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Kelly Kennedy wasn’t completely sure what she was going to do for a career when she was young. However, she was pretty sure that if you told her that she was going to be a PE teacher in the military. However, that was exactly what she was told by a palm reader she went to right after she graduated high school.

“I was like, ‘What?’” said Kennedy. “She told me that she saw military uniforms and a PE teacher. I had no idea what she was talking about. I was about to major in Communications. I thought she was crazy and that there was no way that I was going to be a PE teacher because I hated PE.”

That wasn’t exactly what played out for Kennedy, but it could be considered close enough to give the palm reader credit. Kennedy is the fitness director for the largest police department in the southeastern United States. She is not sworn herself, but she is as much a part of the department as anyone else is. Kennedy has also led the design of a tactical obstacle course, and she created a physical screening standard for readiness for the Aviation Unit, Marine Patrol Unit and served as the project manager of a team of physiologists in the development of the minimum standards for fitness for the job of Police officer, K-9 unit and Special Response Team.

Kennedy also created “Fit to Enforce,” her education and consulting company that works to help train police officers to improve fitness and run fitness programs for their own departments. The native of Florida helps educate others about fitness, but when she initially developed an interest, she wanted to find her own way to learn how to get better.

“I was always interested in how I can control the narrative when it comes to my health,” she said. “When I was in college and I started working out, I wanted to be able to answer my own questions. I didn’t really like relying on other people to tell me what to do because every time I asked why, they couldn’t answer the question.”

That commitment to answering her own questions offered her a way to empower herself. As she learned she became better at improving her own fitness, which she says changes based on what her goals are.

“I think generally, my interests change cyclically. I think that boredom is the biggest enemy to keeping fit.

Kennedy went on to become a physiology assistant at a hospital during graduate school, which she would finish with a masters degree in health education. During that time, she became a substitute aerobics instructor when the regular instructor went on a vacation. One of the contracts that was included was for the local police department.

“That was my first exposure to that. I didn’t know that they had a fitness program,” she explained. “They had a fully outfitted wellness program, and it was unlike any other department in the country.”

Kennedy would eventually start looking for a full-time job, and she called the manager to see if he was hiring anyone. That would be the initial connection that kickstarted her current career. Kennedy has since trained and tested with an estimated 4,000 police officers and recruits since 1999. In 2003, she created Fit to Enforce, which gave her the opportunity to travel outside of her area to prepare police and corrections officers for creating and running their own fitness programs.

“Many departments were looking for help, but there isn’t a lot of mentorship when it comes to fitness training for police,” she stated. “When I got to my department, it was the best of all possibilities because they had all the services since 1989. Most departments have not.”

Kennedy’s mission is to help educate those she works with so they can go on to help improve the fitness levels of as many officers as possible so they can be their best for the communities they serve. However, that may be easier to read than do. One concept that she found to be an issue with some recruits is that they don’t realize they have to give up control of their fitness to the department or academy they are going into.

“The vast majority of the work should’ve been done before they got there. When they get there, they have relinquished control of their fitness to the academy. It’s really hard to engage in a brand new fitness program outside of the academy once they’ve already started,”

Kennedy’s personal biggest challenge is finding a way to streamline the process of fitness while dealing with a variety of officers that come from different fitness backgrounds. She explained that this is because they aren’t looking at fitness through the same lens.

“For police officers, that isn’t their main thing. When I travel across the country and talk to them about fitness, it’s a completely new world for them because they’ve really never heard about best practices of police training for fitness until then,” she pointed out. “How could they have? Everything they do is based on the job that they’ve applied to do.”

To make it easier for everyone involved, Kennedy tries to bring the most contemporary approach to fitness that she can. Ultimately, her goal is to help them reach their goals for the departments and themselves. That is why her workshops are a combination of lectures and physical training. She also works to keep those in attendance engaged by being proactive in hearing what they have to say.

“It’s a collaborative approach. No one in the room is smarter than everyone else in the room. Every time I teach, it’s an opportunity for people to bring their own experience and share their challenges with each other. I have the fitness experience, but the people in the room have the law enforcement experience that I don’t have.”

Kennedy will likely work with thousands more people before her career is over. She advised that students and young adults that may want to become police officers themselves can be a step ahead of others by taking control of their fitness early on so they can be better prepared for the academy. Kennedy offers a way to do just that.

“If I were an aspiring police officer, I would look to the unit to see what recommendations they have, if any. From the moment they apply, they should already be training. If they are like the vast majority of departments around the country, then they are going to be focusing a lot of calisthenics, including those that they would do in a para-military setting,” she shared. “Pushups, jumping jacks, sit-ups, because everything is usually done with no equipment. They should also be running, and that includes knowing the right type of running shoes to wear.”

Kennedy went on to suggest that running for sprints and distance as well as incorporating calisthenics at various points of those runs would be best. The work and guidance that she is offering now has the potential to help many more people than those she actually connects with, which is a big deal in her eyes. Kennedy sees a bright future when it comes to fitness and wellness for those that are going to be protecting us all.

“We are on the precipice of being able to make some really good changes when it comes to fitness of law enforcement.” For more information about Fit to Enforce, Click Here!

News

How This Police Officer Transformed His Physique

In less than one year, Mike Weleski lost an incredible 100 pounds and got stronger than ever.

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Gym leggings are everywhere. They are in a plentiful supply of different colours, styles and designs to tempt and to tease. Gym leggings can easily become an addiction because of the way they make you feel; comfortable and supported, and the versatility of activities you can perform whilst wearing them.

High Waisted Gym Leggings

High waisted gym leggings are a great choice for ladies at the gym. They are comfortable, and work to accentuate your curves, bringing out all of your best bits. High waisted gym leggings help to hold your tummy in, giving your waist a slim look, and sometimes helping to increase the curve of your bottom in comparison.

Seamless Gym Leggings

Seamless gym leggings are a great option as they rid of any lumps and bumps, by giving you an overall smooth look throughout. In addition to this, seamless gym leggings also often last longer, as there are less seams to fray and wear.

Scrunch Bum Leggings

Scrunch bum gym leggings are a great option for increasing the flattering look. Scrunch bum gym leggings do exactly what they say on the tin: the material is scrunched around the bum. This scrunch effect helps to add volume to your bum, preventing any pancake effect other gym leggings can sometimes create. A pert, lifted bum, enhanced by a slim waist can be a very flattering look, only achieved by high quality gym leggings.

Compression Leggings

High quality gym leggings, and gym wear, usually has compressive material to ensure your muscles and joints are held snug in place. This helps to support your muscles and joints. It can also help to increase the blood circulation through your muscles, resulting in reduced onset of doms. This aids recovery and can also prevent injury.

Compressive material is the material responsible for the held in waist. It prevents your body from wobbling, which is a great addition when working out, but can also look great too.

Brands

From Pursue Fitness to Famme, Combat Dollies to V3 Apparel, there is a huge selection of high quality brands offering the very best in gym leggings. These brands ensure that you are getting the right balance between flexibility and support, or compression. These brands have been squat proof checked, and they have reviews and ratings available online to give you complete confidence when buying.

What’s more, the fitting guide and pleasurable, easy shopping experience offered from the online supplier GymWear UK, make these an easy first choice when choosing your flattering gym leggings.

You can browse through the incredible selection online, with gym leggings being modelled to show how they look on. Whether you want to flatten your tummy, accentuate your curves or lift your bottom, you can find the very best online at www.GymWear.co.uk

With colours, designs and styles a plenty, you will be certain to find the perfect gym leggings for you, to not only flatter your shape and size, but also to compliment your personality and personal style. Find your gym leggings today.

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When you see a picture of Philip Ricardo Jr., or if you see him in person, you’re not only looking at a longtime bodybuilder, you’re looking at a retired United States Marine. There have been some people who saw him and may have questioned whether he’s still active. That’s because of the shape he has kept himself in for the stage and life.

“I take pride that I was in the Marines. So, I don’t want anybody asking ‘you were in the Marines?’ I want them to still see that Marine in me.”

Ricardo grew up in Brooklyn, New York, but he would eventually move to Chicago, Illinois. Throughout his childhood, he admired bodybuilders and he was a big fan of Lou Ferrigno as the Incredible Hulk.

“I always loved watching Bruce Banner transform into the Incredible Hulk,” he said. “I was in awe of Lou Ferrigno. I was in awe of him competing against Arnold Schwarzenegger.”

He also played football with high hopes of making it to a college team. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen for him. After speaking with his father, they came to the decision that joining the US Armed Forces would be in his best interest.

“A Marine Corps recruiter came to our house. We talked, and we came to the conclusion that joining would be the best route for me to go,” he recalled. “For me being a physically active guy, I think that was the best challenge for me.”

On December 28, 1989 the 18-year-old Ricardo reported to his first day of boot camp, and that would be the start of a 21-year career as a Marine. Even though he felt like he was disciplined and structured at a young age, the first generation service member credited his time in service for helping him grow and evolve even more because of how he had to rise to challenges such as running 25-mile rucks and working various jobs throughout his time in service. He would be stationed in Japan at one point, and it would be there that he would make his way onto a bodybuilding state for the first time.

“On the base I was at, they had a competition that they called a Friendship Day competition. Friendship Day was when the Japanese nationals would come on base and see some of the equipment and things that were there. At the same time, they would host this bodybuilding show.”

Ricardo had already been training hard while he was there. So, he would enter that show after a show put his name in it, and he won the middleweight class. He said he lost the overall to someone who was shredded and had more stage presence. Nonetheless, Ricardo got bit by the bodybuilding bug.

“It was nice to get an individual trophy for what I did,” he shared.

As for Ricardo’s military career, he went over 17 years without being deployed overseas, but eventually Ricardo would be sent to Iraq in 2007, It was by choice, though, because he actually went in place of a co-worker who was an expecting father.

“I actually volunteered to take his spot and go over there,” he explained. “For me, that was a big deal because I had my own family obviously. I just felt like I had to do that and volunteer so he could be there for his family.”

Ricardo worked as a Special Operations chief on that mission, and he would be a part of two deployments before his career ended in 2011. While he was no longer on active duty, he continued to compete in bodybuilding competitions, and he would eventually get cast to be a part of a movie, “Generation Iron: Natty 4 Life.” Now, like Ferrigno who was in Pumping Iron, Ricardo was a part of a bodybuilding movie.

“I grew up with Pumping Iron. Every single movie that had anything to do with bodybuilding, I was watching it,” he explained. Generation Iron: Natty 4 Life featured former M&F cover model Mike O’Hearn and chronicled several bodybuilders throughout their prep for contests. For Ricardo, it was a highlight in a career that has spanned several years.

“I never thought in a million years that I would’ve had the career I’ve had, and it took until later in my career to have it. But God works in mysterious ways.”

Aside from training himself, Ricardo also works as a personal trainer. He sees himself as an advocate for fitness not only to his clients, but also to other veterans. He wants to be an example to show others that they need to focus on self-improvement for themselves as well as their families and friends.

“If it weren’t for bodybuilding, I would probably have more health issues,” said Ricardo. “This lifestyle has really helped me with my health, which I take seriously because I have family and kids. The last thing I want is to leave them early. I think those that served should take that same kind of mindset.”

Ricardo hopes that his story could be a positive example for the generation coming up as well. Teenagers coming out of high school have many options, but there is also a lot of issues they face that other generations may not have. Ricardo feels that a career in service would be beneficial for young adults now and well into the future. Aside from commitment to their homeland, it would be in their personal best interests.

“The Marine Corps truly changed my life. I got to go in and learn a trade that a lot of people just don’t get. I have friends in both New York and Chicago, and they’re in the same situations, just older now. They may not have decent jobs, but they aren’t as worldly or accomplished as you could be in the military. The military will teach you so much more that nothing else out there can.”

Follow Philip Ricardo Jr. on Facebook and on Instagram @ricardos_legend.

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Vinh Pham is a licensed physical therapist and the co-founder of Myodetox, a movement health clinic with over a dozen locations across Los Angeles, Toronto, Vancouver. He’s also the author of Sit Up Straight: Futureproof Your Body Against Chronic Pain with 12 Simple Movements, which provides stretching and movement routines to help relieve pain and discomfort that comes from sitting and slouching.

Pham’s client list includes some of the world’s top athletes and entertainers. During the early parts of his career, he was shocked at how many of his patients came to him while they were already in pain due to tightened muscles and misaligned joints. He began rethinking the approach to a healthier body by being preactive than reactive.

His approach to the spine is dedicated to movement and being hyper-aware of the body. There are various exercises to maintaining a healthy spine. Everything from diet to deadlifts can play a part. Pham believes that what’s often missing in people’s lives is dedicated mobility of the spine in combination with strength. No slouch in the gym, he shared his gym essentials with Muscle and Fitness as well as provided some tips on how to futureproof your spine.

• Get up and move, as often as possible: During COVID, people sat up to 15 hours a day. When you really think about it, the real question you should be asking yourself is “how often was I truly getting up, going for a walk, exercising, and doing anything else but sit?” The spine may be robust, but it craves movement. It’s recommended you get up every 30 minutes. Whether it’s time dedicated to a short walk, a stretch, or mobility movements, make sure you make it known that you should be getting up as often as possible. At the end of the day, movement is what your spine needs most.
• Try to eliminate anything that impedes your spine’s ability to move well: For some, this may mean ensuring you’re managing your weight. After all, our spinal health will be affected by our weight. Naturally, you should be paying attention to what you eat and how much you sleep. Truthfully, this should be discussed with your physician and dietician, but our food intake and sleep will affect our weight, ultimately affecting our spine.
• Embrace the unknown with your spinal mobility: Don’t be afraid to expose your spine to novel movements, especially if you sit a lot for work and leisure. Here’s a couple of exercises I get a lot of my patients to do regularly, in addition to their exercise routines: GEARs: Think of this exercise as “flossing” and “brushing” your spine. A lot of us will do a variation of these movements naturally, especially if we’ve been sitting all day.3D T-spine Rotation: This exercise focuses on multiple planes of movement of your thoracic and lumbar spine.

  At the end of the day, life is full of twists, bends, and infinite combinations of movement – you should be doing all the movement variation you can for your spine if you want to keep it healthy.

• Strengthen your spine in multiplanes of movement: This one may seem counterintuitive to the traditional compound movements like squats, deadlifts, and bench presses. Though these movements are awesome, a lot of our life is spent in one plane of movement. We twist our spine to tie our shoes, pick up our kids, or maintain our garden outside. To get a sense of what I mean, check out this post dedicated to deadlift variations. Of course, you want to be respectful of spinal load. I’m not saying add a twist to your heaviest deadlift. I’m saying that your spine is robust and can handle some variation of load that you’ll encounter in life. Try a weight that allows you to be mobile, with some resistance. If it means 10 pounds., so be it.
• Recovery, recovery, recovery: Every professional athlete, including the ones I work with, focuses on recovery to optimize their body. It’s one thing to train your mobility and strength, but it’s another to address areas of the body that can contribute to movement dysfunction and possible injury. You want to Futureproof Your Body against injury.This may be as simple as a foam rolling routine that you perform before and after exercises or hot/cold baths. But my number one choice is manual therapy. Be it myofascial techniques, joint mobilizations, or a combination of both. Adding manual therapy to your recovery, especially in areas associated with your spine, will protect you from future injuries. My team at Myodetox are truly experts with this conceptual framework of combining movement and manual therapy to optimize the body.

You can follow Vinh for more tips and movements at @vinnierehab.

Workout Tips

6 Tricks to Improve Your Posture

Don't let a lifetime of slouching and hunching over lead to a life of pain and deformity

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Ill-fitting clothing, whether it be gym leggings, shorts, bikinis or any other item, can make you look fat. It’s a no brainer. If you have too tight waistbands digging into your skin, it will create overhang, whether in the belly, arms, thighs or anywhere else. However, is it true that gym leggings will make you look fat regardless?

Some people claim that leggings are an unflattering item of clothing, and not to be worn if not needed. Others claim that gym leggings are a staple clothing item, which offer the ultimate in comfort and flexibility, whatever your daily activity. Personally, I believe that gym leggings can be an unflattering item of clothing, but they can also be a very flattering item of clothing, depending on how you wear them.

High Waisted Gym Leggings

Like anything, if you wear the correct style of gym leggings for your body shape, of a high-quality material, gym leggings can work to accentuate your curves and hold in any wobbly bits, giving you a flatter stomach and firmer bottom and thighs. High waisted leggings can be a great choice to get this more slimline look.

Scrunch Bum Leggings

If you are looking to accentuate your curves, and flatten other bits, then wearing high waisted, scrunch bum leggings can be a great way to achieve this look. The scrunch material and design helps to add volume to your bum, preventing that ‘pancake bum’ look, which can otherwise happen with compression leggings. The compression material helps to keep your bottom from wobbling, and can help to keep it lifted too, resulting in a perfectly shaped bottom.

Panelling

Panelling, colours and designs can also affect the overall look of your gym leggings. Patterns can work to slim or accentuate. From curves and arcs around the buttocks, to lines and panels through the thigh area; the pattern on your clothing can really affect the visual effect of the shape of your body. Colours can also have this effect, with darker colours, generally, being more flattering than light. That said however, it’s important to also add a splash of your personality with your gym leggings, it’s not always about looking as slim as possible. We want to add fun and difference to our gym wardrobe to help to motivate us to want to wear our clothing.

Comfort

The most important thing about your gym wear is that it is comfortable, supportive, flexible and that you feel confident and good in what you are wearing. Our gym leggings should never hinder or distract us from our workouts. When we feel good, we are able to focus more on our workout and therefore see better results, driving us further forward.

High-quality gym leggings can be purchased online, by this reputable supplier. They have a great range of gym leggings and active wear available to suit a range of needs and styles, for every shape and size. Browse the collection online and choose from Combat Dollies, Famme, Pursue Fitness or any other available brand.

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Gym leggings are one of the most popular items of clothing on the market these days. Gone are the days when leggings were designed for an aerobics class, and little else, they are now a staple in just about everyone’s wardrobe, whether they work out, or not.

Gym leggings have come a long way over recent decades, with more support being added, to protect you during your workout. The materials used have been greatly improved too, to prevent items going see through mid-bend, and to ensure longevity and maximum comfort. Your gym leggings should fit like a second skin, not be falling down or digging in at every bend and twist.

Since gym leggings have improved, the materials offer more support. As a result, this often makes gym leggings, not only more comfortable than they used to be, but also much more flattering. The compressive material helps to keep everything firm and in place, to prevent any unwanted wobbling. This can help to prevent that itchy skin feeling you can get from running and other cardio exercises, because your body is secure, hugged and therefore held in place.

However, this compressive material, as wonderful and needed as it is; it can boost blood flow, to improve your performance and your recovery, it can flatten your tummy to give you a slimmer waistline, but it can also flatten your bottom. The round, pert bottom you have been squatting for, can appear to reduce in size by this compression material. That said, all is not lost, and it isn’t time for you to give up on your compression gym leggings yet, because there are styles and designs to help you look and feel your absolute best.

High Waisted Leggings

High waisted gym leggings offer that slimmer look through your stomach and waist, in contrast, this can help to make your butt look more curvy in comparison, accentuating your curves and edges. Ombre designs can accentuate this further, with the colour changes helping the right body parts to stand out and grab attention for the right reasons.

Panelling and Designs

Famme Motion seamless leggings are a great example of how panelling and designs can assist with accentuating the curves of your butt. They have a small arc below where your cheeks would end, creating that more curvaceous, lifted look. They are available in a range of colours, all with the described arc. They also have peach and heart designs which work in the same way, but with a slightly different design on the bum area, so that you can choose which suits your shape and style best.

Scrunch Bum Leggings

Scrunch leggings are another great way to give the butt a finer shape and improved look. These leggings have a ruched area between the cheeks to help accentuate the curves, demolishing that flat bum look.

So, you can see that you really can have it all: comfort, support and style. Look and feel your best with gym leggings from www.GymWear.co.uk



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