UK Police fitness test

[Jks1993]

Wondering if anyone has used c25k to prepare them for the police (UK) fitness test, specifically the bleep test?

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate]

Just read about the UK police fitness test, part of it is to run on a 15 metre length in a gym at a ever increasing pace when a beeper bleeps, sound like a bit of a running exercise to get into the police force.

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Welcome to the forum and well done

This guide to the plan is essential reading healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

and includes advice on minimising impact, stretching after every run, hydration and strengthening exercises, all of which will help.

Loads of people come here to prepare for bleep tests, but most leave far to short a length of time ........it is an 8 week plan at its very shortest,( if you run every other day) and it is highly unwise run on consecutive days as a new runner.

The other problem is that C25k is about building stamina and endurance, not speed, so is not ideal.

It probably depends on where you are starting from.

Can you run at all?

Enjoy your journey.

[Jks1993 in reply to IannodaTruffe]

Thanks the guide is really helpful. I’ve just started week 2 of c25k and I’m enjoying it but prior to this I wasn’t very active

[IannodaTruffe Mentor in reply to Jks1993]

Well done on getting started.

Probably best to stick to the plan, which includes the rest days, and just see how your fitness develops.

[limberlou Graduate]

My daughter used it but then failed on the grounds of a bad back she had years ago and because she hadn’t gone back to tell the doctor it was better they said she’d had a bad back for over 10 years!!! Who goes back and says they are better???

[metamorphfreebird Graduate in reply to limberlou]

I can’t believe that! In the NHS we are constantly talking about the best use of our resources (that includes staff time!!) and I’ve not heard of that, surely if everyone went back to their doctor to get confirmation that they’re better that would put unnecessary strain on our already stretched resource? This upsets me for your daughter, I hope she either managed to do it later on or find something even better!!! all the best!!!

[limberlou Graduate in reply to metamorphfreebird]

Well she is still working for MOD but in a job that suits her engineering qualifications ( and she has found herself a lovely boyfriend in the process). She was working for MOD originally but wanted to get into the Reserves. And they have closed out local one now anyway so she would have to travel over 100 miles each way to get to the nearest now. So it’s worked out for the best. She’d passed all the rest of her interview but failed in that. She could have got a letter from her doctor to explaining she’d lost heart by then

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

My daughter did C25K and some sprint intervals. They did the bleep test at school and she scored higher than the police pass score... some of it was down to the sprint work, but the stamina from C25K helped no doubt.

[sTrongFuse Graduate]

Not the police version but as a rugby referee I had to achieve a minimum 15.3 standard for SRU level 2 accreditation. I'd graduated a month prior to doing it but I suspect it made achieving it much easier than if I'd not been following the plan.

[Jks1993]

Jesus 15.3 is a lot the police is 5.4 which isn’t that hard but for a complete beginner like myself I think I will struggle but I’ll stick with c25k