Practice Practice Practice: Why you need to for the PARE and POPAT

Let’s take a trip down memory lane and go back to your high school days.  It’s your last year and you’re in the home stretch, getting ready for finals and studying your ass off. The grades you get will determine if you get into the school you’ve always wanted. You study all the facts and figures, all the stats and tidbits.

Test day arrives and you know you’re ready. You prepared for so long, written practice tests, and nothing that’s thrown your way will deter you. You got this. Because of your preparation, you got the grades, and you got into your dream school, and it set you up for the right path in life.

What does this have to do with the PARE, POPAT, COPAT, or SOPAT? Everything. Just like high school when you prepared for finals, you need to prepare for your physical test. But I’ve received so many clients who went into their test under prepared or totally underestimating the difficulty of the test. Their idea of preparation is running 3x/week at a moderate pace for a few months. No practice test. No strength training. No high intensity training for that matter. They figure by watching a few Youtube videos they should be good to pass. Then they do their test and reality bites them in the ass, grabs them by the throat, and slams them down to the ground like the Undertaker.

When I used to run PARE tests for the RCMP, I would always ask applicants if they practiced the test before. If they said no, I knew they were in for a world of hurt. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are places where you can practice. For those of you who live in Metro Vancouver or the Fraser Valley, I highly recommend going to LEPAT (Law Enforcement Physical Abilities Testing). Located in Abbotsford, they do a very thorough job of explaining the test, breaking it down into its components, and giving you feedback on your performance.

Like a written exam, you studied and you practiced. Getting ready for your physical test is no different. In this case training is your studying, and LEPAT is your place to practice.

If you need help with your “studying”, you can email (redline.conditioning@gmail.com) and I’ll help you study the right way.

2013: Time to Get My Fitness Back

                2012 hasn’t been the best of years for training. I let my fitness slide, and now I gotta get it back. With the new year upon us, I have new goals to shoot for in 2013. I don’t want to call them resolutions cause I hate that term. Resolutions don’t last. Resolutions are things you pay lip service to but never follow up on. So I keep it as it should be, goals. On that note, here are my 2013 fitness goals.

BORN TO RUN

                I need to get back to my athletic roots, which is running. When I run, I feel like a kid again. I love being outside and taking in the early morning fresh air, when it’s crisp and no one is around. I feel like I own the streets. I love when I run hard and fast and I’m wheezing by the end. But for the past year I haven’t done enough of that and I need to do it again.

                So start off, I just need to build the consistency. I’m going to run at least 3 times a week for 20-30 min. I know it’s going to feel hard at first, running at a pace I would’ve considered excruciatingly slow just a year ago, but I gotta start somewhere. Once I’m consistent, the goal is to train for a mid-year half marathon, then a fall marathon (most likely Victoria). It’s funny you know, all this time that I’ve been running and I still haven’t done a marathon.

 

TRI TRI AGAIN

                If there is one triathlon I’m going to do this year, it’s the Delta Triathlon. One of the first triathlons I’ve ever done, it’s remained a staple in my racing career (I don’t know if I should call it career seeing that I’ve never made money off of triathlons). I may not be as fast as I used to be, but I’m not going to give up this race. I just need to make sure I get my swimming on cause last year I didn’t feel so hot after the swim.  To prep I’ll need to swim at least twice a week, even if they’re only 30 min swims. And I gotta get on my bike at least once a week.

 

IRON MAIDEN

                I can’t forget about my strength. Earlier in the year I reached personal bests in my deadlift and bench press, and I want to come close to meeting those PR’s. But if I plan on doing a marathon, I gotta make my strength training complementary to my runs. Maybe after the fall marathon I’ll aim for the PR’s.

 

WHAT OBSTACLE?

                 Back in June I was supposed to do the Tough Mudder. I ended up getting sick the day before. I’m determined to do it this year. I also want to do the Spartan Race again. Check that, I’m going to do the Spartan Race. Saying I want to usually means that it’s not going to happen.

                There you have it, my 2013 fitness goals. I hate feeling deconditioned, I want to get my fitness back and 2013 will be that year. Bring it on!

Training for the POPAT Part 3: Tips and Tricks

This post has been moved to its current home at www.rlconditioning.ca.

You can find it here: https://rlconditioning.ca/training-for-the-popat-part-3-tips-and-tricks/

Training for the POPAT Part 2: Strength Training

This post has been moved to its current home at www.rlconditioning.ca

You can find it here: http://rlconditioning.ca/blog/59916/Training-for-the-POPAT-Part-2-Strength-Training

Training for the POPAT: Part 1 Cardio Conditioning

This post has been moved to its current home at www.rlconditioning.ca

You can find it here: http://rlconditioning.ca/blog/59834/Training-for-the-POPAT-Part-1-Cardio-Conditioning