Physical Training

[AceRock]

Well I turned in my PHS in the other day and just kinda got lazy after that. I figured that it would probably be a while before I heard from a BI. But then I was able to talk to an officer today while at the scene of an accident (I drive a tow truck for a company that is on rotation with the CHP). He is really cool and told me all about his experiences at the academy and told me that the PT is no joke. I kinda figured that but he lit the flame under my foot. So here I am now. Just got back from a 2 mile run, jog, walk and I am out of shape! Just wondering what everyone out there who is in the process is doing to get ready? I was thinking of joining a gym. I dont even know if I can do one pull up let alone 3 or 4! Push-ups and sit-ups are not such a big deal but the running! I was out of steam after about a 1/3 of a mile and had to slow to a jog and eventually a walk. Anybody out ther in the same boat as me?

[23109]

I've been a decent runner, but I slacked off for quite a few years before I started up again in preparation for the academy. This is what I did, and it helped out a lot. This won't get you completely into shape for the Academy, but if you run it and push yourself, you'll be on the right track.


The following running schedule was created by Budd Coates, health promotions manager at Rodale Press in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, and four-time Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier. Each spring Coates leads a corporate running program for beginners that takes nonrunners and, in 10 weeks, gets them to the point where they can run 3.5 miles without stopping. Follow this schedule, and you can do the same.

Before you start this schedule, get your legs ready with eight days of walking: Walk for 20 minutes a day for the first four days, then increase to 30 minutes a day for four more days. Now you're ready to begin with week 1.

Each week of the program, do your run/walk workouts on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. Take a rest day or an easy walk on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday.


Week 1


Run 2 minutes, walk 4 minutes.


Complete 5 cycles.

Week 2


Run 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes.


Complete 5 cycles.

Week 3


Run 5 minutes, walk 2? minutes.


Complete 4 cycles.

Week 4


Run 7 minutes, walk 3 minutes.


Complete 3 cycles.

Week 5


Run 8 minutes, walk 2 minutes.


Complete 3 cycles.

Week 6


Run 9 minutes, walk 2 minutes.


Complete 2 cycles, then run 8 minutes

Week 7


Run 9 minutes, walk 1 minute.


Complete 3 cycles.

Week 8


Run 13 minutes, walk 2 minutes.


Complete 2 cycles.

Week 9


Run 14 minutes, walk 1 minute.


Complete 2 cycles.


Note: After completing week 9, if you feel tired, repeat this week of training before moving on to week 10.

Week 10


Run 30 minutes.

[CaliforniaHighwayPatrol]

I work out and run 4 days a week. I run about 5 miles at a good pace. I focus a lot on weight training to build strengh.

[jdmHboy]

Well I turned in my PHS in the other day and just kinda got lazy after that. I figured that it would probably be a while before I heard from a BI. But then I was able to talk to an officer today while at the scene of an accident (I drive a tow truck for a company that is on rotation with the CHP). He is really cool and told me all about his experiences at the academy and told me that the PT is no joke. I kinda figured that but he lit the flame under my foot. So here I am now. Just got back from a 2 mile run, jog, walk and I am out of shape! Just wondering what everyone out there who is in the process is doing to get ready? I was thinking of joining a gym. I dont even know if I can do one pull up let alone 3 or 4! Push-ups and sit-ups are not such a big deal but the running! I was out of steam after about a 1/3 of a mile and had to slow to a jog and eventually a walk. Anybody out ther in the same boat as me?



The best way to get better at running is to run obviously, but there are things that you can do that will help the process so to speak. If you decide to hit the weight room, not knowing what you are doing could actually hurt your performance. The main thing you want to do is increase endurance, especially with your legs, so lift light and do a lot of reps. If you lift heavier, you won't be able to do as many reps, you still will gain strength, but an explosive strength rather than endurance. In addition you'll gain more body mass (with the right diet) which to my understanding isn't really a good thing if you are preparing for the type of physical training you'd be going through in an academy. If it makes you feel better, about 2 months ago when I started running, I could barely run a mile. Now I run 2.5-3 miles 3 or 4 times a week no problem, and my whole life I've been HORRIBLE at running. I've always been very fast, but lacked mucho endurance.

[Darth Choke]

Push-ups and sit-ups are not such a big deal ...



:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


Stand by...

[Darth Choke]

BTW, those lifting weights to "get ready" and "get strong" for the acedemy are in serious trouble.

[CaliforniaHighwayPatrol]

I also do it for myself. I am not the strongest person in the world so I like to lift. It is not like I am a body builder.

[Mac]

I also do it for myself. I am not the strongest person in the world so I like to lift. It is not like I am a body builder.
I think what Darth means is that weight lifting won't prepare you for all the push-ups, sit-ups, crunches, mountain climbers, etc. you'll be doing at the Academy....and I agree. You'd be much better served by putting the weights down and doing a lot of the above exercises - work up to multiple sets of as many as you can. As jdmHboy said, you need to develop endurance for PT sessions - they're long and grueling as opposed to short sets of weightlifting with rest periods in between. Explosive (limit lift) strength is good and will help you in other ways, but it won't do you a lot of good when you're on your 10th set of push-ups mixed in with all the other stuff. There's a fitness concept called "specificity" that basically says if you want to get good at riding a bike, ride a bike....if you want to get good at running, run. (etc.)

I'm not saying that weight lifting is bad, and not trying to call anybody out....just trying to help. If you want to continue lifting weights, by all means do so - but mix in some calisthenic-type exercises also for the muscle endurance.

[CaliforniaHighwayPatrol]

Will Do :biggrin:

[retchp]

Mac Wrote:
There's a fitness concept called "specificity" that basically says if you want to get good at riding a bike, ride a bike....if you want to get good at running, run. (etc.)

I'm not saying that weight lifting is bad, and not trying to call anybody out....just trying to help. If you want to continue lifting weights, by all means do so

So true, I remember one guy at my physical agility test many years ago. Seriously he was built like Superman. Just like Superman. He even looked a little like Superman. Obviously a body builder with many thousands of hours of building up his muscles. You guessed it. He failed the PAT and was never seen again. He got to one pull up and then just hung there like a big 'ol Superman. Maybe it was just a bad day, but it made an impression on me and I think Mac is right about how to train for specificity when you will be doing lots of push ups, pull ups and crunches etc. train for those.

In military training that is basically all we did too, running and lots and lots of calesthenics. It was called the "Daily Dozen" by the Army back then. Maybe it still is, I'll look it up and repost if I find it.

[Welpe]

Good posts and advice fellas. I don't even have weight training in my workout routine right now. I've got it down to cardio and calisthenics. One reason is that these can be done anywhere without having to go to the very crowded school gym. Another reason is that my current fitness goals are to drop body fat and get lean. I know that the increased muscle from weight training can help in burning body fat so I have not completely ruled out weight training. It will be something I probably will try and incorporate later down the line.

[CaliforniaHighwayPatrol]

At the last PAT they did not have to do pull ups. I know you have to do a ton at the academy. Pull-ups are definitely my one weakness. I can do a ton of chin-ups, but pull-ups are hard.

At the gym they got this assisted pull-up machine that I use, to help and try to build my back muscles better.

[AceRock]

At the last PAT they did not have to do pull ups. I know you have to do a ton at the academy. Pull-ups are definitely my one weakness. I can do a ton of chin-ups, but pull-ups are hard.

At the gym they got this assisted pull-up machine that I use, to help and try to build my back muscles better.

Im with you with the pull-ups! Thank goodness we did not have to do any at the PAT otherwise I would not be at this phase of the process. Anyways I researched that machine you are talking about and found out that the local gym does indeed have one and I think that will be the key to my success as far as pull-ups go. Now back to the running...

[CaliforniaHighwayPatrol]

Here is the machine that I use. It is a GIF file so you can see how to do it. It basically is a bar that bounces you back up.

I was also reading in Men's Health Magazine on how to improve your Pull-Ups. Work your rotator cups, and your back muscles such as your lats. Also find a really heavy dumbbell and carry it for 60 seconds, do 2-3 sets. It strengthens your forearms so they won?t give out on you when doing a pull-up. Also get in a push up position, but instead of your hands on the floor put your elbows on the floor with your arms facing forward and hold for 30 seconds, repeat 2-3 times. It strengthens your back so it will be easier to pull yourself up.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y254/mehsdomi/ASPullUp.gif

[cacop]

As you can obviously see this is my first post on this site. Great info and glad to see an informative site for future cadets/officers.

I'm currently a police officer here in CA in the Central Valley, I'm going to be testing for the CHP on 3/25/06.

Been an officer for about a year and feel the CHP is a better fit for me for many reasons. Physical training is a passion of mine and can't wait to get to the CHP academy and see what all this talk about their PT program is.

I lift hard, probably 4 days a week with 45 minutes to an hour of cardio per session. I feel weight training in combination with cals is a great way to prepare for any type of regimented PT program. Yes, I can bench, barbell row, and squat alot of weight, but I can also do alot of pushups, pullups and situps.

You can build strength and endurance at the same time. You can also weigh 240lbs and still do 15 pullups. I do weigh that much but still was running 9 minute mile and a halfs at my last academy. I think the lowest bf % i got in my last academy was 10 % but still weighed 225lb. I also had the 3rd fastest 1 and 1/2 mile time come graduation (9:12) I did the most the pushups in the class (103), and my situps were over 100. I maxed out the squat thrusts too.

I was still lifting in the evenings after the day was over at the academy, including PT days.

My point is that you don't have to stop lifting weights to be successful at cals, you just have to incorperate them into your training. Same with running, you just have to run. If you cant run then start by walking the track and sprinting the corners. Continue to slowly increase your sprinting distance and soon enough you will find yourself running like no other.

[pupdog]

Welcome cacop! Since you've obviously been through the POST academy, what to they do for PT? I've seen the academy students at my JC doing PT on occasion, and I've just seen some running & sit-ups. I've often wondered how different the CHP does it, because I never hear non-CHP officers talk about it.

[CaliforniaHighwayPatrol]

I am guessing though since last PAT that they do not do pull ups anymore as a test. Let me know if I am wrong.

[SuperTrooper]

Nope, no pullups.

[AceRock]

Here is the machine that I use. It is a GIF file so you can see how to do it. It basically is a bar that bounces you back up.

I was also reading in Men's Health Magazine on how to improve your Pull-Ups. Work your rotator cups, and your back muscles such as your lats. Also find a really heavy dumbbell and carry it for 60 seconds, do 2-3 sets. It strengthens your forearms so they won?t give out on you when doing a pull-up. Also get in a push up position, but instead of your hands on the floor put your elbows on the floor with your arms facing forward and hold for 30 seconds, repeat 2-3 times. It strengthens your back so it will be easier to pull yourself up.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y254/mehsdomi/ASPullUp.gif

Thats the same machine that they have at foothill athletic club in la crescenta. I joined today and will be going there after work every other day. Does anyone know about how many pull-ups are done at the academy at the begining and eventually the max number expected?

[CaliforniaHighwayPatrol]

I know a min. of 4

[junebughunter]

I joined the Gym a few days ago and I went for my third time tonight.

I'm doing some weight training just to get some much needed arm strength. As of tomorrow morning I will start swimming and running at the Gym every morning.

After doing about an 30 minutes of ab workouts, 10 minutes on my calf muscles and 30 minutes of arm workouts I decided to hit the tread-mill...I only lasted a half mile in 4 minutes :shock:ops:

So my focus has completely been changed on the running, push-ups and pull-ups aspect of things

[CHP 44]

What about situps??? That is my main down fall. Is there any tests that require you to do situps or is it just part of the regular PT?

[Darth Choke]

sit ups are part of the 3 PT tests at the academy plus regular PT sessions. During the morning floor PT I we did anywhere from 100 to 700 (no....I am not kidding)

[Mac]

sit ups are part of the 3 PT tests at the academy plus regular PT sessions. During the morning floor PT I we did anywhere from 100 to 700 (no....I am not kidding)
He seriously is NOT kidding.

[cacop]

Pupdog,

I can only speak for the academy I went to, but our PT
program was pretty good. It all depended on how much you wanted to put out and and your level of preperation prior to your arrival at the academy.

We were broken into three groups; the three groups were based on performance on your initial PT test. The groups were 1, 2 and 3.

Group 1 was the people who prepared for the PT and could run the 1 and 1/2 mile under 9:45. Group 2 was 9:45 to 10:45 and group 3 was 10:46 and below.

The groups would run together, but when we did cals we would do them as a class lined up by squads.

We did pushups, situps, squats etc in sets of 10-100 reps back to back. We would then run to the track and either run a 1/4 to a mile depending on where we were in our program.

We did this on Monday and Wednesday. On tuesday and thursday we were in the weight room lifting. 2 Fridays a month we would go on long runs, up to 6 miles.

Again though, this program was great if you "put out", however, if you wanted to "skate" you could. We had alot of people skate.

Peer pressure in the academy is very high. Us who put out dogged the one's who didn't. It shows your character when things get hard and whether you put out or dog it.

Don't be one of the people who skate during pt, your classmates will see it and will lose respect for you. You don't have to be the best, but you sure as hell better put out and make the best effort possible.

A kick butt PT session when everyone is dying is a great tool to see who will quit on you on the street when things go south.

On fridays

[CHP 44]

sit ups are part of the 3 PT tests at the academy plus regular PT sessions. During the morning floor PT I we did anywhere from 100 to 700 (no....I am not kidding)

What is the best way to increase your sit-ups?? (I am already doing them at night) I want to be in good position when I enter the academy.

Thanks

[CHP 44]

Pupdog,

I can only speak for the academy I went to, but our PT
program was pretty good. It all depended on how much you wanted to put out and and your level of preperation prior to your arrival at the academy.

We were broken into three groups; the three groups were based on performance on your initial PT test. The groups were 1, 2 and 3.

Group 1 was the people who prepared for the PT and could run the 1 and 1/2 mile under 9:45. Group 2 was 9:45 to 10:45 and group 3 was 10:46 and below.

The groups would run together, but when we did cals we would do them as a class lined up by squads.

We did pushups, situps, squats etc in sets of 10-100 reps back to back. We would then run to the track and either run a 1/4 to a mile depending on where we were in our program.



When did you go through?? Was it recent and if so is that how it is today or does in vary from academy to academy??

Thanks

[Mac]

What is the best way to increase your sit-ups??
Do sit-ups, then do more sit-ups.

Seriously - do a few sets of as many as you can, and try to increase the number of reps in your sets by, say, 5 a week. If you can do 3 sets of 20 now, increase it to 3 sets of 25 next week....3 sets of 30 the following week, 3 sets of 35 the week after that, etc. (If you can't increase it by 5, increase it by 3, or whatever you can sustain...just keep striving to improve). Set a goal number where, once you reach it, you increase the number of sets. For example, when you can do 3 sets of 50, go to 4 sets of 35, then work up to where you can do 4 sets of 50....then drop to 5 sets of 30 or 35, and work up to 5 sets of 50....etc.

[pupdog]

Sit-ups are not a problem for me, but they are for several of my teammates. Our coach says to do as many as you can, then assist by grabbing your legs.

What I REALLY need is pull-up help! I STILL can't do one! I can't afford to join the gym either. Any advise on how I get going without that machine? (1 year of lat pulldowns did NOTHING for me. I can pull my weight down, but cannot pull my body up).

[Dipmo]

Sit-ups are not a problem for me, but they are for several of my teammates. Our coach says to do as many as you can, then assist by grabbing your legs.

What I REALLY need is pull-up help! I STILL can't do one! I can't afford to join the gym either. Any advise on how I get going without that machine? (1 year of lat pulldowns did NOTHING for me. I can pull my weight down, but cannot pull my body up).

I'm not sure if this will help, but check out crossfit.com and look at the kipping pull-up. It's a type of assisted pull-up that looks kind of funky in the video. A friend and I typically do the workout of the day and it usually kicks our butts. If you look at the exercises in the site there are lots of upper body strength builders there to get started, then it's a matter of stamina.

[cacop]

CHP44 I went through about a year ago. I believe it's still the same at the academy I went through. Again though, I can't speak for other academies. They only have minimum hours that they have to meet, but the quality of those hours is up to the particular academy.

Pullups suck! Why? Because they are hard! Kipping is a good technique if it' allowed, I don't know if it is at the CHP academy so I won't comment on it.

The gravitron machine showed in someone's post is a great tool at improving pullups, however, I would recommend doing regular pullups to failure first then utilize the gravitron at assisted pullups.

If you can't do a regular pull-up then do negatives. Negatives are where you just hold yourself above the bar for as long as you can then SLOWLY and GRADUALLY lower yourself back to the starting position of a full arm hang. Repeat this over and over. You can also do assisted pullups with a partner or a chair.

[CaliforniaHighwayPatrol]

Sit-ups are not a problem for me, but they are for several of my teammates. Our coach says to do as many as you can, then assist by grabbing your legs.

What I REALLY need is pull-up help! I STILL can't do one! I can't afford to join the gym either. Any advice on how I get going without that machine? (1 year of lat pulldowns did NOTHING for me. I can pull my weight down, but cannot pull my body up).

You need to work more then your lats. Your whole back is a very important muscle. As shown in the first picture, the green part is the major area your pull-ups work out, so focus on that.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y254/mehsdomi/Back.jpg

Try doing chin-ups to start building your back then move to pull-ups. Another thing I learned (it may not apply directly to you) is that, say you can do 8 pull-ups. So divide it by 2. So instead of doing 4 sets of 8 pull-ups, do 8 sets of 4 pull-ups. This is good because it activates more muscles fibers, and also you don't lose posture when you?re struggling to reach 8 pull-ups.

They also have a bar that you can put in your doorway like I have so you can do pull-ups at home.

Here is a link to a guide that tells you how to improve pull-ups.

http://www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,Smith_082603,00.html

I guess you can say I am a fitness freak. :shock:

[Dipmo]

Kipping is a good technique if it' allowed, I don't know if it is at the CHP academy so I won't comment on it.

I only mention kipping as a starter technique. I agree they should be done to failure, then move on to the assisted methods.

I never thought of negative pull-ups... I'll give that a try, i've been stuck in a bit of a rut as far as pull ups go lately.

[CaliforniaHighwayPatrol]

Remember there is a difference between a pull-up and a chin-up. A chin-up is where your palms face you like a bicep curl. A pull-up is where you palms face outward. A lot of people get that confused.

[23112]

I used to do a lot of pull-ups before I went to Academy, thinking I'd have to do a lot of them while I was there. I even used to do sets holding a dumbell between my ankles for added resistance. Pull-ups did not play that big a role in our training, and we didn't have to do nearly as many as I was prepared for. If you want to get ready for PT, remember that Academy workouts are primarily characterized by intensity. That means you need to work harder than you feel like working and transition from exercise to exercise without resting. If you aren't panting and dripping sweat, you aren't getting ready. Oh yeah, and practice not wiping your sweaty face. :biggrin:

[AceRock]

Just bringing an old thread back from rest. I was wondering what other people's progress was on physical training for the academy. As of now I can only run about 1 1/4 miles. I can do 60 sit ups in 2 sets of 30 and can't do a lot of push-ups. 30 push-ups seems to be my max right now. Still can't do a single pull up and my BI is pushing to get me into the May 29th academy:shock:ops: I think I'm waiting for my final interview to know for sure what is really going to happen but by then there might not be enough time to kick things up a notch should I get to move forward. I talked to an officer the other day and was told that several people in her class, both men and women, could not do any pull-ups. She said they needed assistance in doing them. Does anyone know if this is true? Can you be assisted in doing pull ups at the academy? I mean I am still working hard on trying to do at least 1 but I don't see it happening by May 29th!

[OfficerInTraining]

I use to be able to struggle to do a pull-up. I started with the assisted machines and it was still difficult to do them. One day I said forget it, let me try a real pull-up on a bar not an assisted one on a machine. I got up to the bar and cracked out 10 pull-ups. Assisted machine do help...but are nothing like the real thing.

[pupdog]

Got the chin-up bar. Now if I could only get the *&%#@ brackets even, I could use it!

An officer that I did a couple of ride alongs told me that yes, you can get a spot on chin-ups, but there's lots of embarassment involved:smile: . She did all of hers unassisted on the 1st day of PT. I really want to do it unassisted, but geez, I've spotted thousands of pull-ups. I'll have to let the embarassment roll off me & think 'it's nice that somebody's spotting ME for a change!' :cool:

As for progress, I've taken a whopping 1 second off my 440:evil:. I really thought I was doing better than that. I'm also taking Retchp's advise & taking a few days off. When you train super-hard and can hardly crank out 10 pushups when you used to do 30, perhaps your body is trying to tell you something. But yesterday I found myself goofing around out in the field & I did something I haven't done in ages...a handstand. Felt quite a bit through the lats, like what I imagine a pull-up should feel like. As much as gymnastics brings up a lot of bad memories, I'm going to try having FUN with it (gymnastics & fun in the same sentance...what a concept!) and re-teach myself to walk on my hands & get upside down. Might help.

[Chippysgt]

That walking on hands sounds interesting. Maybe if you get on the job you could demonstrate that to a drunk driver and then have the drunk do it??? I think the cops in Germany did something like that to Steve Martin (Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr) in The Man With Two Brains. :lol:

[pupdog]

I just did the entire length of the cricket pitch on my hands. Took me about a thousand handstands, as I only got an inch or two worth of steps on each one. I even held myself to my own former rules...hands go exactly where they were when you fell (kids would tend to fall, get up, and 2-step into the next handstand. BIG no-no!). My arms/lats feel no different, but the headache is incredible. I can't belive I used to jump around like this full-time while instructing several kids and keeping them all safe!
The term "if you are banging your head into a wall and it hurts, stop" applies. Oh well, at least the muddy grass softened the falls!