Summary Briefing:
-I am a police officer for the Evansville Police Department in Evansville, IN. Aside from the fitness test required to be hired onto the department, there is no annual department-wide fitness test for officers.
-Certain specialty units (SWAT, K9, Bomb Squat, etc..) have their own physical assessments for selection and/or ongoing participation in the unit.
-I’m on the SWAT team, and we have a physical assessment that we are required to complete twice per year: one is for practice, and one is graded and must be passed to maintain operational status on the team.
-The SWAT Assessment is “skills based”, and everyone must meet the required standards regardless of age and gender. The test is completed in full gear and involves physical activities that are common to SWAT operations.
-The SWAT Assessment is a useful tool to ensure that team members are physically capable for the physical demands of being on the team. HOWEVER, over the years many members voiced concerns with being unsure on “how to train” for the assessment. In other words, because the test was very specific, it was too far removed from what resembled regular fitness training that members would struggle with programming their training to improve their performance on the assessment. Further, the two assessments are completed at the same time every year. This gave the potential for certain members to “slack” on their fitness for the majority of the year and only train when the assessment was coming up.
-After brainstorming a few years ago with another team member, I devised a new and separate assessment to help solve these issues. It was accepted by the team and the command staff and went live last year. Enter the SWAT General Fitness Assessment.
SWAT General Fitness Assessment
The SWAT General Fitness Assessment will…
…be held once per year.
…be mandatory.
…be administered at random with short notice (<4 weeks).
…be standardized, but non-graded.
…test absolute (maximum) strength.
…test relative strength.
…test aerobic and anaerobic conditioning.
The SWAT General Fitness Assessment consists of….
…1rm Deadlift
…1rm Standing Shoulder Press
…AMRAP Chinups or Pullups
…800m Run
Principles of Testing:
-Exercise selection for testing is geared towards testing efficiency, exercise technique simplicity, and specificity to the aspects of physical fitness prioritized by the demands of SWAT operations.
-The testing is standardized by age and gender, which gives members goals to shoot for with their training. Standards for the deadlift and press are based off of a bodyweight coefficient, for the chinups are reps completed, and for the run is time completed.
-In theory, a “high score” on the general fitness assessment will lead to good performance on the SWAT Assessment.
-A member cannot fail the assessment, and it has no bearing on operational status. It’s used only as a tool to help guide a members regular training and be prepared for the SWAT Assessment.
-Members will be tested at random any time during the year. This ensures that operators 1) maintain fitness year round and 2) improve longevity and health via regular training.
Supplemental Materials:
Also included in the testing guidelines and procedures are sample training programs, exercise programming resources, nutrition resources, and pain and injury resources. Every team member has access to this information to help his or her training.
My Turn:
I recently completed my General Fitness Assessment for 2020, and the results are as follows:
Age: 31
Bodyweight: 179.0lb
Deadlift 1rm: 475 PR
Press 1rm: 180
Chinups AMRAP: BW x 25 PR
800m Run (Treadmill): 3’00”
*Scores were “excellent” for all categories.