Breaking Barriers: Increasing Graduation Rates, Improving Performance, Reducing Injuries, and Supporting Academy Instructors

Fitness deficits among incoming recruits, limited equipment, and logistical constraints can contribute to increased injuries, higher attrition rates, and significant financial costs for agencies in medical claims and lost personnel. This session presents findings from a university-supported, low-cost, 12-week fitness program that reduced severe injuries by 76%, improved performance, and successfully adapted to recruits with varying fitness levels across multiple academies. The program’s evidence-based strategies helped reduce training failures, enhance retention, and promote officer wellness. Attendees will explore scalable, cost-effective solutions that leverage commercial off-the-shelf technology to standardize training, reduce liability, and optimize agency budgets. Notably, the program achieved success despite recruits entering with diverse medical and fitness backgrounds.