Workout for a Correctional Officer.

[austinburkes]

I'm a Correctional Officer at a Med/Min prison in Oklahoma. I'm also the youngest CO in my prison's history. I don't feel like I'm physically fit enough to meet some of my Offenders head on if something twists off so I'm coming here for some help. I need a routine or set of exercises to gain strength. I do have access to a small, facility owned gym with standard equipment. I don't care if i can see every vein or muscle, i just need to have the strength to protect myself, my fellow COs, and any Offender from physical harm due to an unruly or out of control O/F. Any help is met with gratuity.

[JSNeves]

First off what is your training experiance?

If your completly new to training I hate to say it because its said too much on this forum, but look at Starting Strength. It will put on the fast track for all over strength

If you have some experiance I would look at west side for skinny bastards, it designed for athletes which incompasses your goals perfectly (even includes ideas for conditioning which should also be important to you!)

[MichaelCJ]

Starting Strength, 3rd ed. (the book is the way to go).

Some people find a couple of accessory exercises to be beneficial (like, say, chinups and dips - increasingly weighted when you can).

I would also strongly suggest a practical martial art or two, if you haven't already seen to this. Krav Maga would be the first thing that comes to mind, not that that's really a "martial art", per se. Sure does work though. Otherwise, maybe look at something along the lines of boxing + judo/bjj/wrestling, or muay thai + judo/bjj/wrestling, or a similar mix that covers standup and grappling, etc. Ideally, I guess you wouldn't be relying on HtH, but just in case... Also, they tend to cover cardio (conditioning), some bodyweight exercises, and so on.

Anyway, if you're doing something like martial arts or sports, I recommend doing it on different days to your weightlifting.

[mmchad]

I am also a Correctional Officer. The first thing to remember is that your goal isn't to trade blows with these guys. Rather it is to wrestle them to the ground so that you can restrain them. That being said, you need muscular and cardiovascular conditioning to allow you to maintain your strength for longer than the inmates during a fight.

I would recommend you focus on a full body workout which is centered around compound movements. You should try to engage as much of your musculature during each exercise as possible. Deadlifts, trap bar deadlifts, standing shoulder presses, dips, and pullups are all examples of such exercises. Also you should emphasize short rest periods between sets and exercises. The goal is to be able to maintain your strength despite your fatigue.

Good luck

[austinburkes]

Thank you all for replying. As mmchad said, the goal isn't to trade blows with these guys. My goal is to be able to restrain them, or ward off their attacks until help can arrive. I'm going to look into all of the materials you all have mentioned, as well as taking notes on your comments.

My training experience is minimal with relation to lifting weights and doing exercises. On the other hand, i worked with a welder for around 6 months and did a LOT of lifting, pulling, and pushing with heavy gauge pipe, semi axles, diamond plate, ect. so I'm physically fit. There is muscle to start working on. I don't know if it helps, but I'm 5'11'' and about 185lbs. Definitely not fat. Don't get me wrong, there is a good portion of my O/F population i could handle, but those aren't the ones I worry about. Again, thank you all for your help.

[MichaelCJ]

Again, wrestling or something similar might be worth it. It's one hell of a workout anyway, and hey, it doesn't just simulate restraining or otherwise dealing with big (and little) guys - it IS that, every lesson. Hard work, but worth it. And I would classify a lot of it as "resistance training", in much the same way weights are. Radically different means, remarkably similar end gains (on that level). The two definitely go handily together, suffice it to say.

But whatever the case, you probably know what you're doing, and it doesn't sound like you're unfit or weak, which is an excellent start. As for routines, a solid strength-based barbell program would be my pick for the situation. That said, I'm not in that situation!

Best of luck with it all. Pretty sure you'll have no issues with any of it.