Bench Press Strength Changes Over 23 Years in Police Recruits with Gender Comparisons

Abstract

Strength is a vital component in the performance of police duties to ensure the safety of officers and those they serve. Therefore, the initial strength the officers brings to the training program predicts the level of strength they will maintain throughout their careers. PURPOSE: To evaluate bench press strength changes that occur in police recruits from 1990 to 2013 with gender comparisons. METHODS: During the first week of police recruit training in a large southeastern metropolitan area, bench press strength and bench press weight ratio were evaluated in 2,460 recruits. ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc procedures were used to evaluate data. RESULTS: The initial ANOVA indicated significant differences in males for both variables at p≤0.05. Males tended to increase in bench press strength from 1990 to 2007 (83.7±2.0 kg to 95.9±2.1 kg, p≤0.01). Male bench press strength tended to plateau after 2007. No discernible pattern was seen in females for both variables and little change in males was observed in bench press weight ratio. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, males had a tendency to become stronger over time when considering their initial test scores in recruit school. However, females tended to remain at approximately the same muscular strength across the 23 years.