Police Physical Fitness Standards

When you decided to become a police officer, I bet you didn’t realize how long, and boring the selection process would be. The police officer hiring process is long at every department across the country. In fact, if you apply to a federal agency the process is even longer.

Why  does the process take so long?

Law enforcement agencies want to make certain that they know everything about a potential police recruit before they are offered the position. The last thing the administration want to do is higher a prospect that has mental issues or pose a threat to the integrity of the badge.

Other things that take up time during the selection process is the physical fitness test. The police officer fitness standards are pretty similar nationwide. Some departments may have a different way of testing, but the evaluation of a potential candidate is the same.  Let’s look at the 300 meter run. This is a pretty common test given by law enforcement agencies.

The 300m run is a long sprint test and a test of anaerobic capacity. T is important for performing short, intense bursts of effort.

• Purpose: to measure your anaerobic capacity in the event of a foot pursuit.

• Equipment required  when training for this test: oval or running track, stopwatch, and marker cones placed around the course (optional).

• Procedure: The aim of this test is to complete 300 meters in the quickest possible time. Ensure that a good warm-up is conducted before the test, including a jog, stretches, and some short sprints. To start, all participants line up behind the starting line. On the command ‘go’, the clock will start, and they will begin running.

• Resources that can help you prepare for this test: Following a police specific workout program generally will help you improve your run time.

• Scoring: The total time taken to run 300m is recorded, to the nearest tenth of a second. The table below lists ratings for the test for adult male applicants.

How to Prepare for the Police Fitness Standards (300 meter run)

To be quite honest with you, the 300 meter sprint is not a hard test to pass if you train for about 2-3 months in advance (3 months out is preferred for maximum results).  In fact, if you follow the progress chart in my law enforcement focused, Fit For Duty Workout Program, you will get into shape fast and sail through the fitness test.

Below are the top cities sorted by rank I believe have arguably the toughest fitness standards for police applicants. You can click on your state or city if it’s listed to download a workout routine: