TSAC Report - First Responder Column - July 2024 - The Impact of Exercise and Fitness on First Responders’ Mental and Physical Health

by Sarah Lanham, CSCS,*D, and Mark Abel, PhD, CSCS,*D, TSAC-F,*D
TSAC Report November 2024
Vol 74, Issue 2

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This column will explore specific investigations that evaluate the impact of PA and fitness on mental and physical health outcomes among firefighters and law enforcement officers.

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This article originally appeared in TSAC Report, the NSCA’s quarterly, online-only publication geared toward the training of tactical athletes, operators, and facilitators. It provides research-based articles, performance drills, and conditioning techniques for operational, tactical athletes. The TSAC Report is only available for NSCA Members. Read more articles from TSAC Report 

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REFERENCES 

1. Anderson, AA, Yoo, H, and Franke, WD. Associations of physical activity and obesity with the risk of developing the metabolic syndrome in law enforcement officers. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 58(9): 946-951, 2016.

2. Bull, FC, Al-Ansari, SS, Biddle, S, Borodulin, K, Buman, MP, Cardon, G, et al. World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. British Journal of Sports Medicine 54(24): 1451-1462, 2020.

3. Chandola, T, Brunner, E, and Marmot, M. Chronic stress at work and the metabolic syndrome: Prospective study. British Medical Journal 332(7540): 521-525, 2006.

4. Dimeo, F, Bauer, M, Varahram, I, Proest, G, and Halter, U. Benefits from aerobic exercise in patients with major depression: A pilot study. British Journal of Sports Medicine 35(2): 114-117, 2001.

5. Durand, G, Tsismenakis, AJ, Jahnke, SA, Baur, DM, Christophi, CA, and Kales, SN. Firefighters’ physical activity: Relation to fitness and cardiovascular disease risk. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 43(9): 1752-1759, 2011.

6. Expert Panel on Detection and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults. Executive summary of the third report of the national cholesterol education program (NCEP) expert panel on detection, evaluation, and treatment of high blood cholesterol in adults (adult treatment panel 3). Journal of the American Medical Association 285(19): 2486-2497, 2001.

7. Garbarino, S, and Magnavita, N. Work stress and metabolic syndrome in police officers. A prospective study. PLoS ONE 10(12): e0144318, 2015.

8. Gerber, M, Lindwall, M, Lindegård, A, Börjesson, M, and Jonsdottir, IH. Cardiorespiratory fitness protects against stress related symptoms of burnout and depression. Patient Education and Counseling 93(1): 146-152, 2013.

9. Kandola, AA, del Pozo Cruz, B, Osborn, DPJ, Stubbs, B, Choi, KW, and Hayes, JF. Impact of replacing sedentary behavior with other movement behaviors on depression and anxiety symptoms: A prospective cohort study in the UK Biobank. BMC Medicine 19: 133, 2021.

10. Kessler, RC, Andrews, G, Colpe, LJ, Hiripi, E, Mroczek, DK, Normand, SL, et al. Short screening scales to monitor population prevalences and trends in non-specific psychological distress. Psychological Medicine 32(6): 959-976, 2002.

11. Koenen, KC, Ratanatharathorn, A, Ng, L, McLaughlin, KA, Bromet, EJ, Stein, DJ, et al. Post-traumatic stress disorder in the world mental health surveys. Psychological Medicine 47(13): 2260-2274, 2017.

12. Meyer, T, and Broocks, A. Therapeutic impact of exercise on psychiatric diseases. Sports Medicine 30: 269-279, 2000.

13. Morrison, K, Su, S, Keck, M, and Beidel, DC. Psychometric properties of the PCL-5 in a sample of first responders. Journal of Anxiety Disorders 77: 102339, 2021.

14. Mottillo, S, Filion, KB, Genest, J, Joseph, L, Pilote, L, Poirier, P, et al. The metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular risk: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 56(14): 1113-1132, 2010.

15. Ostman, C, Smart, NA, Morcos, D, Duller, A, Ridley, W, and Jewiss, D. The effect of exercise training on clinical outcomes in patients with the metabolic syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Cardiovascular Diabetology 16(1): 110, 2017.

16. Smith, DL, Barr, DA, and Kales, SN. Extreme sacrifice: Sudden cardiac death in the US Fire Service. Extreme Physiology and Medicine 2: 6, 2013.

17. Topp, CW, Østergaard, SD, Søndergaard, S, and Bech, P. The WHO-5 WellBeing Index: A systematic review of the literature. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics 84(3): 167-176, 2015.

18. Varvarigou, V, Farioli, A, Korre, M, Sato, S, Dahabreh, IJ, and Kales, SN. Law enforcement duties and sudden cardiac death among police officers in United States: Case distribution study. British Medical Journal 349: 6534, 2014.

19. Wagner, SL, McFee, JA, and Martin, CA. Mental health implications of fire service membership. Traumatology 16(2): 26-32, 2010.

20. Wagner, SL, White, N, Buys, N, Carey, MG, Corneil, W, Fyfe, T, et al. Systematic review of mental health symptoms in firefighters exposed to routine duty-related critical incidents. Traumatology 27(3): 285-302, 2021.

21. Yoo, H, and Franke, WD. Sleep habits, mental health, and the metabolic syndrome in law enforcement officers. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 55(1): 99-103, 2013.

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Sarah Lanham, CSCS,*D

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Sarah Lanham is a PhD student in Exercise Physiology, graduate teaching assistant, and member of the First Responder Research Laboratory in the Depart ...

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About the author

Mark Abel, PhD, CSCS,*D, TSAC-F,*D

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Mark Abel is a Professor and Director of the First Responder Research Laboratory in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Promotion at the Universi ...

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