2K Fitness Test for Job

[hjs]

When I first bought my rower I used it for a couple of weeks then I got busy at work and haven't touched it since. My plan at the time was to keep the pace I needed to pass and build up the distance. In two weeks I got up to 1250 m at a 2:10 pace, which makes me feel like I can do it. I'm not too sure how hard the last 750 m will be though. As far as running goes, it is more of a run/walk with a lot of time to pass. That is why I said the run was easier.

Motivation sounds very low... Endurancetraining needs enough time. 1250 meters is 5 min. Thats nothing, 20 min sessions are the very minimum. Do this at least 3 times a week.
Again, your health is not good. The test should be very easy to do for an average man, a good rower would hardly breath....

[sdr2017]

I have never had to do a fitness test for work, so it is a surprising concept for me. I looked around the web and found this interesting site for Texas Troopers:

http://www.dps.texas.gov/trainingAcadem ... ements.htm

It is fun to play with their calculator. I note that the times and rankings are MUCH slower than what one might expect browsing the Concept 2 rankings. All of you people here are seriously over-achievers.

To the original poster, I am also new to rowing and followed suggestions to start the Pete's Beginner's plan. I am a few weeks in and it is going well I suspect 12 weeks in would see you passing the qualifications requirement if you are starting from a reasonable base.

Most of the people you find on this forum are in very good shape, so their standards may not translate well to my fitness level or yours. Good luck with your training.

[bisqeet]

well - cant see me getting any faster than the required 9:38 for a 2k...
funnily if i was 10 years older it would only get me 10s more..20 years younger would still have me targeting a 9:20...
seems oddly non linear

- still think its a good idea.


our standing joke in green was at the expense of the airforce (back home for tea and medals).
they're annual test consisted of a BMI calculation.

we had to do other silly things - especially if i wanted to keep airborne / diver status (it was extra money and i liked collecting badges)

in retrospect i'm not sure which was the better

[TXSmokey]

I have never had to do a fitness test for work, so it is a surprising concept for me. I looked around the web and found this interesting site for Texas Troopers:

http://www.dps.texas.gov/trainingAcadem ... ements.htm

It is fun to play with their calculator. I note that the times and rankings are MUCH slower than what one might expect browsing the Concept 2 rankings. All of you people here are seriously over-achievers.

To the original poster, I am also new to rowing and followed suggestions to start the Pete's Beginner's plan. I am a few weeks in and it is going well I suspect 12 weeks in would see you passing the qualifications requirement if you are starting from a reasonable base.

Most of the people you find on this forum are in very good shape, so their standards may not translate well to my fitness level or yours. Good luck with your training.

My job uses the same standard as the Texas DPS site.

[Rowan McSheen]

Most of the people you find on this forum are in very good shape, so their standards may not translate well to my fitness level or yours. Good luck with your training.

Good thought. My erg times are distinctly mediocre to average compared to those seen on this forum. Ditto my running times in races. But that's in the context of cohorts of people who by definition are considerably fitter than the bulk of the population, which is some consolation. By way of example, to join the forces my son had to do a fitness test of a 1.5 mile run in 11 mins 9 seconds or better, which I can just about do. But he was 21 and I'm 56

[sdr2017]

Fun with the Texas Trooper Test!

I played with the Texas Trooper website to identify the equation. They use a simple linear equation: target speed (sec) = –06806 X (weight-lb) + 713.47

This equation leads to some ludicrous targets. If you weight 1048 lb, your target time is 0 sec! Go team!

At 555 lb, your target time is less than the world record time of 5:36!

If you weigh 85 lb (like my mother) your target is just under 11 min.

It is a crazy standard. It might make more sense if they did it by height, even if it is just a simple linear fit. Unless your added weight is all muscle, this standard gets progressively harder for large people. It is probably a good fit over some narrow range, but they are clearly not paying attention to extrapolating beyond common weights.

[jamesg]

They need to weed out the overweight unfit, and 12 weeks of 5 k a day will get anyone out of that bracket, easily. The same stuff as from day-after would keep them out too, as well as out of cardiac risk zones.

[Ombrax]

In two weeks I got up to 1250 m at a 2:10 pace, which makes me feel like I can do it. I'm not too sure how hard the last 750 m will be though. As far as running goes, it is more of a run/walk with a lot of time to pass. That is why I said the run was easier.

If you're pushing yourself, the last 500m are always the hardest.

Instead of rowing at a 2:10 pace and building up distance until I got to 2k, I would row 2k (or a bit more) and gradually work at a faster and faster pace in successive workouts until I got down to the goal.

The good thing about not being in very good shape is that in the beginning you tend to improve quite rapidly. (unless you try to do too much too quickly, and injure yourself because your body hasn't had a chance to acclimate to the work)

[jimmy1]

I suspect 12 weeks in would see you passing the qualifications requirement if you are starting from a reasonable base.

If starting from a reasonable fitness base (I.e., reasonable for a state trooper - one going on tax dollars with the expectation to catch criminals) one should be *fit enough* to pass this test on day one. Easily fit enough imo. The problem is the technical side.... that is a trooper ought to be fit enough to juggle balls but it does require a basic technique set that isn't job applicable.

Still with just a basic grasp of the technical side from YouTube or a knowledgeable instructor, these times seem quite reasonable for law enforcement personnel.

[TXSmokey]

I was able to pass the test today after only 4 weeks of practice. That includes a week off in the middle due to a kidney stone. Not as difficult as I had thought. Thanks for the advice.

[calalli]

Congratulations! I was wondering just today how things worked out for you. Are you going to keep going with the erg?

[TXSmokey]

I plan to keep rowing, but I'm going to mix some resistance training in with it.

[Carl Watts]

I would take the rower test for sure, thats a slow time for anyone who has done even a bit of training on the erg.

The police PAT test over here is a 2.4Km run or 6 times round the track in under 12 min 15 seconds for your age, 34 non stop military press-ups and jump height test and a grip strength test and you also have to be able to tread water for 5 minutes and swim 50m and free dive for a weight.

I would have taken any form of rowing test as opposed to that !!!

[sdr2017]

TXSmokey,

Congratulations on passing the test!

From my own experience, I would guess that passing the kidney stone hurt more than passing the erg test.

Scott

[TXSmokey]

Thanks sdr2017. Yes, the kidney stone was a lot worse than the erg test!