How to Pass the Australian Police Fitness Test

​If you’re planning on making it into the Australian Police force, the first obstacle is to pass the fitness test. The life of most police officers is not just about staying around the desk and even once you are in and on the job, you will need to maintain your fitness levels and pass the tests regularly to be able to do your job.

Whether you are a rookie or a seasoned police personnel, your physical fitness should be one of the most important parts of your lifestyle. It's only easy to blame lack of time for not exercising regularly and before you know it you may be out of your job. 

Meeting the requirements on each of the below task is crucial for an aspiring police officer. Here's a quick guide on what they are and how to train for them.

Handgrip Test

​The hand-grip strength test is used to stimulate the strength required during officer survival and firearms training and is often completed using a dynamometer which measures your grip strength.

Improving grip strength is not as easy as it first sounds but with consistently chosing exercises that strengthen your forearms is key. Pull-ups, rows, farmer's walk with plates, squeezing rice between your fingers, practicing on monkey bars will all help master this test.

Prone Bridge Test

Also known as a plank or hover, this measures the muscular endurance of your abdominal muscles which is important when wearing heavy police equipment, belts and also helps you prevent lower back injuries.

Core strength can be developed in many ways, but including compound movements in your training will teach your body how to engage it in a variety of full body movements. Think of deadlifts, squats, push-ups, pull-ups, inverted rows and bent over rows.

Vertical Jump Test

​This test is designed to measure your lower body strength and is conducted using a vertical jump test gauge. Think of basketball players and how important can be for them to jump as high as possible. As a police officer on duty, you may need that skill to be able to chase a criminal through a variety of urban obstacles.

Plyometric exercises will develop the biomechanics for these jumps and ensure your joint strength, however muscular strength of your legs and butt is very important so you can generate the speed and power required for a high vertical jump. Think sprint training, broad jumps, lunges, single leg squats and Romanian deadlifts to develop the hamstrings and glutes. Working on your calves is also very important.

Push Up Test

​The push-up test is to examine your upper body strength and also endurance, two important aspects of firearms and officer survival training. The number of push-ups are important, so is the correct form.

Performing push-ups correctly requires full body strength ad stability. You will want to focus on full body exercises and core strength to master this exercise and pass the test.

Illinois Agility Test

This test will analyze your speed and athletic agility often timed electronically and requires a great effort from you in order to navigate the traffic cone courses.

Improving your reaction time, ankle and knee joint strength and mobility and your speed is key to mastering this agility test. Practice with shuttle runs, play sports like basketball, football or even do some boxing or any sports where footwork is important.

Multi-Stage Fitness Test

Also called the beep test. ​This is a cardiovascular exercise that will push your body to its limit with a 20-metre marked course, and applicants are expected to continuously increase their speed until they physically can’t keep up anymore.

You will need to be able to change direction quickly, increase your speed progressively and react to the beep as quick as possible. Going just for a run may not cut it, make sure you practice the shuttles, include sprint training in your cardio routine, as well as HIIT.

How to Pass the Tests

In most tasks, you’re only given one attempt to pass the test until you’re forced to re-apply. As a result, one of the best ways to guarantee that you can pass the test is to train past what’s required of you. By ensuring that your body can perform better than what the test requires, you’re guaranteed a pass. 

Running and Agility

​Running improves your overall health but also makes you fit and increases your athletic capacity. Start by increasing the time you run each week so that you continuously push your limits and get your body accustomed to the stress.
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It’s important to focus on techniques by pacing yourself and working slowly towards your goal, instead of pushing your body with the incorrect methods that will either injure you or do a poor job at training your body.
 
It’s also crucial to be consistent with your workouts and training so that your body has a chance to get used to the new fitness levels that you’re pushing it towards. It’s ideal to keep adding on extra repetitions and time to help you grow your fitness levels.

Wrapping Up

​If you still have a couple of months until your test then it’s a good time to start training now. However, if it’s soon, then you may want to contact us at Police Fit so that we can offer you professional help with your fitness so that you’re prepared for your assessment or at least manage your expectations.