The Need for Speed & Endurance in
      Military and Law Enforcement      

With battles in an urban environment becoming a part of daily life for both overseas troops and our own police officers here in America, the need to speed programs have never been more applicable to today’s civil servants. 

 There is a need for speed in the military and law enforcement professions.  More and more agencies around the United States are adopting the 300m run in addition to the 1.5 mile run as part of testing protocol for candidates as well as maintenance programs for military and law enforcement.  For instance the FBI uses the Cooper’s Institute Physical Testing procedures along with about half of the police department in the U.S.  Some departments are adding shuttle runs, agility tests, vertical jumps to build speed and explosive power which is needed in today’s urban combat environments.

 Cardio vascular endurance is usually measured with the 1.5 mile, 2 mile or 3 mile run in most branches of the military, but now many local, state, and federal law enforcement departments and agencies are adding the 300m run and this challenges many of the applicants more than pushups and sit-ups.  So speed training should be introduced to your training programs.  Quite frankly, speed training should be added into every soldier and police officers program as it could be that half second faster you get to cover when the shots are coming in your direction.

 The following chart is designed for the Cooper’s Institute Cardio tests used by many law enforcement departments around the United States at all levels of government.  Many applicants have trouble with the 300m sprint followed by the 1.5 mile run – this is how to remedy that challenge.  This is a supplemental running program that combines endurance and speed workouts together to help with running stamina, endurance, pace and speed needed in both military and law enforcement applications. 

	Day 1 Run and Leg PT	Day 2	Day 3 Distance Day	Day 4 Run and Leg PT	Day 5– Pace Day (rest as long as you run)	Day 6/7
Week 1	1.5     mile run warmup  Repeat 2 times 300m run squats – 20 lunges – 10/leg	Run 300m run – rest 5:00   Run 1.5 mile run timed	1.5  mile at close to goal pace x 2 – rest 10 minutes in between	Warm-up jog 10:00 Repeat 5 times 300m run Squats – 10 Lunges – 10/leg	Warmup Jog 5:00 ¼ mile at goal pace ½ mile at goal pace ¾ mile at goal pace 1 mile at goal pace stretch	Day off
Week 2	1.5     mile run warmup  Repeat 3 times 300m run squats – 20 lunges – 10/leg	Run 300m run x 2 – rest 5:00   Run 1.5 mile run timed	3 miles at close to goal pace	Bike Pyramid: Manual mode level 2,4,6,…hold each level for 1 minute until failure – repeat in reverse order – should be 15-20 minutes long	Warmup Jog 5:00 ¼ mile at goal pace ½ mile at goal pace ¾ mile at goal pace 1 mile at goal pace 1.5 mile run	Or
Week 3 Easy Run Week	Bike Pyramid: Manual mode level 2,4,6,.. hold each level for 1 minute until failure – repeat in reverse order – should be 15-20 minutes long	Run 300m run x 3 – rest 5:00   Run 1.5 mile run timed	Swim or elliptical glide or both 30:00 of either or both	Warm-up jog 10:00 Repeat 5 times 300m run Squats – 10 Lunges – 10/leg   Run 1.5 mile run	Bike Pyramid: Manual mode level 2,4,6,…hold each level for 1 minute until failure – repeat in reverse order – should be 15-20 minutes long	Make up day
Week 4	Run Sprints warmup at 50% for 100m x 3 Full speed at 100m x 3 200m x 2 300m x 1 (work / rest ratio = 2:1) 1.5 mile timed	300m timed   Bike Pyramid: Manual mode level 2,4,6,…hold each level for 1 minute until failure – repeat in reverse order – should be 15-20 minutes long   1.5 mile run	3 miles easy	Warm-up – 5:00 Repeat 6 times 1/4 mile at goal 1.5 mile pace squats – 20 lunges 15/leg situps – 30 in 30 seconds 1.5 mile run timed	1.5 mile timed run rest 5:00 1 mile run at goal pace rest 4:00 3/4 mile run at goal pace rest 3:00 1/2 mile run at goal pace rest 2:00 sprint 300m timed
Week 5	FBI Test Sit-ups – 1:00 300m sprint pushups 1:00 1.5 mile run pull-ups	Bike Pyramid or elliptical glider pyramid	3-5 mile run	300m sprint 1 minute rest 1.5 mile run	8 x 1/4 miles at goal pace - rest 2:00 4 x 300m sprints - rest 2:00

 

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at stew@stewsmith.com and visit the StewSmith.com Training Center for the article archive for more information (ebooks, articles) on working out.

See the The FBI Academy / PFT Prep Workout for more help

Links to Stew Smith eBooks
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Stew Smith is a former Navy SEAL and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) by the National Strength and Conditioning Association.  He specializes in military and law enforcement fitness, particularly Special Operations units.  Please feel free to email him at Stew@stewsmith.com with any comments or questions.