Mass. State Police Get Kids Moving With 'Workout With A Trooper' Videos
BOSTON (CBS) - If you've ever wondered what it takes to be a Massachusetts State Police Trooper, here's your chance to find out.
The agency is helping us all keep busy and moving throughout this quarantine, one step or squat at a time. It's called 'Workout With A Trooper' and all you have to do is go to Facebook, where the workouts are streamed live!
Trooper Gerry O'Malley, the fitness coordinator at State Police Academy said it all started with a phone call.
"I get a call from Corey Mackey the president of the State Police of Massachusetts Union and he gave me the idea of workout with a trooper and I thought it was a great idea. I have three kids at home. Three girls, one in high school, middle and elementary school and it gives them something to do, a routine, get up out of bed certain days and get a workout in," O'Malley told WBZ-TV.
The program started five weeks ago and so far there have been 15 classes online.
You'll hear Trooper O'Malley coaching you through the exercises one move at a time.
"I'm coaching from the sidelines. So, I have the easy job!," he laughed.
The troopers cover everything from squats, lunges and push ups, to burpees.
"Exercise can help decrease anxiety, and help you sleep better at night, and if you're sleeping better you're less stressed, you're eating better, you're more apt to stay healthy," he explained.
It's tailored to work for all ages, kids included.
"The workouts are appropriate for any age, they're appropriate for any age or fitness level. So you get out of these workouts what you out into them!," he said. "The workouts range from anywhere from 8 to 15 minutes and, again, age appropriate and fitness level appropriate. So this could be for an advanced athlete. The harder you work the more you get out of it."
The best part, no excuses necessary. All you need is some space.
"All compound functional movements, things we do everyday. We do it without equipment," he said. "So it's designed so that these kids are at home maybe they only have a living room, they don't have any equipment just a little bit of space. We give them the clock and the time and we have demonstrators demonstrating the exercises so they can follow along."
The workouts are steamed live on the agency's Facebook page every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 11:30 a.m. and if you miss it live, you can pull up the video by clicking on the videos section.
The workouts are becoming a hit! State Police have been sent the pictures to prove it.
"It's awesome, there's been a lot of positive feedback and I'm happy to be contributing to a small portion of this but the credit really goes to the media production team, who comes out and films these and edits them and the volunteers who participate in these workouts. Some days they are working out 3 workouts back-to-back-to-back. So hats off to them, they deserve the credit, but it's been a hit and I'm humbled by it," O'Malley said.
He feels a team effort is especially important right now with us all staying home as much as possible and kids out of school.
"With the quarantine in the house we lose that everyday standard routine so this can get them up out of bed every Monday Wednesday and Friday, they can plan the workout. It's a stress relief, anxiety relief, they are sleeping better, eating better. I think it's hugely important," he added.