Relationships Between Absolute and Relative Strength and Power in Male Police Officers of Varying Strength Levels

Strength and power are important traits for law enforcement officers, but the relationship between these measures has yet to be determined in a law enforcement population. Furthermore, the nature for these relationships between officers of varying strength is not known. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between strength and measures of power and to determine whether stronger officers portrayed greater power. Retrospective data for 543 male (age=39.07 +/- 8.04 years; height=180.02 +/- 15.14 cm; body mass=92.73 +/- 16.37 kg) officers from one agency were provided. Measures included isometric leg/back dynamometer (LBD) strength, a counter movement jump (CMJ) and further determined measures of lower body power [estimated anaerobic power in watts (PAPw)] and power to body mass ration (P:BM). Following an analysis by cohort, subgroup quartiles were created based off LBD strength [absolute (LBDa) and relative (LBDr)]. The strongest quartile (Q1) performed significantly better in CMJ and PAPw than the other groups, but not in P:BM. Significant (P <= 0.001) low-to-moderate positive correlations were found between LBDa and CMJ height (r=0.388), PAPw (r=0.606) and P:BM (r=0.272) and between LBDr and CMJ (r=0.556), P:BM (r=0.642) and PAPw (r=0.149). Only LBDr was significantly related to all power measures across all sub groups. The development of relative lower body strength may best prepare officers for power assessments (such as vertical jump assessments) as well as for occupational tasks that require power.