101 replies to this topic

[Willo]

I thought those of you who are preparing for a fitness test, or just wishing to increase and maintain your level of fitness, may be grateful of some advice.

FIRSTLY AND MOST IMPORTANTLY
NO PAIN, NO GAIN is total RUBBISH.

If you experience pain (other than soreness for 24-48 hours following exercise) in muscles or joints STOP and rest. Apply R.I.C.E.: Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevate; if pain persists seek medical attention.

So you want to get fit to pass the fitness test to become a Special or Regular. Alternatively, you may just wish to increase or maintain your level of fitness.

The bleep test, or Progressive Shuttle Run Test, is a test of your cardiovascular fitness with a progressive increase in stress on the body. The beep test is available for our Power Users to download for free here.

The BAD News

The bad news is that the level required for entry into most police forces is level 5.4 (much higher for Scotland - see ACPO fitness document).

The GOOD News

The good news is that in reality the test to level 5.4 is only around three and a half minutes of hard work. The reason the test is actually shorter that the distance stated above is due to the fact that the test gradually increases the demands on your cardiovascular fitness and you have to keep stopping and turning between the two marks 25 metres apart.

WHERE TO START

Start gradually and build up your fitness as you feel improvement. If you regularly undertake training YOU WILL notice an improvement. Your eventual aim is to be able to run 1½ miles in 10 minutes 30 seconds giving you an excellent chance of passing the bleep test (adrenaline and nerves on the test day may affect your performance).

Running or circuit training are too of the best exercises for improving your cardiovascular fitness (burning around 600-800 calories per hour); circuit training has the added benefit of allowing for resistance training in the form of press-ups, sit-ups etc.. Running does put strain on your joints (particularly if your are overweight), so if you experience this, swimming may be your first option until your weight is reduced.

Rowing and cycling are also ideal; rowing has the major benefit over all other exercises in that it exercises every major muscle group within the body and is not weight bearing.

YOU MUST wear a good pair of running shoes, this is due to the fact that immense forces move through your joints with each step. These should be replaced annually or every 500 miles whichever is sooner. Try to run on dirt tracks, cycle ways, grass etc.. and avoid running soley on tarmac or concrete; as this is likely to produce shin splints (very painful).

To improve and maintain your fitness you will need to undertake exercise for a minimum 20 minutes, three times per week. Always gently warm-up (by walking/jogging slowly before commencing exercise, stretch, undertake your exercise and then warm-down by again walking/jogging slowly.

Initially concentrate on time not distance. As you improve your distance will improve. Eventually you can then concentrate soley on distance (i.e. 1½ miles). An example programme (add an additional run as your fitness improves):

Monday: 20-30 minute run slow pace progressing to 40-50 minute run at a slow pace as your fitness improves.

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: 30-40 minute run at medium pace.

Thursday: Rest

Friday: 20-30 minute fartlek* run

Saturday: Rest

Sunday: Rest**

** If you feel the inclination you could do some a 50 minute slow run on Sunday. Long, slow runs are excellent for building stamina and can improve our fitness immensely. At the end of the run try to increase your pace for the final 1 or 2 minutes - it's always a good way to end the run.

*Fartlek: no it's not what you think! Fartlek running is where you alter the pace during a run. For example, start with a 5 minute slow pace run, increase to medium pace for 2 minutes, return to slow pace for 3 minutes, sprint for 30 seconds, return to slow pace for 2 minutes, increase to medium pace for 5 minutes and so on until you’ve completed 20 to 30 minute of running.

Walk if you need to during a run, but don’t stop (unless you feel unwell); increase the pace as you feel you are able. As your fitness improves you will be able to walk less and increase the amount of time at a higher pace.

Rest is important. During rest you allow your body to recover and adapt to the demands of the exercise.

RUNNING MACHINES

If you want to use a running machine, ensure that it has an incline of 5 to 10%; otherwise the running will be easier than normal running.

To mimic the bleep test on a running machine, after warming up rest until fully recovered. You now need to start running on the machine at a slow pace, but bear in mind you’ve got 11½ minutes to run as far as you can. Gradually increase the pace continually (as per the bleep test) but at NO TIME decrease the speed once increased. At the end of the 11½ minutes see how far you’ve run; your target is a minimum of 1½ miles.

KEEP AT IT!

You will see an improvement in your fitness if you stick to a regime a regular exercise; as you improve, increase the demands. You will feel better for undertaking regular exercise, with more energy and ability to cope with stressful situations .

Sorry this has been like war an peace. I hope the advice is useful, which is based on my experience of preparing and passing the fitness test. to this day I enjoy regular exercise immensely and it has become an integral part of my life .

For an excellent read try 'Fit For Life' by Ranulph Fiennes and 'Survival of the Fittest' by Dr Tom Stroud. If you need clarification or further advice please contact me.

Cheers

[Bubba]

very good advice there

If you are not used to physical excerise, it might also be worth joining a Gym/Fiitness Centre. They should have qualified Fitness Instructors who can write up a fitness program for you and advise you on what to do. I told mine I was applying for the Police force, I now have a nice program that incorporates CV work and weights.

And after that you can always relax in the Jacusi

I let you know How I get on with mine

[Willo]

Yes, agreed Neil, whatever you find works for you.

Running is particulary great as other than a good pair trainers and some suitable running clothes it is so cheap and can be done anytime; without monthly fees.

If you can find a friend or three to join you, you will have even more motivation to maintain a regular exercise regime.

I wish you well with your test Neil. If you work on the principal that you are going to exceed the standard expected it will be one less thing to worry about during the test day (without getting complacent). Work hard at the exercise and YOU WILL succeed.

[MaW]

I need to cycle more... going to lectures and back isn't good enough of course, nor is going over to main campus twice a week.

[Kitty]

Thanks Willo - some very good advice there.

I have injured my knee from doing a mock bleep last week, all that turning and twisting can be demanding on the knees. I tried running yesterday and now it is agony again so total rest for a fortnight I think. (Just what I need when I need to do a re-take of the bleep )

[MaW]

It's got to be better than doing it on a duff knee though...

[India Delta]

as a touch on the elderly side when I enrolled...well 39 actually...but having had a sporty background, i changed my cycling back to running again and built up the stamina in that way sometimes practising in the school gym on a mock bleep test...also the pressups and sit ups for about 3months before hand...and in the heat of the moment during the test i outdid all scores I had previously managed...adrenaline and the camaraderie of the other 'trainees' helped also...got thru the test easily...

[Kitty]

Well done 007. There's hope for the elderly yet then

Sadly I don't have a sporty background, my idea of exercise was sitting on a horse and letting that do the running :? so I have to build up from years of inactivity.
But I think I am close - and if I ever pass, which I am determined to do, believe me anyone can!

[steve]

I'm quite lucky in this repect because with my public service course we have a fitness session once every week and regularly take part in the bleep test. About a year ago i got 5.5 :cry: and last week i took it and got 9.2 . My advice would be if you can't stand training 2-3-4 times a week, then start well before your fitness test, just once a week and you should be fine :wink:

[Kitty]

Willo,

I quote from your earlier post............

The bad news is that the level required for entry into most police forces is level 8.2. This equates to being able to run 1½ miles in 11½ minutes.  

what is that converted into kilometres?

[Kitty]

It's ok - I've got it - 2.4 kilometres

[MaW]

:o

I can't run that far at all!

[Kitty]

Well it took me 9 mins to do 1.5 kilometres today so I've still got work to do :cry:

[MaW]

Keep at it! Keep at it!

[Willo]

Well it took me 9 mins to do 1.5 kilometres today so I've still got work to do  :cry:

Keep a diary of what you've done Kim and then you can see the improvements; it's easy to forget just where you started at after several months and get the impression you're not making progress when in fact you are!

Willo

[Mark 5854]

very good advice there

If you are not used to physical excerise, it might also be worth joining a Gym/Fiitness Centre.  They should have qualified Fitness Instructors who can write up a fitness program for you and advise you on what to do.  I told mine I was applying for the Police force, I now have a nice program that incorporates CV work and weights.

And after that you can always relax in the Jacusi

I let you know How I get on with mine

Neill,

Rude question: but how much is that costing you? Are you paying extra for the fitness instructor?

Mark Fuller
Surrey Police PC 5854

[Tango Mike]

For Specials interested in joining the Regs don't rule out your own force Gym and Force PT instructor - I never bothered going for the reg's but mine was a lot of help anyway.

Why pay when you get it for free? :-)

[Willo]

Also, to all out there who want to lose fat (not necessarily weight) for the fitness test, you don't need to starve yourself (actually the worse thing you can do), but change your eating habits and exercise.

Daily guildlines for intake for average adults;

Calories: Women 2,000 Men 2,500
Fat g: Women 70 Men 95
Salt g: Women 5 Men 7

So if you are an average adult woman, who doesn't have a sedentary job you would need 2,000 calories.

So if you were to reduce your calorie intake by say 500 calories (and no more - further details below), whilst regularly doing exercise (a good run will burn 400-800 calories depending on effort), you can soon see that your body is receiving 1,000 less than required. However, as explained further below it is very important to fuel your body to complete the exercise and regularly.

My advice to stop these cravings is to eat more often (bizarre I know as it sounds), say five or six meals per day; this is not more food, just your food spread out over the day. This actually increases your metabolism (the amount of energy you use), as does sport/exercise; so with the two things combined you will lose fat, but be supplying your body with enough energy to complete your exercise. It is important to stress that if you are doing a fair amount of exercise that you may not lose weight; you will probably lose fat and gain muscle, so your weight may stay the same, but your body composition will be very different.

Breakfast
The most important meal is a good breakfast; this kicks your metaolism into action first thing. A bowl of cereal (wholegrain are best and they release their energy slowly into the body and fill you up), glass of orange juice/water and may a couple of slices of wholemeal toast (with a little spread and jam/marmalade etc.).

Mid Morning Snack
Then you need to eat a snack (say an apple/banana, a hot cross bun (without butter or marg) with glass of water/milk - avoid tea, coffee or cola as these have caffeine).

Lunch
Then try to have your main meal of the day at lunchtime of you can (this gives your body time to digest and use the calories - rather than an evening meal where your body doesn't need all those calories to be sat watching television or at a computer), during the rest of the day. A good time to do some exercise is before your lunch; this has two advantages, it re-fuels your body following the exercise and the food you are eating immediately is used, so the excess calories are not stored. The problem is that if your body receives mor energy than it requires it stores it!

It is a simple equation - if more calories are recived than used it will be stored. However, it is a mistake to drastically reduce calorie intake, as very quickly the body adjusts and slows the metabolism accordingly; then ironically when eating is returned to normal, the body is slower to adjust and excess calories are then stored as fat (this is why dieting bouts just make things worse).

So a good meal, might be a little grated low fat cheddar cheese (M&S mature half fat cheese is lovely ) and tuna on a baked potato (or whatever filling you like as long as it's not too high in fat - don't cut out fat in your diet completely - the body needs fat (around 75g per day for an adult woman). Follow this with maybe a pot of yogurt and some fruit (even a small chocolate bar as a treat, especially if you've just completed a hard workout).

Mid Afternoon Snack
As per mid morning: apple and/or banana with glass of water/milk and maybe another hot cross bun).

Evening Meal
Sandwich (good relatively low fat (not fat free!) filling of your choice. Piece of fruit.

Mid evening light snack (ideally no later than 9.30pm)
This is going to fuel you through the night as much as possible.
Bowl of cereal (wholegrain again) or small meal of your choice.

By following this sort of eating pattern you are always supplying your body with food throughout the day, thus preventing binge eating (because you're bloody hungry), maintaining your body sugar at constant levels and increasing your metabolism (your body gets used to expecting regular meals and knows that it can use the calories; if you starve yourself or eat very little the body goes into a mode where it stores as much of the calories received as fat because it doesn't know when or how much is going to be received in the future (this again is why if on a strict diet of low calories individuals often gain fat, but lose muscle). This is particularly important if you are doing a lot of exercise; you need to ensure you are giving your body sufficient energy to complete the exercise and grow muscle, yet allow it to burn off excess fat.

Drink plenty
Make sure you're not dehydrated. Caffeine is good as a stimulant (some suggest a cup of strong coffee can be good first thing in the morning before a run). Unfortunately, alcohol is also a diuretic.

However, caffeine is a diuretic (makes you pee!). As it's a diuretic it actually makes you dehydrated. The best drink of all is water, it's simple and effective way of hydrating your body; your performance in physical exercise actually is reduced if you are dehydrated. An average adult needs to drink 8 glasses of water per day (more if you are exercising regularly). Tea has lower caffeine levels than coffee or cola.

So if you drink a lot of fluids that contain caffiene you are actually losing the fluids you are drinking (if a is a like for like equation - drink a cup of coffee and you will lose the equivalent amount of fluid during the day through urinating). However, drink non caffeine drinks and this won't happne so much.

One of the easiest ways to tell if you are dehydrated is the colour of your urine - anything darker than a very pale yellow and you are dehydrated.

Another plus to drinking regular amounts of water is that it actually makes you less hungry. The thurst response is actually mistaken as a feeling of hunger; by the time you feel thursty you are actually becoming dehydrated.

So keep a bottle of water with you as often as possible (even sat by the computer doing this!) and drink regularly; it will make you feel better, less lethargic and may even help your exercise.

If you drink a lot of coffee, don't stop it immediately, it is addictive and you can get withdraw symptoms; so slowly reduce the amount of coffee.

If you want to read more, get a copy of 'Your Body's Many Cries For Water' by Dr F. Batmanghelidj, published by Tagman (ISBN 0-9530921-6-X) - probably available through the site via Amazon. It's a good book and explains how your body is affected by being dehydrated.

A little in depth maybe, but thats the rational to losing fat; burn more calories than you are consuming and you will lose fat; however, starve yourself and your body will adapt your metabolism and store more of the energy/calories as fat, because it perceives that times are hard. Simple really.

Hope this helps

Regards

Willo
(O.F.G.)

[Bubba]

very good advice there

If you are not used to physical excerise, it might also be worth joining a Gym/Fiitness Centre.  They should have qualified Fitness Instructors who can write up a fitness program for you and advise you on what to do.  I told mine I was applying for the Police force, I now have a nice program that incorporates CV work and weights.

And after that you can always relax in the Jacusi

I let you know How I get on with mine

Neill,

Rude question: but how much is that costing you? Are you paying extra for the fitness instructor?

Mark Fuller
Surrey Police PC 5854

oops only just seen the reply. It doesn't cost any extra for a Fitness program to be made, all I pay is the Gym membership. There are always at least 3 Fitness instructors on hand to answer any questions and give out advice. Its "The Arena" leisure centre in Camberley

[Kitty]

To those of you who have passed the fitness test, how often do you train to maintain the level required to pass? And what do you do?

[Liz]

What do you recommend for a small meal for the Mid Evening Snack?

[Bubba]

To those of you who have passed the fitness test, how often do you train to maintain the level required to pass? And what do you do?

Trained twice a week for about 2 months.

5 Minute warm up on the runner
10 minutes on the rower at level 7
10 minutes on the Stepper/Stair master at level 7
10 minutes on the running machine at about 9kph with a 2% elevation

Then I go onto the weights working upper and lower body and do 3 sets on each machine, but increasing the weight by 5kg's after each set (Think its call a pyramid workout). 1st set, I do 15 reps, 2nd set I do 12 Reps and the 3rd set, I do 8 reps (by the last rep on the last set, you shouldn't be able to lift anymore)

I have let my training lapse a bit and don't go as regularly as I used to

[Liz]

10 minutes on the running machine at about 9kph with a 2% elevation

I would be dead running at 9kph

[Carl]

I on the other hand exercise rigorously everyday;

- Couple of hours on the PS2 joy pad
- A few minutes intermittently using the TV remote

At weekends I try to step it up a level & add;

- Several hours pint raising

I recommend a strict Mcdonalds/KFC/BurgerKing/Kebab shop diet to remain in trim. It's worked for me!!!!

C

(I know, I know, pushing the envelope slightly...but call me dedicated! )

[Liz]

I just prefer to exercise my finger on the remote to the TV, whilst getting up off the sofa every now and again to get a coffee and something to eat.