MarineMP's Basic Guide to Physical Fitness

[MarineMp]

MarineMP's Warning: I am not a doctor; consult your physician before you undertake this. If you are or have-
Extremely overweight
Have heart and or other health risks
Any muscle/bone disorders
Consult you doctor before taking this on.
Use your better judgment, if you feel you can do it with a doc's approval, then have at it.

Are you ready for the physical agility test? If not then you better get moving. Every Police department and or academy has them. Your success and or scores could determine your place in line. Not only helping you get hired, but to ensure you are in tip top physical condition when you are in the line of duty, and your life depends on it.

This is all about sacrifices. Trust me TV video games, computers will all be there when you get your goals accomplished.

So before we start, ask yourself this. Am I ready? What are my strengths? What are my weaknesses? What does my test consist of? Is it a pass/fail or a point system? Last but not least, how bad do I want it? If any question here pertains to you them read on.

A summery of a basic Police agility test.
Pushup Max/Min
Situps/Crunches
1.5/2.0 Shuttle Run
Pull ups Max/Min

Other tests/obstacles that could be on the test.
Trigger Pull test
Wall Mount
Bench Press
Stair Climb


Nutrition/Diet
Now before I give a diet plan example, I will list the do's and don’ts of nutrition/diets. If you are not serious about this, they this does not pertain to you. It might be hard, but ask yourself this again, how bad do I want it? Of course for those that are in good shape already, this might not pertain to you.

1. Drink Water! You will be surprised at how just water helps you shed the weight. 2-3 liters a day is recommended.
2. Drop the sodas/pop diet or not, toss them
3. Just because you skip a meal, or eat well a few meals doesn’t mean you can scarf a big Mac meal down because its worth 2 meals.
4. Eat small meals, this will be shown for the daily food examples.
5. If you work a screwed up shift (swing) then grab some vitamins to help supplement the sacrifices you are going to make.
6. Last but not least, less calories in and more calories out = weight loss.



Here is a solid example of a good daily food intake. It might seem extreme, use your better judgment to alter it if need be. This does not mean eat every item, pick 2-3 for main meals and 1 for the mid in between meals.

Breakfast: (Proteins) Boiled egg whites, lean meats, protein shake, vegetable beef stew, yeah it sounds nasty in the morning but it's not bad.(Carbs)Some fruits like bannanas,grapes,blue berries with cereal (good kind) not captain crunch, or coca puffs ect ect. You can add a piece of wheat toast if you would like. With 1 qt of water

Mid Morning yogurt, can of tuna, fruit salad, and slim fast meal bar

Lunch Chicken,Tuna,Fish,Lean meat sandwich on wheat, no mayo, mixed meat with salad, fat free dressing. A hearty mixed veggie salad no limit on veggies.With 1 qt of water

Mid Afternoon almonds,peanuts,small salad,fruits,nutrigrain bar, glass of fruit juice to go with it.With 1 qt of water

Dinner Lean chicken,fish,meat broiled no fried, large salad with lean meats, serving of veggies.With 1 qt of water

I hope this gives you an idea of what do stay on track with. Remember if you have to ask yourself if something is ok to eat, its probably not.

Before you start here. Get yourself a good pair of gofasters(running/workout shoes). Also grab some acceptable workout clothes, including gloves.

Exercise/routine
Test Yourself

The anxiety felt by most people is largely due to performing within a time limit. The more your workouts are timed, the better you are at "pacing" yourself, thus eliminating most anxiety.

Pull-ups

During the pull-up and pushup test, you want to perform these as fast as possible while Using the proper technique. Also, look straight up at the sky in order to use your back muscles more for pull-ups. Recommended workout - pyramid workout. Start off with just one pull-up for the first set, two pull-ups for the second set and continue up the pyramid by adding one pullup for every set possible. When you can no longer continue, repeat in reverse order until you are back to just one pull-up. (ex. 1,2,3,4,5,6,5,4,3,2,1) Do these 2 times a day for a week every week after add 1 set.

Pushups

Try 5 sets of maximum pushups in five 1:00 periods. Do this once a day for a week. After Each week add 1-2 sets. This event is also sometimes timed. Again find out your target score and alter this method if you have to. I am sure that if you continue to these weekly you will be fine for the test.

Situps
This is usually timed, so find out what your target score is and continue to test yourself using the following method. 20 sit ups every 30 seconds. If you do this right, you will increase you max by 15-30 very quickly. Do 3 sets a day for week 1. After each week add 1 set.

Running

This workout is basically interval training. Interval training means you run at a certain pace for a particular distance then increase the pace for the same distance. The Four Mile Track Workout is broken into 1/4 mile sprints and jogs and 1/8 mile sprints and jogs for a total of four miles. The workout goes as follows:

- 4 Mile Track Work
- Jog - 1 mile in 7:00 - 8:00
- Three sets of: push ups/crunches
- Sprint-1/4 mile in
- Jog - 1/4 mile in 1:45
- Six sets of: jumping jacks/push ups/crunches
- Sprint-1/8 mile
- Jog - 1/8 mile 1:00

Do this workout without walking to rest. The only rest you will receive is during your slower jogging pace. Try to catch your breath while you jog. Warning if you find it very hard to do this, scale this down according to your limits. Push yourself, but do it safely.

Some Final Tips
1. If you need a break and watch TV, use the cpu and or just sit around for a while. Drop down between breaks and commercials and knock out 1-2 sets of your core workouts.
2.If you miss a workout, go for a walk before bed 1-2 miles or so, at a good pace. Bring an ipod.
3. Get yourself a hand grip tension workout tool. You can use this at work.(trigger pull test)

This is just a basic guide. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to send them my way.

I will be adding to this guide, including weights and advance training.

[TridentX2]

Thank-you for this!

[Munky]

Awesome info! Gonna bookmark this thread for future reference!