Weight loss and the beep test

As well as having a requirement to pass a fitness test most emergency services and military forces require potential recruits to pass a medical.  If you are relatively healthy then this shouldn’t be an issue however you’ll want to note that some organisations can be a be a bit picky when it comes to your weight.

For this reason it’s a good idea when you embark on your beep test training program to check your weight and assess your BMI (Body Mass index) to make sure they fall within the acceptable range for your chosen job.

If you are a few kilos overweight then chances are that over the course of 8 weeks of training you’ll lose most of it without any special effort.  However if you are more than 5kg overweight there are a couple of things you need to keep in mind.

1.      Any extra weight you are carrying will increase the impact on your hips, knees and ankles and this may lead to overuse injuries such as shins splints or stress fractures if you launch into a heavy program of running.

2.      Hauling around this extra weight will slow you down in the beep test. All that extra mass needs to be accelerated and decelerated with each shuttle and this places additional demands on your heart and lungs.

This presents a dilemma for anyone wanting to lose some weight and get fit for the beep test.  While training for the beep test will lead to weight loss, too much training while overweight could knock you out with an injury.

Fortunately the solution to this problem is relatively simple.  The first step is to accept that you will not be able to handle a high volume of running initially and look for other exercises that will achieve our two main goals in this situation namely improving cardiovascular fitness for improved beep test performance and facilitating fat loss.

Good candidates for these exercises include cycling, rowing, swimming (if you have a background in it) kettlebell drills and boxing.

I like to use a mix of these exercises and then structure a program that uses the same principles as a running program so that there is a variety of distances and intensities used to develop aerobic and anaerobic endurance.  Then over a period of 8 weeks the volume and intensity of the program are progressively increased and small amounts of running are added.

Sample program

Monday          Cycle 4 x 2km intervals with 1:00 rest

Tuesday         Kettlebell swings 10 sets of 10 with 30sec rests

Wednesday   Rest

Thursday        Row 6x 500m intervals with 2:00 rest

Friday             Kettlebell swings 6 sets of 15 with 1:00 rests

Saturday         Walk 3km

Once the required weight loss has been achieved and a base of fitness established you can then switch to a program that contains a higher proportion of running and more beep test specific training.

Treadmill Running

Since the launch of “Beat the Beep Test” I’ve received a few enquiries from people regarding treadmill training programs for the beep test.

Generally I’m not a huge fan of treadmill running because even though it’s running its a bit different to running outdoors however I’ll admit that for some people (such as people who live in extremely cold climates) the treadmill can sometimes be a better option than missing a workout.

From the perspective of beep test training the treadmill has also got one huge plus and that’s the ability to precisely control the incline and speed of the belt.

This allows for workouts that mimic the beep tests steadily increasing difficulty and allows for some good training progressions.

The simplest type of treadmill workout for beep test training would be to set the treadmill to 1% incline (this best mimics the energy demands of running outdoors on the flat) and 8km/hr.  Then each minute on the minute increase the speed by 0.5km/hr

In theory this is exactly the same as the beep test progression, however without the accelerations, decelerations and turns it’s not quite the same.  The training effect is fairly similar though.

Another way to use the treadmill to train effectively is to do a series of 1, 2 or 3 minute intervals of increasing speed or incline interspersed with 1-2 minutes of walking.  These progressively harder intervals provide a great way to improve fitness and progress is easy to monitor as you can simply change the speed each week by starting 0.5km/hr faster.

For details of two complete Treadmill programs for beginner and intermediate levels check out  “Beat the Beep Test” 2^nd edition with over 20 pages of new programs and information.

www.beatthebeeptest.com

Emergency beep test training

If you are applying to join the armed forces, police or fire brigade then chances are that you’ll have a fairly lengthy selection process to go through.  This should give you plenty of time to prepare for your beep test so that you can follow a structured 8 – 10 week program then taper for the test and turn up on the day well rested and prepared to smash the test.

However sometimes you may be called on to do your fitness test at much shorter notice or, human nature being what it is you may have just procrastinated until a few weeks before the test and then realised that you’ve got some work to do!

In this case trying to train using part of longer program is unlikely to work because these programs rely on building volume and intensity over time and they incorporate more rest and recovery to keep the program sustainable.  This means that they are not as effective in the short term as a harder program and with only a few weeks to go they may not get you over the line.

Enter what I like to call the “Crash” program.  A crash program is a short (no more than 4 weeks) program designed to optimise your fitness and before a test but not designed for long term use because of its high volume and intensity which is carried over for an extended time would certainly lead to overtraining and possible overuse injuries.

A crash program focuses on changing the things that can be changed in a short period  of time but may sacrifice longer term goals.  In the case of a beep test crash program the focus is on the following.

Familiarity with the test – Practice beep tests are run often to gauge progress, to familiarise the trainee with the test and to allow lots of practice at the technique of running the test.

High intensity workouts – these include running levels of the beep test combined with other high intensity exercises such as kettlebell drills.  This provides overload and the opportunity to strengthen muscles and movements that may benefit beep test performance.

A very limited amount of long distance work – Often in a crash program we’ll perform zero long runs because we want to optimise for shorter intervals and spending a session running 5km is taking away from our limited training time.

Frequent workouts – On a crash program it’s not unusual to train on 6 days of the week with a possibility of 2 a day workouts.  One full day of rest is prescribed per week and a couple of days of rest mid cycle.  Leading into the test there is a brief taper but it’s not unusual for the trainee to experience some residual fatigue from the cycle.

Sample crash program schedule

Monday – Run full beep test – record result.  Finish with 4 x 400m with 1:00 rests

Tuesday – Run timed intervals with kettlebell work run 1:00 + 20 swings x 10 rounds

Wednesday – Run full beep test, rest 5min, run full beep test

Thursday – run 4 x 400 – 800m with 3:00 rests

Friday – Beep test circuit incorporating beep test levels, bodyweight exercises and kettlebells

Saturday – Run 2 x 1.6 – 2.4km intervals

Sunday – rest

For details of two complete Crash programs for beginner and intermediate levels check out  “Beat the Beep Test” 2^nd edition with over 20 pages of new programs and information.

www.beatthebeeptest.com