Listen To The Most Recent Epsiode:
Episode 28: Coffee Is NOT The Best Energy Source For Tactical Athletes
If coffee really did increase your energy then wouldn’t first responders have lots of energy all of the time?
Episode 27: How To Recover Faster Post Shift
Today we are going to be diving into how I get responders to recover really quickly post workout, as well as post shift. Even when they are on really long blocks of shifts.
Episode 26: How First Responders Become The Best Leader In Their Service
Some in your service may believe that your service will give you all of the training that you need in order to be promoted or when you are promoted. And they may believe that once you become that leader that they’re going to give you all of the tools and everything that you need in order to be an expert in that position.
Episode 25: The Secret To Staying Operationally Strong During A 911 Career
Quite often we think of exercise and nutrition in order to stay operationally strong. The thing is there is a difference between being operationally strong and fit for duty.
Episode 24: Operational Endurance Is Required Now More Than Ever For First Responders
It is very, very important that this COVID effect doesn’t hit you and that you are able to maintain operational endurance. Your job needs you. Civilians need you.
Episode 23: Replay – Low Testosterone Is Not A Life Sentence For First Responders
Low testosterone is definitely not a life sentence for a first responder. There are so many factors that can lower testosterone in first responders. It’s important to take it as a sign that your body could use some sleep support.
Episode 22: Shift Work Increases Sugar & Carb Cravings
You would think that all you needed is willpower and knowledge of healthy eating in order to stop sugar and carb cravings. That to stop sugar and carb cravings, you just have to make better choices, right?
Episode 21: What Came First – Sleep Deprivation Or PTSD?
What if there is a link between first responders who are sleep deprived and excessive use of force, alcohol or drug-related charges on responders, domestic violence or another charge that was unethical on first responders, depression, anxiety, suicides without PTSD being present?
Episode 20: Leaving The Job Won’t Fix Your Sleep, Anxiety, And Hypervigilance
All the different operational stressors and stressors that do occur in the life of a first responder, do play a huge role in how taxed your stress system is which does affect your sleep, your energy, your anger, anxiety, hypervigilance, and how calm you are.
Episode 19: We Lost An Officer
We lost an officer last week. He was leading a training course. He went to grab a coffee for everyone that he was teaching and he was shot from behind while he was waiting in line at the coffee shop.
Episode 18 : Prevent December Burnout Now
Getting as strong as possible for the operational stress that you know is going to be thrown at you in December is really a big, huge key to you preventing and staying out of burnout in December
Episode 17: Anxiety Almost Took Him Out Of His Dream Position
I came to the program because I was experiencing anxiety like I’ve never experienced. And I really didn’t even know where it came from. And I was really, really worried about if this was the big, scary, PTSD that everybody talks about. And I had significant worry that I was going to have to go off work but what I found was I wasn’t too proud to try to ask for help and to get psych help.
Episode 16: You Are Not Broken, You Don’t Understand The Solution Yet
There’s different pieces of a puzzle. And that’s why so many people feel that they’re broken when they’re being sold on there’s one way and you have to do it this way and this is the only thing and not fully understanding how all of these pieces work together with your stress system.
Episode 15: Meet My Police Officer Husband
Diving into today’s episode, this is my husband for any of you that are actually watching this on YouTube. He is a big supporter behind the scenes. Today, we are going to do a different episode. We’re going to do an interview together where we are asking each other some tough questions as being a first responder couple, family and both of us working in the world with first responders
Episode 14: Low Testosterone Is not a life sentence for First Responders
Low testosterone is definitely not a life sentence for a first responder. If you have low testosterone, it would be phenomenal for you to go and check your sleep and see if you are getting enough REM sleep, if you’re getting enough of a really good quality sleep because fixing that will most likely really benefit your testosterone levels and get them up higher and possibly prevent you from needing to take shots and creams for life.
Episode 13: When A First Responder’s Strength Becomes Their Weakness
Your strength or your weakness number one is that you don’t give yourself enough credit for all that you do. And it’s making many of you think that you have nowhere else to go that you’re kind of stuck in this career because even if you wanted to, many of you don’t, and most of you don’t.
Episode 12: How To Train Your Body To Be 911 Shift Strong
I am going to teach you to be independent of anyone else in order to figure out what your body needs and when on any shift schedule. So you will not need to rely on anyone else to be able to figure out what your body needs and when.
Episode 11: Think Exhaustion Is The Secret To Falling Asleep? Think Again
I beg to differ a little bit on this one because if you think that exhaustion is the secret to falling asleep, I’d encourage you to think again. I mean, I get it. Working 12, 24 hour shifts, often there’s OT, there’s not enough time in between shifts to even get eight hours to get what you need.
Episode 10: Exercise Is One Of The Worst Ways To Relieve Stress
If exercise really is the best way to relieve stress, if this was true then every single responder who pushed really hard in workouts, they would never need to go on stress leave, would they? And we know that’s not true.
Episode 09: You Can Be A Leader At Any Rank
Jeff Halstead was the chief of a service. He worked his way all the way through the ranks. He’s done so much in policing and now works outside of policing. And he said that a leader is not based on rank. Some of the most powerful leaders that he has ever worked with around are beat cops, detectives, specialty unit officers. And he says that one of the big problems is that policing hasn’t advanced in communications like it needs.
Episode 08: Yelling At Your Kids Doesn’t Mean Something Is Wrong With You
The quick and dirty of it is that your stress reaction is so strong like we spoke about earlier. You’re living in it and you can’t shut it off. Your reactions are so quick and that is what keeps you safe on the job. But it’s also what doesn’t allow you to rest and relax and be calm in the moments where you don’t need to be after a while.
Episode 07: First Responder Families Can Beat The Statistics
I wouldn’t change being a police family for anything. I believe it is a calling for us spouses just as it is for the responder themselves. But the old ways aren’t working anymore. And the divorce statistics will continue to rise if we do not take action now and make the necessary changes to stop breaking down families. And instead, build stronger family units that strengthen over time.
Episode 06: Lt. Col Dave Grossman’s Book On Combat Broken Down
We are going to break down a book by Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman. We’re gonna be breaking down his book called on Combat. The physical things that you will experience under stress can be very different from what civilians experience and because these physical symptoms are not talked about and so much focus is placed on the mental effects of stress.
Episode 05: Top 5 Mistakes First Responders Make Staying Strong for 911 Shifts
Exercise helps to relieve your stress and in the majority of situations, it definitely does. But there are times in your, in our life where exercise can actually do more harm for you than good or doing the wrong type of exercise at the wrong time.
Episode 04: Why Caffeine Is Not The Best Way To Stay Strong On Shift
Understand the difference between being controlled by caffeine and having it become something that you can enjoy when the moment is there and not a need in order to help your energy to get through shift.
Episode 03: How To Stop Snoring On Any Shift Schedule
The mouth guards, the nose clips, the tapes, the glue. Do they really fix the problem to help you stop snoring or do they make it go away for a moment in time and then increase their intensity over time?
Episode 02: Are You The Same Person Your Spouse Married
I’m not proud of who I used to be. I am not the person that my husband married, thankfully. Knowing now that my anger, my mood swings, pulling away from everybody wasn’t my fault and was in fact, burnout does help a bit.
Episode 01: Vital Steps To Stay 911 Shift Ready
Do you feel ready for your shifts? I’m going to show you what really needs to happen beyond exercise and nutrition in order to help you fall asleep, stay asleep, and wake with a fully charged battery so that you can recover on days off, enjoy your family? No matter what your shift throws at you and you are going to be able to stay calm while doing it.