Fitness level before the academy

[tgunsmoke]

What do you level of fitness (as far as mile time/length, how many sit-ups, push ups, etc) do you guys suggest to be at prior to entering the academy? I'm a female by the way.

[Samuelx]

Depends on the academy - find out what the fitness levels are for the END of the academy and shoot for surpassing them BEFORE you get in...

[SMarquez]

You should be in the best shape you can get into. I think the academic portion for a LEO academy will be a lot heavier load than my fire academy 33 years ago but I remember fatigue bearing on my study time. It's hard to retain info when your butt is dragging hard.
Good luck

[Atomic Donut]

I'm currently I'm the academy. Be able to do at least 25 push-ups and 5 pull-ups. Forget the long runs. Start sprinting. Also crossfit is what we do in the academy.

[StraightShot04]

As SMarques stated, you should be in the best shape that time allows before entering the academy. The better shape you are in, the better off you are while in the academy. I thought I was in good shape when I entered and at my academy, we had a "sustained exercise", basically a fight for your life and I damn near died...well, at least that's what it felt like.

Good luck to you.

[Watchur6]

A friend of mine is in the OC sheriff academy. He just told me the other day that it is the hardest thing he's ever had to do in his life, he is in good shape by the way. According to him it's a lot of mountain climbers, push ups and cross fit style workouts.Running should be second nature by the time you get into the academy. So I guess the answer is, get in the best shape of your life.

[Samuelx]

As StraightShot mentioned - "fight conditioning" is much different than any other kind of conditioning or working out outside of combat sports (e.g. mma, muay thai, boxing, wrestling, judo, BJJ, etc)...

[mixicus]

POST minimums shouldn't be your concern. From my experience at a 'high stress' academy in SoCal, the running and PT testing/ qualification at the academy is not a huge hurdle. An active person with a few months of training can make all the minimum numbers without issue. The more difficult issue (and it's a mental one) is the shear amount of sets you do throughout the day outside of PT. 400-600 reps of push-ups, burpees, mountain climbers every day on little sleep were normal before getting to PT.

As for running at the academy and a good starting program, check out the "couch to 5K" program on the Cool Running website. Also save some pain, head for a runners shoe store (not Dick's or Big 5) and have them find the right shoe for him. It will cost a bit more but it's worth it.

At the academy, we only hit the weight room a few times and there were no quals on any lifts so save the weights for after graduation. Focus the prep workouts on basic body weight exercises (push-ups, sit-ups, squat thrusts/burpees, mountain climbers, pull-ups and running) with the idea of multiple sets of 25 reps (except for pull-ups). Oh...and they are back-to-back sets meaning 25 push-ups, 25 squat thrusts, 25 mountain climbers, 25 sit-ups...repeat with ~10 second breaks between sets.

Another suggestion, is to head for a boxing or muay thai gym. The conditioning aspect is outstanding and you can develop some cross over skills along the way (i.e. hitting things). You can also use P90X, Insanity, T25 or another intense DVD; you can follow the "Navy SEAL Prep" program found on the web or head for a crossfit box.

If your likely academy (or associated community college) has one the pre-academy prep class. It will show you what to expect in many areas of the academy including PT.

As a reality check, the following are fitness level recommendations from several PD's for beginning the police academy. The information is taken from the last week of their recommended pre-academy workout programs (links are old).

LAPD
(http://www.lacity.org/...b/lapd_tips.htm )

Run 4 miles @ 9-10 minutes per mile, 3-4 days/week
Push-ups 25-30 reps x 3 sets
Sit-ups 35-40 reps x 3 sets
Pull-ups 3-15 reps x 3 sets
Leg-lifts 25-35 reps x 3 sets

Las Vegas Metro PD
(http://www.protectthecity.com/...90DayPTPlan.pdf )

Run 3.5 miles @ 9:40 per mile, 4 days/week
Incline Push ups/ Push ups 25 reps x 3 sets
Flutter Kicks 3 sets at 45 seconds/set
Sit Ups 15 reps x 3 sets
Crunches 25 reps x 3 sets
Jumping Jacks 25 reps x 3 sets
Mountain Climbers 25 reps x 3 sets
Body Builders 25 reps x 3 sets

Costa Mesa PD(http://www.ci.costaesa.ca.us/...xpectations.htm )

Run 3 miles @ 9 minutes per mile, 3 days/week
Push-ups 50 reps
Sit-ups 50 reps
Pull-ups 4 reps

FBI PFT
(http://www.fbijobs.gov/1113.as... )

Push-ups 30/58
Sit-ups 38/71
1.5 Mile Run 12:24/8:89
300m Sprint 52.4/40.9
Values listed as min/max. Run and sprint values are minutes:seconds

SEAL PREP
(from Category 1 Wk 9 at http://navyseal.s5.com/workout... )

Run @ 8:30 pace for: Mon 4 miles, Tues 4 miles, Thursday 5 miles, Friday 3 miles
Push-ups 30 reps x 6 sets
Sit-ups 30 reps x 6 sets
Pull-ups 10 reps x 3 sets

[micro911]

My academy class started with 80 recruits. 63 graduated after 20 weeks.

We lost maybe 12 in first 2 weeks, mainly because they could not keep up with PT program. You should be able to run and do other physical exercises required by the department.

Overweight shouldn't be a problem as long as you can follow the program. I had a recruit in my academy who is overweight, because he was a body builder. He was one of the top recruits in the class.

[tgunsmoke]

Thanks for all of the advice guys. It'd be helpful to find some other people going into the academy at the same time so we can train together. I'll have to ask around at school.

[veeklog]

Damn, I feel old. When I went through the BP academy it was a ton of running and mat work. When I finished I was had to get my dress uniform resized twice, but I was in no fighting shape because I was thin. Three years later I went through CITP/CBES, and it felt a lot like college.

I am so glad academies are concentrate more on cross-fit, and teaching more skills such as wrestling, BBJ, boxing, and Muay Thai. More and more bad guys are training in MMA, and their conditioning is top notch. Knowing how to fight, and more importantly, how to defend in a defensive position is becoming tantamount in our profession.

[Che762x39]

My academy class started with 80 recruits. 63 graduated after 20 weeks.

We lost maybe 12 in first 2 weeks, mainly because they could not keep up with PT program. You should be able to run and do other physical exercises required by the department.

Overweight shouldn't be a problem as long as you can follow the program. I had a recruit in my academy who is overweight, because he was a body builder. He was one of the top recruits in the class.

That is a good point. We started with 103 and graduated 85 and the majority who dropped was in the first three weeks. Of course that was a long time ago. Of our 85 I doubt 30 made it to retirement, I did

[CasperSYTFU]

I'm currently I'm the academy. Be able to do at least 25 push-ups and 5 pull-ups. Forget the long runs. Start sprinting. Also crossfit is what we do in the academy.

You made it into the current class? Congrats. Long journey ahead. Chin up, head down.

[nbk9nbk]

Its sad when you see all these out of shape Leo's and think that one point they could have ran or done situps/pushups... there should be a yearly requirement theat they all have to meet.☺

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[TrailerparkTrash]

I laugh when I hear the term "high stress" academy in California. There hasn't been a "high stress" anything in police training in California, for over 25 years.

Not to be a smart azz here because I'm not, but if anyone has to ask how good of shape one must be to get through an academy, then one probably isn't in the proper shape to begin with, nor mentally prepared for PT.

Just my opinion..