Yeah, thanks for stating the obvious. If you've read the entire thread, no one's said it was solely about guns and cuffs, but every bit helps. I'm grateful for a progressive chief that wants to improve our environment and health. If a part of it is equipment, which needs replacing anyway, then I'll take itOriginally Posted by BigD
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This. A couple of years into my police career, I had lower back pain that was so bad, I was afraid I was going to have to find another job. I tried suspenders and they didn’t help. The thing that did help was stretching and strengthening. Goblet squats, kettlebell swings and good ole toe touching made a huge difference and still do. Another great resource is the book, “Treat your own back” by Dr Mackenzie.
My comments have not been approved by my employer and do not necessarily represent the views of my employer. These are my comments, not my employer's.
While I don’t have back issues, my hips and knee give me the most problems. My hips ache after wearing a duty belt all day and my right knee sounds like Rice Krispies when I climb stairs. I’m now experiencing tennis elbow which flared up yesterday after shooting a 1911.
800mg of Motrin usually fixes all that for most of the day.
I’m not a fan of suspenders or the load bearing vests...They are ugly as shit...I guess I’m just a traditionalist when it comes to how they look. I prefer the cleaner look of a uniform but I’d do yoga before wearing suspenders or a load bearing vest. I’m just old (47) and salty, and ready to retire.
If you're not already, look into 9mm pistols instead of a 40 or 45. That + a polymer pistol will save some weight.
Belt pad under the regular duty belt will go a long way as well. I'm going to the snake eater tactical belt setup for that very reason. My SWAT rig is a padded belt with a thin inner and it is a massive improvement over a duty belt or my old swat belt + a stiff inner belt.
Look at setting up duty belts so there's nothing on your back. Best thing I ever did was get the damn cuffs off my back and put a double pouch up front. Make sure your holster isn't pushing into the seat and tilting your hips while you sit. See about getting guys keyboards to write reports when they're using their computers in their car. Overall just research some of the ergonomics studies other departments have already done. No need to reinvent the wheel...
I agree with you on the traditional uniform look. Back when I had my back issue, I was strongly considering ponying up $$ for one of the Back Defender systems until I wondered how one would quickly unhitch them to respond to a Code 2+ toilet run....
It might make a difference to some. It makes no difference to me. I've carried a duty belt and/or significantly heavier loads for a living most of my adult life.
Sorta around sometimes for some of your shitty mod needs.
I back tracked some of my left knee problems to my surefire v70 flashlight that was at roughly 10 o'clock. The base of the holster was digging into my hip flexors and impeding their function. It got the point where I could flex my thigh 0-30 degrees and above 90 degrees, but 30 to 90 degrees was a dead zone. If you have equipment on the front of your belt that digs into the tops of your thighs it might cause some issues.
Whether you think you can or you can't, you're probably right.
Add me to the list of those recommending abdominal and lower back exercises, and stretching. I never did actual yoga, but if someone needs a “system” to motivate the exercises and stretching, well, yoga is a system.
My right knee was gimpy going in, and more gimpy when I retired. It held up, well enough, with careful self-management, and no cutting by any knee-hackers.
For most of my nearly 34 years in uniform, I kept everything on my hips, or forward, so that when sitting, nothing but the belt was behind my back. A Safariland buckle-less belt helped me to achieve that. I retired with a seemingly intact, healthy lower back.
I kept a baton ring on my belt, for the issued straight 26” hardwood stick. I did have several collapsible batons, too, over time, but never added a sheath for them, to my belt. The only one worth anything as an impact weapon, while expanded, was the 26” steel Monadnock.
During my final late spring/summer, I made the commitment to wear a rifle plate carrier, with multi-curved Level III plates, IIIA kevlar backers, and IIIA side panels, for the full duty shift. I kept the carrier slick, except for a radio holder. I was starting to feel it, in my back and knees, by late November, after about six months of wearing the plates. At that time, I started burning about a month of leave, after which I worked a week, then burned another month of leave, and retired. So, it seems that the plates may have started to become a bit much, for my aging knees, and perhaps my back, but the experiment did not last more than six months. (Notably, I have a bit of kyphosis and more than a bit of scoliosis, so what for most would be an evenly-distributed load cannot be “balanced.” So, my upper and middle back have always been “screwed.”)
To be clear, the apparent effects of wearing the plates did not hasten my retirement. Had I wished to keep working, I could have simply reverted to wearing soft armor.
The ailments that significantly contributed to my decision to retire were in my shoulders, and right hand and wrist. By 2011, .40 recoil was becoming a bit much to tolerate, in large doses. I stopped using my P229R .40 Snap & Whip duty pistol in October 2015, a month after my chief OK’ed 9mm as an alternative duty cartridge. By October 2017, 100 rounds of 9mm, when fired with a G19, had become too much. (A G17 was still tolerable, as was an all-steel 1911, with .45 ACP.) I believe that using a .44 Magnum duty revolver, for a year, March 1984 to March 1985, and later using a .41 Mag duty revolver, from late 1985 to some time in 1989, had much to do with the years-later ailing of my right thumb, hand, and wrist.
Last edited by Rex G; 08-17-2018 at 09:53 AM.
Some of my favorite stretches and exercises for the knees and the back:
Stretching for the knees:
Stretching for the back:
youtube.com/watch?v=I1rWQuaoe9Y
Strengthening the abs for the back (crunches):
Last edited by P30; 08-17-2018 at 02:08 PM.
It's well document that crunches can lead to herniated discs and lower back pain.Some of my favorite stretches and exercises for the knees and the back:
Strengthening the abs for the back (crunches):
https://www.macleans.ca/society/heal...kill-crunches/
While there are lots of ways to injure a back, the sit-up is an easily preventable one. According to his research, a crunch or traditional sit-up generates at least 3,350 newtons (the equivalent of 340 kg) of compressive force on the spine. The U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health states that anything above 3,300 newtons is unsafe.
So McGill suggests replacing sit-ups with exercises to strengthen the core while not bending the spine: bridges, planks, leg extensions, bird dogs, and “stir the pot.” The bird dog, for instance, simply involves getting on all fours and, while keeping the core muscles tight, extending the opposite arm and leg, then switching limbs. “Stir the pot” is a more complex movement: moving shoulders in a small circle while in a prone push-up position with forearms balanced on an exercise ball.
The results of McGill’s decades of spine research is slowly being accepted outside the worlds of academia and elite athletics. Ian Crosby of the Calgary Fire Department saw the shift first-hand. He’s on a committee of the International Association of Fire Fighters that establishes criteria for the make-or-break fitness test. A few years ago, they reviewed the annual sit-up test, which involved doing steady crunches in time to a metronome. The problem, for Crosby, is that anyone being assessed “will train to get better. And that involves repeated bouts of sit-ups.” So last year, after talking to Stuart McGill and other experts, the IAFF dropped the sit-up in favour of the prone plank—basically a static push-up that will leave the unfit trembling with fatigue.
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