A Cross-Sectional and Retrospective Cohort Analysis of the Effects of Age on Flexibility, Strength Endurance, Lower-Body Power, and Aerobic Fitness in Law Enforcement Officers.

There can be a great age range in cohorts of law enforcement officers. As the tasks required of officers generally do not change with advancing age, it is important to understand how physical performance in tests that assess job-specific characteristics may be altered. Retrospective analysis of performance test data for 383 officers (362 males, 21 females) was conducted. The tests included: sit-and-reach to determine hamstring and lower back flexibility; maximal push-up and sit-up repetitions in 60 s to measure muscle endurance; vertical jump (VJ) to assess lower-body power; and 2.4 km run to ascertain aerobic capacity. Data was stratified by age into 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, and 50-59 year groups, and analyzed by gender. A one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post hoc calculated differences between the groups. Considering the males, the 40-49 and 50-59 year groups performed poorer in the VJ, sit-up test, and 2.4 km run compared to the 20-29 year group (p ≤ 0.001-0.045). For the females, the 20-29 year group were superior to the 30-39 (p = 0.013) and 40-49 (p = 0.025) year groups in the push-up test. To ensure an older officer can successfully complete occupation-specific tasks, lower-body power, abdominal strength, and aerobic training should be completed. Female officers should also attempt to maintain relative upper-body strength. Practitioners must attempt to design training programs that fit within the context of the occupational demands, as well as potentially utilizing a non-traditional training design as law enforcement officers may not have the time to follow a traditional periodization model.