'm not trying to sound like I'm cool but he looked at me and he went oh, I see, you guys brought the big guns. I'll get in the car, swear he. And he got sat down and got in the car and my partners laughed. They're like we just need you to show up, man. But they just this guy saw okay, this guy's fit, I got muscly arms. Yeah, he probably assumed they brought me to go beat him up. I have no idea, but they're he's like I'm not gonna mess with you. I've had people say when I'm like yo, you better sit on that curb and cross your feet. They're like I wouldn't run from you, man, you'd kill me. They just make those assumptions.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the fit guy. So I have potentially avoided a number of fights for its problems where, conversely, I I had a partner who was fat and out of shape. He got randomly attacked by an inmate and the inmate afterwards said I picked him out of everyone because he just looked like an easy target. Yeah, the softest one. I wanted to punch someone in the face today and oh, fat guy came in. I could take this dude. I mean, it's animal instincts, y'all. I mean we are the apex predator. Our ancestors were predators to animals and other competing humans alike, so it's built within us to size up somebody and go is this a fit person who's disciplined, who is strong, who could kick my butt, or does this look like a domesticated fat cat who I can crush? Because they're just sloppy and lazy? And I mean this. The impressions are people are going to work off of.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree, and it's it, it's, it's been proven that just in your example alone. But you know people's, that's one of the reasons troopers don't get messed with nearly as much, because when you look at a trooper, just about every state they're six foot three jacked, like it's just a common theme amongst troopers. Now I think that standard's starting to slip, so I'm throwing that, throwing a little shade at them. But you know, you got to be fit if you're going to be writing tickets to people guys, you got you got to be fit for those troopers.
Speaker 2:Uh, I get, I give troopers so much shit on here, it's well I honestly, I never asked this but I don't know how I I need to ask somebody I I end up talking to about their fitness, when somebody who's very obviously overweight of course they're going to get comments throughout their career suspects talking shit. How do they deal with that for years on end, like I mean, I only had to hear it a few times Plus get my blood pressure checked to be like I've had enough. Like I'm like could you imagine dude, showing up to work and regularly people you know they're looking at your belly, you know, they're.
Speaker 2:You know they're judging you. You know, when you walk into that scene, that you are the fat cop. How does that make you feel, like? How do you live with it? It seems to me and I honestly I think most of the time, it's a form of delusion, because I will talk to a lot of these guys and they're like I'm not that bad, I'm still a hey, I'm actually pretty strong. You'd be surprised. So they're. They're just their ego control, um, and they don't. They don't see themselves that way, even though I mean, yo, the scale is saying you weigh 260 pounds, my man, yo.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you're five foot five.
Speaker 2:So it's not. It's not solid muscle Like these guys. I don't ever want to be 200 pounds. That's too skinny. I'm like dude, I'm six foot two, 200. And like, no one calls me skinny, they say like you're like, so do you think you have more muscle than me? That, that, like that. You're going to be a depleted, emaciated I. It's just crazy.
Speaker 2:Like so my dad grew up. Uh, he was born in 1921. He's dead now. Yeah, he was in world war ii and he started out in the air force as well. So he, he, yeah, brother, he, uh, um used to say that in college like the biggest guys and on the football team were like in the low 200s, like 210, 220. You know those are the biggest ones, yeah, right. So now I got guys telling me I don't want to cut to 220. I'm going to look like a cancer patient. Are you out of your mind, bro? Yeah, you got pro bodybuilders who are 210 pounds. What do you mean? You're going to gonna be too skinny. Go lift some weights and lose all that fat. Yeah, like, come on yep, I agree.
Speaker 1:Um, yeah, the. Uh, I was reading your sign behind you. Uh, sorry, I I didn't realize that the screen was mirrored. Oh, um, on your side. Um, I, I switched it for you.
Speaker 1:Uh, that's all yeah not a problem, but I'm trying to think if there's anything else that I missed that I wanted to hit. I know I had one more thing in mind. I usually keep notes as I go Cause it will um trigger for me. We were talking about um training, uh, being fit. I'm working through. I had a really good one. I should have wrote it down Talking about cops not staying in shape and the peer pressure and stuff from being out in the field. I'm going to stop my brain work and you know me being in shape. I should be have a little bit more mental clarity. So it's not working for me.
Speaker 1:but um is what it is so uh, if it if it comes to me, we'll. We'll talk about that, but let's get on to um. People listen to you now throughout this episode. We're hour and a half in um. Now they're like you know what? I want to try this guy out. How do I find them? What can I expect? What is that process like?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. I mean, feel free to follow me on social media at fit responder, like first responder, but fit responder. You can check out our website fit respondercom. There it is. You're pulling it up on the screen. Yes, there's me, hello, and you can read what we're doing. Check out our reviews on Google. Proud to say, we have over 360 reviews. Every single one is five stars.
Speaker 2:You can click apply. There's a should be several apply buttons throughout that page on the website and what will happen is you'll get an opportunity to schedule a call with me or another guy on my team and we'll talk to you and see if we think Fit Responder is a good fit for you and kind of go over the options. But it's a free call and no matter what, it's a good thing because everybody leaves the call with more clarity. They either go Fit Responder isn't right for me, but I have some cool advice and I know where to go from here or they say you know fit responder is right for me, I'm ready to join. So, yeah, check it out. I have two Instagrams. Uh, I have fit dot responder and I have fit responder. So right there you're looking at my backup page fit dot responder.
Speaker 1:Oh, maybe that's why I thought I wasn't following you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that's my backup. I have one called just plain old fit responder.
Speaker 1:Um, which is yeah, there you go. See, I was following you. Ah, yeah, Funny story.
Speaker 2:The old profile, the inbox, got blocked, um, for a year. They said hey, you violated our terms and services. You cannot message anyone for one year. I still don't know what I did wrong. They just flat out Wow, yeah, I had 80,000 followers at the time. So I started a new Instagram and that's over a hundred thousand followers. But I think it's because I did a giveaway where I was giving away cash and that's not allowed. So if you have an Instagram, you cannot give away cash because that is a way scammers scam people. So even if you're doing it legitimately, like I was doing a cash giveaway hey, comment on this, I'm going to give 500 bucks to somebody. I mean, I legit was giving money to people, but they don't want you to do that. So don't ever do any cash giveaways that you could. It's against the terms. I didn't know that, but that could be why I got blocked for a year on that one.
Speaker 1:I didn't know that. I mean, I don't have money to give out, so that's a plus for me. Okay, very cool. So what do you got? What's the future looking like for you right now? How are things going?
Speaker 2:So one thing I'd love to do with Fit Responder is to make a department or agency program something that's, you know, cheap per individual. But, like you know, coursework, giving people the right education that's been difficult to even get somebody to even listen to what that could look like. It's hard enough to get individuals interested in improving their fitness. Getting admin to be interested in helping their department is doesn't seem to be much of a concern at all, sadly, because they won't even hear the first sentence, right? Hey, I'd love to help your department get fit. Let's talk some time. I sent out 1300 emails, got two people to reply and those two people never ended up being a phone call. Anyways, I'm blabbing on that, but I'd love to help agencies on a larger scale.
Speaker 2:Fit Responder is more of a one-on-one personal program. Now I'd love for Fit Responder to be helping police especially, but first responders in America be some of the fittest amongst our groups of professions, as opposed to currently being some of the most out of shape and obese. That would be great. Otherwise, I'm going to start coaching other coaches on how to make their business better, because I'm a good online fitness coach. I've made it very successful, so I'm going to also offer that as well. Other than that, just watch my kids grow up, try to be a good dad, try to be a good husband and make a good impact in the corner of the world that I can have an impact in, and try not to stress about the stuff that uh, the media and everything's talking about that I have no control over. So those are my, those are my plans.
Speaker 1:Okay, Very cool. Well, brother, I got nothing else for you. Um, I think everybody knows how to find you. Know, I appreciate your time and, um, when we get done with this, just stick around. I think everybody knows how to find you now. I appreciate your time and when we get done with this, just stick around. I'll chat with you afterwards and let you know what to expect.
Speaker 2:Sounds good. Thanks for having me, Eric, and thanks for listening everybody.
Speaker 1:Yep, not a problem, brother, appreciate having you. So everybody out there again. Two Cops, one Donut. Go check us out. Make sure you check out our website and you can find all the cool places that we're at and some of the swag we got and all that good stuff. Everybody else take it easy.
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