Minimum Effective Dose: Fitness for Busy First Responders

Most first responders believe fitness requires more time, energy, motivation, and discipline than they actually have.

Five-day programs. Long workouts. Complex training plans. Perfect consistency.

The result? Many police officers, firefighters, paramedics, and dispatchers feel overwhelmed before they even start.

In this episode, we break down the latest resistance training guidance from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM),

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41843416/

which reviewed 137 systematic reviews on strength training. The findings are surprisingly simple and incredibly encouraging for first responders working shifts, managing fatigue, and balancing demanding careers.

You'll learn why two days per week of strength training can produce meaningful improvements in strength, health, and resilience, why complicated fitness programs are often unnecessary, and how the "minimum effective dose" can help you build a sustainable routine that actually fits your life.

We also explore an often-overlooked topic: the connection between resistance training and mental health. From stress recovery to sleep, mood, anxiety, and resilience after difficult calls, strength training may be one of the most powerful wellness tools available to first responders.

In this episode we discuss:

✅ What ACSM says about effective resistance training
✅ Why consistency beats complexity every time
✅ The minimum amount of exercise needed for results
✅ How strength training improves job performance in policing, fire, and EMS
✅ The connection between resistance training, sleep, stress, and mental health
✅ Common fitness myths that keep first responders stuck
✅ A simple 20-minute workout framework you can start today

If you've ever thought:

·      "I don't have enough time."

·      "I'm too tired after shift."

·      "I need a better program before I start."

Then this episode is for you!

Because something is infinitely better than nothing and the research shows you may need far less than you think to become stronger, healthier, and more resilient.

If you have first responder health and wellness questions you would like answered, please send them to askthetacticaltrio@gmail.com we will be happ

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:02

Welcome to Ask the Tactical Trio, where your questions meet real-world experience. We're three ATs and strength coaches with over 45 years working with first responders. From health and resilience to performance, leadership, and longevity, you ask, we answer. The perspectives shared in this podcast are our own and are intended to support conversation and learning. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations we work with, serve, or are affiliated with.

SPEAKER_00 0:31

Real questions, real experience, real tactical wellness. Let's get into it. All right, everybody. Welcome back to the Tactical Trio. Today it is me, Anna August, and Becky, also known as Rebecca Swan, uh holding down the fort. Tracy is on family vacation.

SPEAKER_02 0:54

Yeah, she's in Florida.

SPEAKER_00 0:55

Enjoying some time on the beach. So she will not be with us today. We will miss her. And so today we're going to talk about the most recent uh publication from the American College of Sports Medicine. Um, their position stand on resistance training. But before we get there, I just want to acknowledge uh I don't know when you're listening to this, but today uh is in America uh Peace Office National Peace Officers Memorial Day. And so we have been celebrating police week here. Uh I happen to work close to the Washington, D.C. area with a relatively large department. And I just uh it's a touching week every week uh because we acknowledge uh and memorialize all of the line of duty deaths that have occurred over the past year and the past however many decades. And it's always so impressive to watch the law enforcement family honor uh honor their people um and and the people that we've lost over the years. It is so touching to see all the hard work by the um not just the honor guard who maybe is used to doing all the events and getting dressed up and performing, but um, you know, we had the canine memorial earlier, I believe last week, um, where some canine officers who maybe aren't so used to uh being in front of big crowds um were were with their their dogs um putting roses on the memorial. And um our chief read some names of the visual on Wednesday. Um it just just the effort that peer support groups uh from across the country, they come out from from all over the place to DC, the Unity Tour and the Law Enforcement United bike rides over multiple days, it's really, really, really just so touching and um and kind of heartbreaking at the same time to see how hard the survivors, the surviving law enforcement officers, the surviving families work to honor and care for each other. And so I know coming into this setting as an athletic trainer and a non-law enforcement officer, you know, you hear things about the blue family. Um, but this is uh just a time of year when we get to recognize that. So shout out to everybody who's been participating in all the events and working hard to care for survivors and um and really honor and remember the people who have lost their lives caring for their communities. So now that that's done, I'm gonna go cry for a little bit. No, I'm just kidding. Um, we're gonna start to talk about this. And so um we're gonna do two powerful things at once. We're gonna really translate this paper for you. It is, I have it right in front of me here. It is 20 pages. Uh, so uh we wouldn't expect any of you to have read it. And and for the record, we're not reading it to you just in case you're about to sign off. Yeah, this is not a reading. This is not like a sleep podcast to help you fall asleep. Um, so we're gonna help summarize it for you uh and make it into real world, um, real world practical sense so that you can use the information that's there. And then we're also gonna tie resistance training uh directly to stress, anxiety, depression, and nervous system regulation. You know um that Becky and Tracy and I really love the nervous system. We love to address uh the stress of the job and what that does to our physical bodies, and uh resistance training uh is great and how it can do that. So here we go.

SPEAKER_02 4:31

Awesome. Thanks for getting us started for it. And remind me, did you say what the paper was called that we're gonna be talking about?

SPEAKER_00 4:39

I summarized the title. I did not give the official title. Would you like me to read the official title?

SPEAKER_02 4:44

I don't know if people need the full title. We can always share um the reference in the transcript, but it's a position stance on resistance training for healthy adults through the American College of Sports Medicine. And it's a great paper. It's been updated um recently. And Small World, one of the researchers who helped update it, was a rugby coach I worked with as a student athletic therapist at McMaster University. So some of you guys might know him, especially if you're really into learning about protein, proteins, not proteins. Um, it was Stu Phillips, so he does a lot in terms of research. So um it was exciting to see uh his name just out on more stuff. So getting started here, um, Anna, I know we work a lot with first responders, both in um injuries and rehabilitation and strength and conditioning. I know yours is sometimes limited, but they come into our office and our first responders are feeling overwhelmed, they're underslept, they're stressed often, they're trying to address their fitness. And the fitness industry tells them, look, you need to work out five days a week, maybe you need a periodized program, and there's all these perfect plans being sold out there. They want you in for at least an hour a day in the gym. I don't know about you, but most officers that I talk to, they think, well, like I don't have time for that. I'm too tired for that, and why even bother if I can't hit it? I'm gonna miss the mark, so I'm not even gonna try. So they they quit before they even start. And that's why this paper is such good news because it reviewed 137 systematic reviews around resistance training for healthy adults. So this is a very thorough paper. It's telling us we don't have to put that much time in to actually have a benefit, to actually have a positive impact. So, because we know most first responders think fitness requires the time they don't have, energy they don't have, and motivation they definitely don't have after shift work, and fair enough. And so I think this is gonna be music to some of their ears. So, what this paper basically says, you don't need what you think you need to get strong, healthy, and mentally better. You need far less than you think to have powerful results. So, this is this is awesome. So, we're gonna be talking about this paper, and like I said, it is for healthy adults. And yes, there's going to be some first responders that need that high performance conditioning, absolutely, especially for those more demanding positions, and they're often the ones that have time to do more training, right? And so that'll be the more, let's say, emergency response operators or canines, the ones with the where their their positions really dine uh demanding a lot more out of them physically. But many first responders, if not the majority, that's too far for them. They're just trying to get back in the gym, get their fitness back. And so if we try and sell them these programs where it's all-encompassing and intense, we're kind of missing the mark for them. So that's where this paper is great. It's get back to basics and you're gonna see powerful results with them. Would you agree?

SPEAKER_00 7:59

Yeah, absolutely. I think uh I really love how the paper uh divided the different aspects of resistance training, different types of resistance training, and then different uh categories of sort of physical improvement that happen as a result of fitness training and which type of resistance training makes which part of fitness better. And and I hope that's well, I know that's the part we're gonna translate for them, but I think it will help them understand why you don't need to do so many hours of it to get it together. Like it's it's just it's a really a great paper for how specific it is. Um, but at the same time, all that speci specificity can be drilled down to just do some resistance training, it's good for you.

SPEAKER_02 8:49

Absolutely. Absolutely. So you would agree then from what you see with a lot of members that you talk to that many if they feel they can't do a big full program, they will default to, well, why should I do anything at all?

SPEAKER_00 9:03

Uh yeah, that's really common. And it it it really depends how it actually manifests in their lives, really depends on so many factors, how they were raised to understand exercise and the importance of exercise in their life. Um, I know I have some people because we get an hour of paid wellness per shift if it time allows. Um, so a lot of them, uh depending on the station and the supervisors, will get one one hour per tour. Well, then they don't want to do exercise when they're not getting paid for it. So that's a challenge we come across sometimes. And uh and then sometimes they're really motivated to do it, but then something in their life or in their, you know, occupational motivation will sort of knock them off track. And so it's it's not just the I don't think I can do it perfectly, it's you know, where are my energy levels for my entire life? Um and do I already have the view that exercise is gonna make me more tired versus help me relieve my stress and give me more energy? So so yes, but it's multifaceted.

SPEAKER_02 10:12

Absolutely. Well, and it sounds like like those are great highlights on why some might opt out completely out of exercise, right?

SPEAKER_00 10:21

Yeah, yeah. And it's I mean it's really discouraging, and it's discouraging to you know to to be so busy that you're just at at call after call. So you have this in our department, you have this great benefit that you can't use, um, which then might make you a little salty toward your supervisors, and um, which just feeds into that sort of lack of motivation loop. And uh and if you have other hard things going on in your life and in you look at exercise as a drain versus uh uh energy booster, then um then it gets even more discouraging because you're like, well, why would I spend my energy doing that when I have to tackle all of this complicated adulting waiting for me at home? And so I'm very excited to talk about this article and hopefully change some motivations and um get people focused on how important it is to care about yourself so you can care for all those other people who care for your department and uh and then it doesn't have to be full of perfect necessarily.

SPEAKER_02 11:18

Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, why don't while you you're on a roll. Man, I can't even talk today. So while you are on a roll, uh why don't you dive into uh talking about some points on the paper?

SPEAKER_00 11:33

Yeah, okay. Um, so let's look at some of the most important takeaways that are in the paper. We'll try to put it into some plain language here. Um the first one and the one I really want to throw out there, especially for my people who do uh I think, and I get this confused all the time, a three-day tour and then a two-day tour with some time off in between. Um and I'm sure I'll get corrected on that for anybody who's listening. Um, it really only takes two days a week of resistance training uh to make meaningful strength and health improvements. So that's not a lot. Uh, and of course, if you do more, you're gonna get different changes and different improvements. Um, but we're looking at a minimum of two days per week of resistance training. And when we look at the paper, the resistance training doesn't necessarily have to be dumbbells, machine weights, squat racks, scary equipment you've never used before. They actually included in the study resistance band training, body weight resistance, at-home exercises. So resistance is gonna mean different things to different people depending on their training age, is one way of saying it, but how long they've been training for, what strength level they're starting at. And so that's another thing that um that I want to emphasize here is there's a lot of flexibility in what that resistance training modality looks like. And I think especially in a largely male population, um, and uh around a lot of people who are big fans of like CrossFit or HyRox or some of the Spartan races, like everybody thinks you gotta throw around a bunch of dumbbells and a bunch of kettlebells and some really heavy things. That's not necessarily true. It depends on who you are and what you're after. And so, two days a week, finding something that counts as a resistance training is gonna be helpful to you. Um, and so and then that leads to the next point here is that, and the paper is super clear on this. You do not need complex training to get results. And so, again, I'm very fortunate. I feel like I brag about this every week. It's a humble, it's not even a humble brag, it's just a brag. I have strength coaches, we use the the bridge app, and they're not paying us anything. So we can just pull up workouts. They have um five days a week, they have daily workouts, but they also had just have a list of um timed workouts, so 15 minutes of resistance training, 30 minutes of resistance training, 60 minutes of resistance training, 90 minutes of resistance training, so that officers and firefighters can pick out what fits during their the time that they have and what fits with the equipment that they have. But it doesn't need to be complex, it doesn't need to be periodized, it doesn't need to be 16 different exercises. Um, if we go back to sort of classic progressive resistive exercise, it just needs to be challenging. Um, and you probably want to get a push, a pull, a hinge, a squat. Uh, I'm missing one. Um, I'm always small. A carry. There we go. Um, but that really makes it so very simple. And um, moving further down, where people really get confused if they don't have a history of sports participation or exercise, um, sets and reps can be intimidating to people. Um, I've been around exercise for a long time. So it I always need a reminder that some people will even in rehab will look at you like, what are you talking about? sets and reps. Um, and so really two sets of exercises, that's the number of repetitions. You do one set of 10, 15, um however many, depending on the amount of resistance. You take a rest and then you do it again, and that's two sets, uh, which is really not a lot time-wise. Um, and then uh and then go on with your day or go on to the next exercise. And so um it's really incredibly simple. We've already talked about the variety of modalities that they've studied. Um, and this is a riff, so those of you who are research nerds, this is a review of reviews. So they just looked at all the research that was out there um about resistance training, narrowed it down based on some pretty specific criteria, and then compared the results of all of the different studies that were already out there. And so um, so the bottom line of all of that knowledge that's out there all combined is that the best program is the one that you will actually do. Uh, especially if you're one of our midnight officers or you are a firefighter and so you've got those week-long shifts. Um, it's one that you might do even when you're tired, um, if it's safe to do so. I think we've talked about sleep before, and sometimes the better idea is getting sleep, but um, even just a little bit of exercise right before you know you go to bed or right after you get off shift is good for you and will give you some pretty important health benefits. So, can you, Becky, talk about why people think they need uh variety and complicated programming?

SPEAKER_02 16:33

Well, I think it's half honestly with these days, part of it is just social media, right? How many programs are out there, or you see somebody doing a unique exercise, and every day you're seeing a new exercise, and you're like, okay, I I I should be doing that, I should be doing this, right? Um, there's so much variety, and so I don't know how many officers I've had come and they're like, well, where would I put this exercise and that one? And it's they're fun, and yes, I love variety, and it's sometimes it's fun to stimulate things, but it's go back to your basics, right? And I think it's just because there's so much information being pushed out to us, and I find, and you might find this different, but I I doubt it's unlikely. There's a lot of A-type personalities with research, right? So style. So they will go find information, they'll look into stuff, they're very motivated, but then it can be very confusing just because there is so much out there. And then with influencers now saying, you have to do this if you want to build your glutes, you have to do this, you have to do that, it's overwhelming. There is just there's so much out there. So I think that plays a bit of a role in it, but then also depending on some of their backgrounds, they may have been a competitive athlete back in the day where they were following a complicated program. And so, what this paper is not saying is it's not saying that complicated programs are garbage. That's not the case. We're looking at the population, right? And so for the average person to be healthy in adulthood, this is what it's recommending. And so they might have had those more complex ones, and but their life doesn't match that anymore, and they don't know how to transition back to something lighter. And I've been through this myself because I like you know, a periodized or a progressive program. And I love following it and I love having a program um that is structured because I'm not one to go into the gym without a purpose. I f I find it very low motivation for it. But then when I go into a period of really busy time, that's a really easy time for me to fall off the wagon with resistance training because I'm like, ah, why go? And it's kind of what I used to compare it to is like when you're training for a marathon and you're going for like 15 kilometer, 20 kilometer runs, you're like, what's the point of a 5k? Really?

SPEAKER_00 19:00

What's the point?

SPEAKER_02 19:01

Right.

SPEAKER_00 19:01

And and it feels nice when you've been doing 15k, but it just feels nice.

SPEAKER_02 19:05

Right. And so it's then shifting that mindset. Okay, well, what is the purpose? And so it's okay for the purpose to be maintaining muscle mass, then just yeah, maintaining. Maintaining is okay, and I think some scare away from the fact of just maintaining. What's also beautiful about this paper, and this came up as concerns with COVID when all the gyms were shutting down. I don't know how many emails I got from from officers saying I am going to lose all of my gains. And I had to reassure them, no, listen, like your minimal effective dose is quite small. Like you've already done the work. So you don't have to do all of that. You just need a little bit to maintain, which it which is great. So the two sets a week, or not two sets a week, the two workouts a week, uh, two to three sets each time, making sure you're challenging yourself so it's not a cakewalk, but you don't have to go to fatigue either. So I think it's yeah, it's an exciting paper. Um so Anna, how how about you like can you think of some members that might feel this is very freeing to realize they don't have to bust their butt in the gym or train to failure every single time when um for them to see actual results?

SPEAKER_00 20:25

Uh I hope so, because I I often talk um, especially about some of the concerns you expressed about periodization and having a purpose in the gym. I think life as an adult with a job, especially a first responder type job, tends to periodize itself. Because you'll go through periods where it's relatively easy to get into the gym regularly and you can work really hard and you have the energy, and then one of your kids gets sick, you have extra busy time, you take up you take some overtime, you you get sick, and then you have to lay off for a little bit and then you roll back into it. And so um so I'm hoping because I talk like that to my officers all the time, just about the practical reality of of exercise and the concept of minimal effective dose, um, which means you don't have to be sore and you don't have to be exhausted necessarily. You just have to put out the effort or feel the effort. So it should be fatiguing, it should be challenging, but it doesn't have to feel like death. And so I think most of the officers that we're addressing with this podcast and hoping to reach with the summary of this article will be super relieved and surprised um to hear they don't have to work hard. I do have another set of officers who um who won't believe this, even if they read the paper themselves, because it just doesn't sound doesn't sound like what they want to do. And those are usually like you said, those are our are um officers who have a history of athletic participation, especially into college or or pro or semi professional sports, they're used to being very structured. Use of periodization, um, they're used to spending hours in the gym, and it might it might not feel good to them to do the minimal effective dose. And I think that's something that, you know, I'm I walk through, I I had a very brief junior college athletic career. Um as a cross-country runner, so there wasn't a lot of resistance training involved in the 90s. Um but uh but it's a lot, it's part of your identity, and and even that is a conversation that goes along the lines of mental health of how can we put exercise into a different basket so you still do it, it still feels worth doing, but you don't try to kill yourself as your body changes and your uh needs, your energy needs change for other parts of your life. Um so uh so I think I think it's yeah, like always, like I feel bad. My podcast answers are always it depends or there's a continuum. And uh so I think for most of the officers it's freeing. And when we have this conversation where I say, Well, what what even just about doing home exercises sometimes to heal something that's been injured or is just not functioning right, I'll ask them, like it's it's my challenge. What's you know okay, you know, they're not gonna do six exercises, right? So I try to keep myself to four unless I know the officer is likely to do more, or I'll be very specific. I want these two this many days a week and these two on the other days of the week, and try to make it fairly simple. But it's what will you do? What what will you do? And let's start there, or what can you do? And sometimes we even have the conversation where I say, Well, can your kids come with you? Can they can they come with you to the gym? Can you and I will be the biggest proponent for the garage gym? I have made some ill-advised purchases in my time based on my budget, but some of those were my road bike. Um, I have dumbbells that I have been collecting over the years, I have a bar with some little plates, and they're not fancy at all. Um, they don't match, there's nothing pretty, they're not any of the cool brands. Um, no influencer is ever gonna come to my my garage gym and be like, what? Let's film this, but I don't have an excuse. Like currently I'm pretty lucky because I have an apartment complex gym and I have the academy gym where I can work out, but I don't I don't have an excuse. If I haven't done my lifting Sunday morning like normal, I go over to my mom's house where all my garage gym equipment is right now, and there's dumbbells staring at me at the face. And so I'm a big fan of having whatever equipment you will use at home. The TRX, I got uh a pull-up bar for over the door, that's great. Like, make it as easy as you can. And I know that's a tangent, and so Becky, I think you had something more to say there about how freeing it could be for some officers.

SPEAKER_02 24:58

Uh well, not necessarily on the the freeing, but I can relate to uh the struggle of the shift. I love to be in the gym for an hour and a half, and I really struggle with wrapping my head around being in and out in 35 minutes. I'm doing it, but I don't like it as much. I don't feel like I get what I want to get done, but I'm like, well, it's still better than nothing.

SPEAKER_00 25:18

So and then feel for you guys. Yeah, but then uh then looking at motivation and other things that might motivate us to go, what kind of changes have you seen since you've only been able to do 35 minutes? Or are you seeing, or maybe instead of positive changes, what do you feel like you haven't lost that you thought you might when you cut your gym time down? Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_02 25:44

It does. It does. Um, I can't say I've seen positive changes uh because I've been away so much. But um having done in body scans recently, I have not lost any muscle mass at all, right? Which is the which is the goal. And it was a pleasant surprise, especially after being sick for an extended period where I couldn't work out like lift weights for almost a year, um, and I was doing minimal to know I okay, I lost no muscle mass. And I'm I'm turning 45 at the end of the like on June in early June. So, you know, it's not like I'm in a huge state of growth. So I was thrilled. I was like, great, okay. Like between diet and everything for me to maintain, thrilled.

SPEAKER_00 26:30

Yeah, and what an important point, right? I think people feel like they need to constantly be breaking down to get stronger or to not lose their gains. But I tell officers this all the time like you would really have to lay down and be a vegetable, yeah. To lose what you have already gained quickly. So it's not impossible to lose, but it's gonna take much longer than you think.

SPEAKER_02 26:53

And then on top of that, if you do lose it, your body will put it on faster than you originally did. Your body remembers, your body remembers that strength. So it comes back fast. So when I was off sick and I got back, was I as strong as I was? No. But did it come up very quick? Yeah, absolutely, right? So we all go in those ebbs and flows, and this is another thing that I'll share with with my members is we go through periods, even myself who I've been resistance training for 30 years, and I'll go through periods where I fall off the wagon, and those first two to three weeks back, doesn't matter who you are, it's sore, you struggle with the habit development. It's the same for for everybody, and it's a cycle. It is a cycle. So if you're in a cycle where you're not in, don't beat yourself up. Just start taking those steps to get back. So let's look at the paper and more and like what does this actually mean for our first responders, um, especially ones that are on shift work, right? This means that you can get maintenance on your muscles, you can even make gains, and you can actually line up your programming to fit your lifestyle better than what it is. And I'm not gonna dive into this too much because we did a two-part episode on that, and I really do want to get even to the mental health stuff here. But two days a week, that can be your your two days before night shift, that could be your two off days, like you can really put them, spread them around. So it's great, right? And as I was saying, it can be equipment at home during COVID. We had a tire, my my husband got a strap for it, so we were dragging that up and down the street with the strap and with TRX, and you can do a whole bunch of arm exercises with it. When I'm up at our property in the bush, I've run around with with logs on my shoulders. So there's ways that you can do stuff. So um the nice thing is it doesn't have to be be too long. And so let's look at how if somebody were to go in and get it, get it done, just quick program, let's get it in. So you've already talked about well, let's choose a squat motion. So this can be a double leg push or a single leg push, like a lunge. You want to choose a hinge motion, so maybe it's a deadlift or a hip bridge or an RDL. You want to choose a push motion, you want to choose a pull motion, you want to have a carry because that applies to our first responder so great. So whether it's a one-arm, two-arm overhead, or hanging carry, do two sets of each of these. Maybe, you know, I like heavier loads, so let's keep it heavier because then it's even shorter. So between eight and ten reps, go heavy, maybe two or three reps from failure. Um, rest 60 seconds in between two to three sets, boom, you're gonna be in out in less than 30 minutes, and that's a full body movement. Um, if you want to do a little bit of power with it, so maybe you're thinking, okay, I want to mix things up, or what about my power development? Go a little bit lighter on those weights, like we talked about in um one of the last podcasts, and do quick movements. So do move quickly on that concentric phase of the motion so you can get some power in it, right? So this can be fast goblet swats or kettlebell swings or even medicine ball throws to get a little bit of power in. So it doesn't have to be quick, but having some strength and some power will apply to the job really, really well. Okay, Anna. So let's talk about the part that we really love in terms of strength training, the connection between mental health and resistance training.

SPEAKER_00 30:38

So I think it's really exciting that this position statement, even though it's about resistance training and its primary focus is the uh physical function of the body and how the muscles work. They also have a little phrase in the introduction, um, and I'm just gonna quote straight from the article, and it says, beyond the hallmark improvements in skeletal muscle mass and function, the benefits of engaging in resistance training include reduced mortality and risk for management of cardiovascular disease, super common in first responders, hello hypertension, um, cancer, super common in first responders, but especially firefighters and diabetes, uh, reduced depression and improved sweep sleep quality. And so clearly through this review, they discovered that uh resistance training is great for your mental health, but they didn't have time to drill down on exactly why or which modalities or how that works. Um, we have a podcast in the works that will talk about nervous system regulation and X various modalities of exercise, cardiovascular and resistance training and how you can manipulate those to deal with your nervous system and keep it happy. So we're gonna keep it very basic here because position segment doesn't address it. Um so, Becky, what do you see? How do you notice uh members of your agency? Um, how do you see them change after they start lifting consistently or participating in some kind of resistance training uh consistently in terms of sleep mood and maybe even how they show up at home or as a friend or partner? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:19

Well, first I I it positively impacts all of those, right? So having a workout during the day helps to increase that sleep drive for nighttime, right? So especially if maybe shift work has really thrown your sleep pattern for a loop, it's going to make you fall asleep easier. So it's gonna give you that drive to fall asleep a little bit more. Um, they're having longer and better quality sleeps, and so we know when somebody's going through better quality sleeps, they're going through the sleep cycles that their brain needs to process what they have seen throughout the day. And this is really important for when they're exposed to critical incidences, right? So their brain can make sense of it, store it in a proper spot. So that alone has such a positive aspect on mental health. But when we're well slept, right, our cognitive thinking is better, we're better at regulating our emotions, and so absolutely this is gonna impact our mood, but absolutely how we how somebody shows up at home or for people around them, right? When we are coming from a regulated place, so we are able to think and think before we react, um, we're much better humans, right? And we don't take in the world as a big threat. So we can approach it from a place of calm and we can actually take on more tasks and more challenging things. So it will make their capacity bigger for when they're on the road, right? Which is absolutely great. So um, yes, it's uh a great one. I've seen it nothing but good stuff for it. And it's when I'd say I'd see the bigger change when it's taken away from somebody. That's when I see a bigger change with the mental health is when it's taken away. So with this resistance training, um, because we talk about it a lot in in first responder environments. Why do you think we haven't talked about it as much as a mental health tool in these communities until now it's coming out?

SPEAKER_00 34:24

I think humans are master compartmentalizers, and so uh, and not just emotionally, but just in life, we think about our physical health separately from our mental health, and therefore we don't necessarily identify when an intervention will help on both sides. I see that with I think nutrition sometimes, which is really interesting. They'll be like, well, nutrition is in this bucket and exercise is in this bucket. And even though me and you, Becky, we've been taught to bring that all together so that the body can work. Um, not everybody has learned that. And I think it's the same with mental health and exercise. I think people, once they do it, they know it makes them feel good. Um, but uh they're ready to blame, you know, physiologic physiological elements of it, serotonin and dopamine and um in some of those things, the exhilaration of exercise uh versus like, no, you're feeling grounded and you're lifting heavy things and you feel accomplished, and um, and you're like we're gonna talk about in another episode, you're finishing a nervous system response so your parasympathetic nervous system can check back in. And um so I think the the biggest thing is we just we just like to come compartmentalize and combining those two things is just not something that comes to mind. And uh and I think in some spaces and in law enforcement and in uh fire service and probably the military that we just don't talk about mental health at all. Um, there are places where that could really mess up your employment um and get you on some kind of a profile, or everybody's looking at you with a little bit of side eye. And I think that that is improving. I think um there are all kinds of efforts going on to reduce that stigma of talking about mental health, but I think we talk about mental health like it's some kind of contagious disease that if we talk about it, we're gonna get it. We're gonna get whatever bad mental health thing is happening versus uh talking about it like we do exercise, like as a preventative modality. Like if we can talk about mental health as just what is our current state, just like our physical health. What is my current physical health state? I had my physical this week, I got my blood work, blood work says I'm doing great. Um, awesome. Uh and uh it should be the same for mental health. It doesn't have to be something that we check in on only when it's negative. It could be, you know, how am I feeling today? Feeling pretty good, awesome. That's my mental health check. And exercise can be part of that uh sort of process, part of that check-in.

SPEAKER_02 36:50

Absolutely. And you know, just even uh thinking as you're talking is if anything, it makes our health simpler in terms of look at this resistance training hits multiple things with one. You don't have to be doing 30 different things for your health and wellness. Like, I'm not saying it's the one-all-be-all, but it hits a lot of those health elements. So it gives you so much bang for the buck. Okay, so with that, let's go back and forth with some rapid fire now and list common myths that our first responders believe and can get caught up on. That this paper is essentially debunked. So I'm gonna go first. So myth number one, I need an hour. Myth number two, I need a gym. Myth number three, I need motive to be motivated, otherwise it doesn't work. Myth number four, I need a program.

SPEAKER_00 37:43

I'm too old to start. Uh I think that makes this number six. If I miss a week, I lose everything.

SPEAKER_02 37:51

If I can't do something complicated, is there even a purpose for me doing it? I'm out of myths at this point. Okay. That last one wasn't on my list. I was just going. I don't know, I was supposed to make them up too. There's endless amounts. Endless amounts.

SPEAKER_00 38:10

We're giving up on that one. I'm too dumb for that. We're good. We're good. Okay, you can do this on it. Yeah, let's talk about uh let's talk about our practical takeaways uh and what the article really says. And so two days a week, do some resistance training, whatever that looks like for you. Bands, dumbbells, kettlebells, machines, squat racks, body weights, um TRX, whatever modality you got, whatever modality you will actually do for two days a week, five exercises. So remember categories, push, pull, hinge, squat, carry, and two sets of however many reps it takes to get you tired at whatever amount of resistance you have. Um simple as that. That's all you really need. And you don't need to make it harder, you don't need to do more. Um, just do the bare minimum and see what happens. See what happens with your physical life, uh, see what happens with your internal mental health life, and uh really try to stop overthinking and fitness. Do something.

SPEAKER_02 39:15

Absolutely, and I'm gonna add on to that consistency beats everything. So even it's at two days a week, just consistently get in there. Doesn't matter how fancy, complex, show up twice a week. Show up twice a week, even if it's 20 minutes each time, show up.

SPEAKER_00 39:33

And I can't remember where I heard it. If it I was talking to an officer or if I was listening to a podcast, uh, I think I was talking to an actual human being who like on days where they don't feel like lifting, they'll go to their gym or their workout space and just walk in. That's me. Yeah, you're one of those people. Yeah, you will just walk in. Maybe I heard it from you last time we were podcasting, but it's just you walk in, you'll see the people you see when you normally work out. Um, and sometimes that's enough to motivate you to do a little something while you're there, but sometimes you still get to check the box that you showed up to the gym. And it sounds ridiculous, but in terms of like habit forming and keeping a habit going, it will help you to just show up.

SPEAKER_02 40:21

Yeah, I'm a big fan of that one. And I'll be vocal, like it's not often, but I'll be vocal in the change room. I'm like, I'm going to the gym. Don't know how long I'm gonna last in there, but I'm going. I'm putting my clothes on. And 90% of the time I end up doing a workout, right? 90% of the time. And something the feedback I've had from from my members as well, they're like, yes, that makes a difference. Just having that permission to maybe question, I think, helps them. And that validation of no, even people where it's their job don't want to do it sometimes. Right.

SPEAKER_00 40:56

So it makes it for me. I get up early to work out most of the time. And there are times when I would like to not wake up at 4 a.m. But I do it.

SPEAKER_02 41:07

So and and listeners for the record, um, Anna and I were traveling in Ireland in the fall, and she was still waking up early to get to the gym before sightseeing and before conference time. So kudos to you for fighting through it as you tiptoe quietly and have your drink in the morning and then off she would go. So, yes, we should all be Anna.

SPEAKER_01 41:32

No, no, we should not.

SPEAKER_02 41:37

Okay. Well, I think uh this brings us into let's do the question of the episode.

unknown 41:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 41:44

You ready for that? Okay. So what music is fueling your workout right now?

SPEAKER_00 41:52

Uh so you guys are gonna laugh. Um Sundays are typically the only time I will listen to music while I lift weights. Um, and it's I call I call it workout and worship. I put on the Amazon playlist for whatever the worship now is. So they curate a list every two weeks or every week that's different. And I so I get my mindset ready for church while I'm getting my body ready for exercise. Um, and so that's all I listen to on Sundays. The rest of the week, actually, I go through quite a few podcasts um uh while I work out or run, or a lot of times when I run, I don't have any music at all. I just let my brain sort through its whatever is it's chaos. I let my brain sort through its chaos. So in the podcast-wise, I have a favorite uh news podcast because I do like to keep up on world events. Um, I have some sermon podcasts that I listen to. Um, help me help remind me to be a good human being. And um and then a lot like British Journal of Sports Medicine. I will usually listen to the Huberman Essentials um because his main podcast is so long.

SPEAKER_02 43:00

Um our motivation for shorter ones for the rest of the yeah, yeah, shorter ones.

SPEAKER_00 43:05

Um Mike Reinhold, uh P PTA, that is a great short podcast. If you're looking to learn some things, they sometimes will do journal reviews and sometimes they take questions. Mops and Moes, of course. I think I've talked about mops and moes here before.

SPEAKER_02 43:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:20

Um, and I love those guys. So yeah, just a I some financial advice podcast, Clark Howard. Shout out to Clark Howard, a consumer reports type guy. Um, really has helped shape my financial world in a way that my parents didn't. Sorry, mom and dad. And um, yeah, so I'm pretty I'm pretty boring. Um sometimes I'll get in the mood and put on music and then it's just whatever random I'll just put shuffle on my playlist, and it's everything from like praise and worship music to classic rock, like real classic rock for that was classic when I was a kid. So like Credence and Tom Petty and all like it's Credence has one of the best running paces. Like if you're doing the long distance run. Um definitely some nineties and early two thousand pops pop. Um, so Backstreet Boys and Christina Aguilera and Brittany Spears, Taylor Swift, I'm not like a huge Swifty, I haven't listened to a lot of her recent stuff, but um Shakira, huge fan.

SPEAKER_02 44:21

Um has a new FIFO song coming out.

SPEAKER_00 44:23

Oh yeah, FIFA's coming up to Vancouver, so this is how I know. I haven't done well at keeping up with music, but uh but yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:31

A lot on the news. That's the only reason I know.

SPEAKER_00 44:33

I've been mixing it more country lately, so like Eric Church and um Chris Stableton. It's a wide variety. I learned that from my dad. My dad will listen to everything from rap, although he would never admit that out loud, to um like oingo boingo and uh electronic dance music, Gina G, believe it or not. Um, and uh and this is back in the 80s and 90s, so I learned to appreciate a wide variety of music from my dad.

SPEAKER_02 45:02

That is like mine. So if I put mine on shuffle, it would be punk covers, yeah, old rock, like I Love Motown, to Some Rage Against Machine. So a little bit of of everything. Um, what's fueling with my workouts right now is I made a I call it a heroes playlist, and it's music from Marvel movies, particularly uh Deadpool, because I'm from Vancouver. Yay, Ryan Reynolds, and um Guardians of the Galaxy. So I often like to lift to that. And for running, it'll be punk covers or actually Michael Jackson has some really good songs for running pace too. So that'll be my classic ones. Um, but otherwise I have so many random mixes. Um if it's a short tempo one, then I'll I'll do varying paces uh of songs. So yeah, music is a must for me. I'm not one to work out much without music or run without music. Trying to avoid the chaos in your brain. Exactly, exactly. Well, you know what, I sing as I go, and uh I did a 5K not too long ago with the department, and it'd been a while since I ran. I was like, oh, I'll put on this 5K mix and stuff, and happily just ran through, like and did pretty good, finish it so it's three miles, right? And I think 24 minutes. And our our deputy chief looked at me, he's like, I've never seen somebody smile so much when they ran. I was like, Oh, it's a really good playlist. And I was excited every time a new song came on because it brought back running memories, anyways. Yeah, and and smiles are my default look. I don't have uh the opposite face when I when I scribble, my smile engulfs my face. So um, okay, so those are mine, and then Tracy did submit her answers for this, and she listens to Skillet and Metallica for her workouts. So I'm glad that she was able to participate in our questions so you guys can get to know us and our idiosyncrasies. Good choices all around. Yeah, absolutely. Well, thank you everyone for listening to this podcast. Please rate, review, like, subscribe, all of the above wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you have any questions you would like us to answer, please send them at askthetacticaltrio at gmail.com. We uh super appreciate you listening to us, and we look forward to making the next episode for you guys. Thanks for being here with us today. If you have a question, make sure you send it in. We are super excited to build this with you. This is Ask Me Tactical Trio.