|
Improving your run times
Many fitness tests for the police, fire and military involve a timed run over 2.4km or the beep/shuttle test.
While many people prepare for these tests by hammering away at the test distance there are more efficient strategies to improve your run times.
Your first priority should be to build a base of aerobic and anaerobic conditioning through tough circuits of kettlebells, weight training, bodyweight exercises and short intense bursts of running or rowing.
Once you have a base of fitness you can add some run specific work to your program a couple of days a week. The mistake most people make when training for a short run test is to do too much long slow work. I suggest that the longest run you need to do is twice the test distance and then only rarely.
The focus of your training should be on 400 and 800m intervals run as fast as possible with decreasing rest times as you get closer to the test.
For example if training for 2.4km test you could start with one workout a week of 6 x 400m with 2 min rests and another session of 3-4 x 800m intervals with 3 min rests. As you get closer to the test reduce the rest intervals. Once every 2 weeks run the test course to learn your pacing and pick out timing points.
For shuttle run tests or the beep test the same training applies but you’ll also want to practice the test occasionally.
For a personalised plan to pass any test or improve your fitness contact us at fitness@octogen.com.au and we can design a program for your needs.
|
