Note
The following is an excerpt from my new book “Beat the Beep Test” which will be available in November 2009
Part 1 – Getting ready
If you are reading this book then chances are that you fall into one of two groups.
The first group are people who have applied to join or are thinking of joining the police, military or another similar organisation and who have just come across references to the beep test in the application pack.
If you are in this group and have never run a beep test in your life don’t worry, this book will guide you through the process from the first workout where you lace up your shoes to the day when you fly through the test and impress the recruiters with your superior fitness.
The second group are people who have perhaps had experience with the beep test but who want to improve their fitness and their results in order to join a special unit or because you’ve let your fitness slip (hey it happens to the best of us) and need to get back to a certain level for a yearly fitness test.
If this is you then I still recommend that you read the whole book as you may pick up some valuable tips in the early sections. You may however be able to skip the introductory programs and get stuck straight into the intermediate and advanced programs.
Ok so let’s look at a few preliminary issues before we get into the programs
Fitness Testing vs Fitness
Believe it or not being fit and being good at passing fitness tests are not the same thing!
While fitness tests obviously measure some specific aspect of fitness they don’t tell the whole story. This is particularly true in complex physical jobs like police and military work. The guy who can run 3 minute kilometres is definitely aerobically fit but if he weighs 50kg and can’t pick up his backpack without being crushed like a bug then he’s going to be a useless soldier.
Preparing specifically for a fitness test is sometimes missing the point that after the test you’ll actually have to do a job that’s radically different from what was tested.
Another thing that many people don’t realise is that fitness tests are a skill and that like any skill you can get better at doing the test even if physiologically your fitness hasn’t improved. If you need to pass a test then you can use this to your advantage (something we’ll talk about extensively in this book) but don’t be fooled into thinking that improved scores are always a result of improved fitness.
Ideally you should be aiming to develop a high level of real world, job specific fitness so that you can pass a fitness test (beep test or anything else) at any time without notice. Specific test preparation should be used to polish your performance and ensure a comfortable buffer for test day.
In writing the programs I’ve aimed to both improve your fitness and provide specific test preparation.
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With a month away from any regular gyms I’ve had to come up with a plan so that I don’t turn into a complete slob while traveling and since I’m sure a lot of people are in the same boat over Christmas I’ll throw this up here.