Predawn PT with the sheriff is an annual event
By W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott kicked-off his 69 th birthday the same way he
celebrates October 3 every year – with a challenging predawn workout at the Richland
County Sheriff’s Department’s (RCSD) Crossfit Gym in Forest Acres: Not solely, but
with many of his off-duty deputies.
The Sheriff (pictured front-row, kneeling and wearing an RCSD cap) says his “workout
of the day” (WOD) requirements are simple.
“We always want our workouts to be both challenging and fun,” says Lott. “That’s why
the individual exercises during my annual birthday workout may be modified depending
upon one’s level of fitness.”
The exercises include air squats, pullups, pushups, exercising with the kettlebell,
burpees (a tough mix of dropping to the pushup position, completing a quick pushup,
leaping to one’s feet with arms extended above the head, then repeating the process),
and crunches.
Because it was Lott’s 69th birthday, the set standard was 69 repetitions of each exercise.
A lifelong athlete and physical conditioning expert, Lott has long instituted a demanding
but doable fitness regimen for all deputies, everyone from the basic patrol deputy
(expected to pass the RCSD physical fitness test regularly) to the high-speed workouts
of the department’s Special Response Team operators.
Aside from regular PT tests, RCSD hosts department-wide and community physical
fitness events throughout the year.
Will the WOD bar be set at 70 reps for his birthday next year? Lott says, “yes.”
