Everyone has an idea if they are in good shape or not, but without some way to measure your fitness, it’s just a guess. T This fitness test will give you an idea so if someone asks you how good of shape that your in, you can tell them with confidence because you will have something to base your assessment on. You must perform above the minimum standard fitness test to become a member of the Idaho State Police. The 5 tests are strength, speed, power, endurance, and flexibility. Allow for some higher numbers the older you are, but this will give you something to aim for as a goal.
Strength. The fitness test of strength is 2 parts for upper body and 1 for lower body. The upper body fitness test includes pushups, and crunches and the lower body fitness test is with squats. The pushup fitness test is to do as many full pushups as you can, no time limit. To pass this fitness test you need to be able to do between 21 and 60. Here is a chart that you can use to see where you are for your age group.
The second part of the fitness test is the abdominal crunch; the fitness test is for how many you can do in 1 minute. For the Police test you have to do a minimum of 15, which is really low. Realistically you should be able to get to 30 or more. Check this chart for your age and sex group.
The Lower body fitness test is Squats, stand with feet shoulder width with hands on hips in front of a chair, lower body until you touch the chair then stand back up. The Police didn’t have this requirement but here is a chart to see how well you can do.
The speed part of the fitness test is very simple, you need to find a place that you know is 300 yards, what I use is a football field, you have to make 2 turns but it’s easy to measure. Run as fast you can 300 yards. To pass you need to be faster than 77 seconds for the Police test but you should be able to do it in 60 seconds or less if your in good shape.
The power part of the fitness test is Vertical jump. Stand against a wall and put your arm up, have someone mark where you can reach. To do the test you take one step and jump and mark the spot you can reach. To pass the Police fitness test you must be able to get 14” higher than your base mark. Here is a chart to see how you should do for your sex.
The endurance part of the fitness test is done in a timed trial over 1.5 miles. Warm up for 5 to 10 minutes before the test starts. The time you need to make for the Police test is under 17:17. Run or walk is fine but you will need to run for most of the time, you will need to do just over 11 minute miles or around 5.5 miles per hour.
The final fitness test is the flexibility test. This is called the sit and reach test. Find a stairway that you can sit at the bottom of, place a ruler on the bottom step and mark the edge of the step on the ruler. Sit with no shoes on with your feet against the end of the bottom stair with your feet slightly apart and the ruler between your feet lying on the stair. Stretch as far as you can across the stair and mark the place where you can reach to, check the distance between the mark and where you can reach. Look at this chart to see how you did.
Do these tests and see where you are, you will have a good idea of what kind of shape you are in. You will also be able to see where you should be and give you a goal to work toward.
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