Attn PT gurus.... Help me improve my Academy PFT.

[SamuelBLong]

Currently a reserve with the neighboring county's sheriffs office, and I am preparing for going full time & applying with a couple different agencies both here in NM, as well as out of state. I've been working hard at a local crossfit box doing a 3 on 1 off schedule. I've been on a paleo diet since december, and so far I've dropped about 30 -35 lbs and put on alot of muscle since starting crossfit in March.

For those of you who have met me at ECQC and other coursework, you know I'm built for power, not for speed (6'1", 275 now, big structure... JodyH hates me). Maybe my current lifting numbers will give you an idea:

Deadlift - 425
Front Squat - 285
Back Squat - 345
Clean & Jerk - 205 (I have a timing error thats keeping me from cleaning 210+ currently... but I know I can go higher. Im working on it.)

-------------------------------------

The NM standards are (and keep in mind we are at 5500- 6000 ft ASL when you look at this.. but that 1.5 mile "run" is kind of a joke) :

1.5 Mile Run 15:20
Push-Ups 29/min
Sit-Ups 31/min
300 M 65.4sec
Illinois Agility Run 18sec

-------------------------------------

My Academy PFT practice results taken today:

1.5 mi @ 12:45
Sit-Ups 1 min - 35
Push-Ups 1 min - 34
300 m Sprint - 62.2 sec
Illinois Agility - 17.4

I've got another 2-3 months of training time before its go time, depending on what testing dates I get assigned.

After passing initial testing, I'll have roughly 4 - 5 months of workup time before the academy starts in spring / early summer.

I also figure if I can pass these standards at this altitude of 5500 ASL, doing this at sea level is going to be no problem. The run should be faster.

Illinois Agility Run:
http://www.brianmac.co.uk/pictures/tests/illinois.gif

-------------------------------------


My Analysis:

Shaved 2:21 off my previous PFT run time taken in mid Febuary. Only 2 sec faster than my previous 300m sprint time.

Need to make push-ups and the 300 m sprint suck less. My arms are feeling a bit weak at the moment cause I've been working them at crossfit hard this week w/ pushups, pullups & handstands.

The Illinois is cutting it close, I have managed to shave 1.2 sec off (Failed my 1st PFT a few months ago with an 18.6, cutoff at 18.0), but this needs work.

I'm not yet happy with my 1.5 mile time, but I'm getting faster by the week.

----------------------------------------

Goals:

Improve sprint time.
Improve Illinois Agility Run time.
Dont' be just skating by. Doing the minimum to pass isn't acceptable to me.

----------------------------------------


So all that being said, does anyone have suggestions on how to improve my sprint times or speed in the agility run? Any other things I should be doing or concentrating on? Come on you PT gurus... help me out.

[breakingtime91]

What's your lifting and running schedule look like currently?

[SamuelBLong]

3 on, 1 off at Crossfit... our box does a variety of training... some nights its cardio only - Row or Run, some nights its strict power lifting. Some nights its an all out mix of insanity.

I have been adding additional runs from 1 - 3 miles in either AM or PM as I can fit them in with my work, shooting & training schedule.

[pablo]

Have realistic expectations, and don't over do it and get hurt. Most agencies' initial PT test are pass/fail. Getting hurt and not passing the pre-hire physical is a show stopper. If you're not a runner, getting out there and pounding out the miles is a good way to end up with all sorts of injuries.

Try taking two days off, do a 30 minute jog on the 3rd day and your PT test on the 4th. Just giving your body a chance to recover and rebuild from a hard workout routine can work wonders for run times

[breakingtime91]

3 on, 1 off at Crossfit... our box does a variety of training... some nights its cardio only - Row or Run, some nights its strict power lifting. Some nights its an all out mix of insanity.

I have been adding additional runs from 1 - 3 miles in either AM or PM as I can fit them in with my work, shooting & training schedule.

Sounds like a solid routine, I would add timed miles into it. I run 5 times a week currently, 4 of those are timed miles (before I lift) and one is a long run 30-60 mins. This has worked well for me as far as lowering run times. Push ups are an area I need improvements also but I find dips help me out a lot.

[jetfire]

A long, long time ago, a guy that looked a lot like me with shorter hair and no beard ran a 48 second 300 meter.

Luckily the older, slower me remembers the training plan for that. Lots of plyo, lots of sprints, and never any runs longer than 2400 meters. I ran a lot of 800 meter sprints, I figured if I could get my half mile down I could do 300 easy.

I haven't run a timed 400 in ages, but for the sake of this thread I'll pound one out on Tuesday. I've been training for a 5k, but a quarter mile sprint should be fun.

[breakingtime91]

What have you been doing to train for your 5k Caleb?

[tanner]

Twenty some years ago (God I hate saying that part) when I took that test for Michigan standards, it was an agility driven test. Sounds like the OP and I are of similar build, maybe with inverse fat to muscle ratios though...

Anyways, I could "do" everything on the test (180 lb dummy drag, 90 lb dummy lift, obstacle course), I just couldn't do it quickly. The thing that helped me the most was simply practicing the exact test as much as I could. Developing my technique provided the most gains. The agility test listed above looks easy to re-create at home or at the crossfit gym. If it were me, I would do the exact test every day on top of your regular workouts. The longer runs would be helpful too, the formation PT runs in my academy were a challenge for me.

And I thought Pablo made an excellent point. DON'T GET HURT. There is no reward for pushing yourself to the brink of breaking down.

[frankepc]

I would probably get something a little more structured than crossfit something along the lines of Chad Waterbury’s full body program. The problem with crossfit is going to be the high likelihood of injury and the lack of structure will delay your maximum ability to make gains. Stick to the big lifts (compound lifts no isolation) and their variants, to maximize fat loss and improve conditioning I would finish at least the first and last workout of the week with sprints.
For 6 Weeks try something along these lines
Warm up: 2-5 mins of jumping rope, mobility work, or Defranco’s agile 8 (it’s on youtube)
Workout: Monday 8X3, Wednesday 5X5 and Friday 4X10
Three exercises per workout with an upper body push, a upper body pull, and alternate between a squat variation, a lunge variation and deadlifts.
Finish at least two of the workouts with 5 sets of 100 yard sprints, only rest on the way back to the starting point.

[LittleLebowski]

Are you a swimmer?

[SamuelBLong]

Are you a swimmer?

Used to be. Played water polo at boarding school. I do have access to an olympic pool down at UNM.

[LittleLebowski]

Used to be. Played water polo at boarding school. I do have access to an olympic pool down at UNM.

Swimming can help quite a bit with cardio and upper body. When I was swimming for a living, 19 minute 3 mile runs were cake. All depends on if you know how to work out in the water and want to.

[UNM1136]

Google Stew Smith. Ret's SEAL who's active duty assignments included a stint at the Naval Academy specifically to prep cadets for BUDS as officers. He has a bunch of articles at Military.com, and several books, and he has responded to emails in the past.

pat

[JHC]

A long, long time ago, a guy that looked a lot like me with shorter hair and no beard ran a 48 second 300 meter.

Luckily the older, slower me remembers the training plan for that. Lots of plyo, lots of sprints, and never any runs longer than 2400 meters. I ran a lot of 800 meter sprints, I figured if I could get my half mile down I could do 300 easy.

I haven't run a timed 400 in ages, but for the sake of this thread I'll pound one out on Tuesday. I've been training for a 5k, but a quarter mile sprint should be fun.

This is good stuff here.

Crossfit is good all around toughening up exercise but I don't think you find competitive track athletes basing their training around CF. You are now a competitive athlete so to speak and have some very specific events to improve in.

[jetfire]

What have you been doing to train for your 5k Caleb?

Running a lot.

Actually I'm doing a really simple plan that breaks down into Week A/B cycles. Week A is three runs, with the long run (no more than 5 miles) on Saturday/Sunday. Week B is all lifting/conditioning stuff. It's nice because I have the alternating weeks to allow my legs to recover from running, which cuts down on knee strain.

The specific runs are usually 1 mile, 2 miles, and 3 miles, but sometimes I'll stretch the 3. I have my mile consistently under 7, 2 mile is right around 15, and my three mile right now is hanging out around 27 in practice.

[Spr1]

To the OP, you sound like a big strong guy, so I would humbly suggest not spending a minute on Olympic lifts, and second the recommendation to find something more targeted than cross fit.

[jc000]

Swimming can help quite a bit with cardio and upper body. When I was swimming for a living, 19 minute 3 mile runs were cake. All depends on if you know how to work out in the water and want to.

Do you have any good resource/programs for people looking to incorporate swimming into their exercise regimen? I'm primarily looking to supplement my cardio.

[LittleLebowski]

Do you have any good resource/programs for people looking to incorporate swimming into their exercise regimen? I'm primarily looking to supplement my cardio.

I'll have to write some stuff down; a lot depends on your swimming ability. If you can freestyle properly and do kick turns, I have some suggestions.

[jc000]

I'll have to write some stuff down; a lot depends on your swimming ability. If you can freestyle properly and do kick turns, I have some suggestions.

I can – was on my local swim team all through elementary school though was strongest with butterfly and backstroke. Would appreciate your thoughts.

[Sheep Have Wool]

Do you have any good resource/programs for people looking to incorporate swimming into their exercise regimen? I'm primarily looking to supplement my cardio.

I coached competition swimmers for about 5 years, and swam myself through college. I'd be happy to provide some workouts if you'd like, but I don't typically recommend casual swimming as a cardio supplement. For one, it's pretty easy to get yourself a shoulder injury if you aren't able to properly execute the stroke. I've seen this with a number of running/cycling focused triathletes. For another, most people doing casual swimming have a hard time maintaining an appropriate pace to keep their heart rate in its happy place for cardio if they're just "swimming laps."

That said, swimming done right is amazing for calorie buring/cardio. If you're looking to get into it, US Masters Swimming (http://www.usms.org/) is a great way to do it, as they'll give you some constructive coaching and and workouts. If you're familiar with swimming and looking to get back into it, shoot me a PM and I can provide some drills/workouts.

[dustyvarmint]

I don't really have anything additional to add, but wanted to second some of the things thrown out.

-Run mileage - I wouldn't recommend any over-mileage training beyond 3 miles for the PFT. Maybe a 1.5 on Monday, speedwork on Wednesday (400s maybe) totalling 1.5 , a 1.5-2 on Friday and 3 on Saturday.

-P/U and S/U - Got to do those instead of lifting if those are what you want to improve.

(I'm not LE, but I am retired U.S.Navy and have been consistently working out and running for 27 years now. I run a minimum of 12 miles a week, usually more and run one 1/2 or full marathon per year in addition to weights or body-weight exercises)

Good Luck and happy PFTing

[Mike C]

I am no expert but this is what I stuck to when I was in service and what I was forced to while running a platoon as a DS. It did right by me and many of the young overweight civvies' turn Soldiers at Benning's school for boys. If you want to drop your run time I would highly recommend throwing in some speed work. I typically used 30/60's and 60/120's. Speed work will make a huge difference in your 1 1/2 mile times so long as you put in the effort.

I always started with some stretching then moved into a 1 mile warm up run. After the warmup run/jog we did our sprints. I would recommend starting with sprint 30 sec 80-90% max sprint speed, then a very fast walk or slow jog for the 60 recovery time alternating between the two until you complete a set number of intervals or time. You can continue this for a set period of time i.e. 20 minutes and then go to cool down or go a set number of speed intervals. If it feels too easy you can always increase the number of intervals or the amount of time. Once you are ready or if the 30/60's are too easy you can get into the 60/120's.

I usually do the same stretching/warm up run. For your 60/120 sprints I would stick to the 70-80% max sprint speed range the first time just to gage where you are at. Keep in mind you should sprint at a pace you can maintain for the entire workout. You don't want to slow down you want to build consistency. I use a stop watch or GPS/Workout monitor to track split times and heart rates. It is important to set goals. If you fail at a goal set a more realistic goal and work up to the one you failed. Monitoring split times and heart rates is the only way to really track improvement. Killing your first half mile in 3 minutes and bombing the last mile doesn't do you any good. Consistency is what you want to strive for. Always have enough reserve to finish a fight, you never want to be totally gassed when you get where you're going.

For a basic example my schedule looks something like this: Run/Bike 3-4 times a week, hills one day or short run, speed work twice a week and long slow/endurance once a week basically every other day. Lift/plymoetrics 3 times a week on alternating days. My long cardio days tend to be on road bike more often than not due to impact being less severe. As others have stated listen to your body and don't try to do too much. Injuries are huge setbacks to progress physically and mentally. The best advice I can give you though is invest in great running shoes, go some place where they can fit you, check your gate/stride to ensure you have the right shoes. They will go a long way in preventing injuries and making progress. Good luck on your assessment. Hope I was helpful.

[Pup town]

Holy cow, you are getting a wide range of answers. I'm not sure why you asked this question here, as you were destined to get a bunch of people promoting their hobbies or their particular workout. (Swimming? biking? Yeah, both can be good exercise, but you aren't going to be tested on swimming or biking. You need specialized physical preparation, not general physical preparation. You are lucky you know your events- so train for them.)

I'll just say this. You need to get lighter. You would be so much better in every TESTED event if you were 225 instead of 275. Yes, your max lifts will suffer, and your ego won't like being " weaker." But bite the bullet and get lean. You can bulk up after you finish the academy.

I strongly second the recommendation to follow one of Stew Smith's programs and not ask rely on random people on the internet to tell you what to do. (If you must listen to a random person on the internet, I should be that person. So get Stew Smiths law enforcement program and follow it to a T.http://www.stewsmith.com/sitemap.htm)

[Mike C]

Pup town, I am not trying to turn this into a debate nor am I trying to promote anything. Please do not make assumptions. You know what they say about those. Fitness requires a wide variety of training and workouts. Swimming and biking are both proven to help running by building complementary muscles to running as well as endurance. This is all accomplished while reducing strain on hips, knees and ankles, which are all prone to injury when doing heavy running. If the individual in question is looking to make gains in his running and is heavy or built like a brick *&^% house than it's important to consider long term health and mitigate risk of injury. This is especially true due to the fact that injury may mean loss of job opportunity. If someone asked for advice, other's are free to give it. At the end of the day it is worth what you pay for it. Downplaying other's to give your own advice is just sorry. You could have just dropped the link instead of spouting off all the other junk.

[Odin Bravo One]

Open water swims, colder the water the better.

And bench press. Lots and lots of bench press.


In all seriousness, I'll see if I can get a digital copy of the workout I base my PT on. I say "base my PT on" because, well, with mostly aftermarket parts, there is a little modification necessary. However, following that program for the 12 weeks that it is lined out for, allowed me to be confidently prepared for the PT test I had to take several years ago as part of a job interview/application process.

I easily passed all events which consisted of:

Day 1
15 dead hang, i.e., real pull ups (not the Cross-Fit kip kind)
2 min rest
Max situps in 3 min (continuous work, no resting, all the way up, all the way down)
2 min rest
Max pushups in 3 min (continuous work, no resting, all the way up to elbows locked, all the down chest touching the ground)
10 min rest
3 mile run in 22:30
10 min rest
800m open water swim


Day 2
Max pull ups w/ 25lb plate
Max body weight bench press
5 mile run in 35 min

Day 3
NFL Combine

Of course, you need to have some foundation to begin the 12 week program, but I dropped over :30 seconds per mile in the last two weeks alone on my run time, added 7 reps to my max reps BW bench, and 9 reps to the weighted pull ups in the last month.

[SamuelBLong]

Thanks so far guys. Lots of things to look at.

Sean I'd appreciate a copy of that if you get a chance with your busy schedule.

[LittleLebowski]

Pup town, I am not trying to turn this into a debate nor am I trying to promote anything. Please do not make assumptions. You know what they say about those. Fitness requires a wide variety of training and workouts. Swimming and biking are both proven to help running by building complementary muscles to running as well as endurance. This is all accomplished while reducing strain on hips, knees and ankles, which are all prone to injury when doing heavy running. If the individual in question is looking to make gains in his running and is heavy or built like a brick *&^% house than it's important to consider long term health and mitigate risk of injury. This is especially true due to the fact that injury may mean loss of job opportunity. If someone asked for advice, other's are free to give it. At the end of the day it is worth what you pay for it. Downplaying other's to give your own advice is just sorry. You could have just dropped the link instead of spouting off all the other junk.

I think that you both added a lot to the discussion. I wouldn't worry about assumptions and whatnot. Let's just continue to help SamuelBLong.

[Mike C]

Point taken Sir. Thanks.

[fn/form]

Nate Morrison is a polarizing character. That said, I've learned a lot from his material and its focus on fighter strength, endurance AND readiness. Heavy Russian influence, and for mil/LE he's rabid anti-CF and not an Oly fan.

Ross Enamait is another no-BS fighter trainer I don't see mentioned often.

[imp1295]

I'd say that if you are already on a 3:1 CF schedule look at incorporating some CFE programing into your training. That, along with understanding your goals and even dropping 10-15 pounds (albeit likely muscle) will help to improve your speed.

I know that a significant reason I was running 4:30 miles, 52 second 400s and 2:01 800s in high school was because I only weighed in at about 140#. Today, at 170 I'm happy hitting miles at 6:30 and finishing the APFT in under 14:00.

But, age, weight and bumping up on the century mark for static line jumps takes it toll.

Practice whatever the test is going to be. Speed work and leaning down will help your times.

[TNWNGR]

Oh man reading all of these posts is déjà vu for me as I went through a less intense conditioning years ago in preparation for passing pre-hire physical agility testing. I went from police reserve to career LEO in my early thirties. Of all the useful information provided I can only reaffirm not overdoing your training regime as resultant injury can DQ you before you get there. Use common sense physical fitness training afterwards as well; I’ve seen a lot of long term sick leave and light duty law enforcement injuries due to this very thing. Good luck to you.

[Sensei]

I did pretty well on my last FBI PFT last year with 3 points on the sit-up, 5 points on the 300M sprint, 3 points on the push-up, 8 points on the 1.5 mile run, 5 points on the pull-up.

https://www.fbijobs.gov/11131.asp

The back-bone of my training was 2 exercises:

1) 300 meter wind sprints combined with push-ups. I'd sprint the run which is about 3/4 of a HS track, walk back to the starting line, then do 40 continuous motion push-up. Repeat this for a total of 6 times with no more than 30 seconds rest between your last push-up and starting your next sprint. You will find that your number of continuous motion push-ups goes down by 5-10 reps with each set, but try to get at least 25 good form push-ups even if you take a knee for a second or two. You should be able to do all 6 sets in under 40 min if you are keeping the rest low. Do this at least 3 times per week.

2) 7 mile run/sprint. Start with a base 5 mile run at a moderate pace on whatever surfaces (trail, roads, etc.) you like. However, design your run so that at the end of the 5 miles you are at a track. Run another 2 miles on the track so that you sprint the straight aways and jog the curves. My German Shepherd was my training partner and "rabbit" on the sprint portion. Do this 2-3 times per week. You may need to build-up to the distance.

You will need to incorporate some sit-ups, push-ups, and agility training to this base as you see fit.

Weights are hit and miss. Like you, I did some weights. Keep in mind that power traing is going to do little to help you with this test. Plan accordingly.

Finally, be very careful with your form. I don't know about your agency, but the Bureau is full of sit-up / push-up Nazis. Make sure that your arms break parallel and fully extend on PU's; make sure that your torso breaks 90 degrees and entire shoulder bladed hits ground on SU's. I lost 2 points on SU's due to form that can be attributed to muscle memory from my days in the Army.
be attributed to muscle memory from my days in the Army.

[BJJ]

Open water swims, colder the water the better.

And bench press. Lots and lots of bench press.


In all seriousness, I'll see if I can get a digital copy of the workout I base my PT on. I say "base my PT on" because, well, with mostly aftermarket parts, there is a little modification necessary. However, following that program for the 12 weeks that it is lined out for, allowed me to be confidently prepared for the PT test I had to take several years ago as part of a job interview/application process.

I easily passed all events which consisted of:

Day 1
15 dead hang, i.e., real pull ups (not the Cross-Fit kip kind)
2 min rest
Max situps in 3 min (continuous work, no resting, all the way up, all the way down)
2 min rest
Max pushups in 3 min (continuous work, no resting, all the way up to elbows locked, all the down chest touching the ground)
10 min rest
3 mile run in 22:30
10 min rest
800m open water swim


Day 2
Max pull ups w/ 25lb plate
Max body weight bench press
5 mile run in 35 min

Day 3
NFL Combine

Of course, you need to have some foundation to begin the 12 week program, but I dropped over :30 seconds per mile in the last two weeks alone on my run time, added 7 reps to my max reps BW bench, and 9 reps to the weighted pull ups in the last month.

I'd be interested in having a look at that program if you find it.

[Blake]

There are several PT improvement programs out there. At some point being in good general fitness may have to take a back seat to sport or event specific shape. Meaning, if your goal is to crush the PT test, then focus on things that will get you better at that for the short term. I just posted in another threat about this, but I have had good luck with Rob Shaul's programs with Military Athlete and Law Enforcement Athlete (I have zero affiliating with Rob, other than having had good success with different programs he puts out). There is an Army APFT improvement plan and an FBI PFT improvment. I would likely do the FBI PFT improvement, as it focuses on the 300 meter sprint and I believe pull-ups as well. Rob's philosophies always focus on getting you strong as well, so it should go beyond the just doing the PT movements.