While some sleep until it’s time to prepare for a day’s work, NOPD officer Corey Elbert starts most of his mornings pumping iron and a lot of sweat.

From step class to fitness boot camp to weight training, Corey teaches a total of eight fitness classes a week at the Youfit Health Center in Algiers.

“You’re going to sweat, it’s going to be difficult but we all have fun and that’s what I enjoy,” said Elbert.

A few years ago, Corey said he developed a passion to teach and started his first fitness class with some friends who wanted to get in shape.  Elbert has been a fitness instructor and group exercise coordinator at the YouFit gym for over a year and each morning he gets about a dozen class participants up and moving. 

“I’ve been taking Corey’s class since the second day he came in...love it,” said Karen Crayton, a class participant. “I spotted him and a couple of guys doing a step class and I was like ‘Ohh I’d like that’ I’ve been right here and I’ve been very faithful. He truly gets me up and out.”

And when he's not changing lives in the gym, Corey spends the other eight to twelve hours in his day working as an officer in Fifth District. He's also a certified Field Training Officer (FTO) where he can train and teach other recruits. Corey joined the department back in 2004.

“Ever since then the love for the field has grown over time like I said it’s been 14 years and I can’t see myself doing anything else,” said Elbert. 

 As an officer, Corey says he encourages more than just his class participants to stay fit and live healthy lifestyles. 

“We as officers have a ton of obligations, a ton of work like details but I steady encourage my fellow officers to come out if not my class a gym and work out,” said Elbert.  

Although most of the people at the gym understand his role as an NOPD officer, he says he's thankful for both positions because it gives him the opportunity to always be available to help those around him.

“When they learned that I was an officer here you know people would pull me to the side and talk about what they may be going through personally …beyond fitness,” said Officer Elbert. “So it is another form of community policing although I may not work here where this gym is in the Fourth District I’m still able to help the people who reside here.”