It is often assumed that the ‘Push’ station of the Police Physical Abilities Tests (PATs) are a measure of upper body strength or endurance. While upper-body pressing power is a major factor, the ‘Push’ requires whole body involvement. If you only train for pressing, you still won’t get anywhere if you fail to transfer force from your core...
Read MoreIn order to avoid losing time on your POPAT or PARE laps, you need to be proficient at the speeding up and down the stairs. There is an obvious solution: train stairs more. BUT, if you struggle with it there are more effective ways to train.
Here is what NOT to do: do laps on the stairs to exhaustion...
Read MoreStop. Stop it right now. Seriously.
This isn't really a post about the POPAT (which is the Police Officer Physical Abilities Test). This is, in reality, a book about 'Sport Specific Training' and the flaws most people commit. There is a perception that when we are training for a sport or a specific task that my exercises need to directly emulate the sporting task. For example, using a weighted baseball bat to try and make your swing stronger or faster, or using weighted boxing gloves to try and accomplish the same thing when you are boxing. While this seems like it might be a good idea, the reality is that it is misguided and lends itself to injuries without an improvement in performance.
Instead of trying to improve the specific components of the POPAT, train to make your machine (aka your body) more efficient. A well-rounded strength and conditioning program is going to take you a lot farther than any POPAT specific training protocol will....
Read MoreDon’t ever complicate it. Follow these 3 principles instead.
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