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Aerobic fitness testing plays a significant role in the academy training of law enforcement recruits. There is a lack of normative data for law enforcement recruits and substantial interchangeability for choice of field-based aerobic tests. Therefore, this study aimed to develop normative percentile rankings for the 20-m multistage fitness tests (20MSFT) and 2.4-km run specific to law enforcement recruits; and to analyze the relationship between the 2 tests by linear regression. Data from 5 cohorts of law enforcement recruits completing 20MSFT (n 5 1,536) and 2.4-km run (n 5 1,499) testing during basic training at an Australian Police Academy were retrospectively analyzed. Percentile ranks were calculated (20th, 40th, 50th, 60th, 80th, and 99th) based on the number of shuttles completed and time (seconds) to complete the 2.4-km run. Results were split by sex and age (i.e., ,20 years, 20-29 years, 30-39 years, and 40-49 years). Linear regression analyzed the relationship between the 20MSFT to the 2.4-km run (using both seconds and km·h21), producing predictive equations to translate scores between the 2 assessments. These data presented the first detailed normative values by age and sex for Australian law enforcement recruits. Furthermore, the results demonstrated regression models could explain 65-74% of the variance observed (r2 5 0.649-0.741) between 20MSFT performance and 2.4-km run performance. This study's findings allow for normative performance for the purpose of benchmarking fitness, setting performance goal, and rehabilitation from injury. In addition, a valid conversion through a linear regression affords cross-agency comparisons and temporal changes in test selection/recruit cohorts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Law enforcement is a profession of sedentary physical activity interspersed with physically demanding activity that requires high levels of fitness. It is imperative that agencies training law enforcement recruits maximise their fitness during their time at the academy. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate changes in physical fitness during academy training. METHODS: Retrospective data for 10 academy recruit classes, totalling 715 participants, were collected from a US law enforcement agency. The change in performance on two standardised tests were used as outcome measures. Comparisons were made between percentiles utilising one-way ANOVA and a linear mixed model (LMM). RESULTS: Overall, higher percentiles were found to have smaller improvements in physical fitness than lower percentiles. The results of the LMM support this supposition, showing that lower physical fitness scores resulted in greater improvements in a generalised fitness assessment (value = –0.45, standard error 0.02, p < 0.001) and an occupational assessment (value = –0.49, standard error = 0.02, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that recruits with lower physical fitness will see greater improvements during academy training. This could be due to a ceiling effect for the more fit but may also be due to recruits of higher physical fitness being under trained during academy. Utilising ability-based training and prescribing an appropriate workload to recruits of higher fitness may improve overall recruit fitness upon graduation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aerobic fitness is linked with academy graduation, employment, and the long-term health of law enforcement officers and is often used as a training outcome. However, different tests can be used, and aerobic improvements may differ according to the test used. The aim of this study was to determine whether recruits improved to a greater extent in 1 aerobic test compared with the other. Retrospective data from 5 law enforcement recruit cohorts (males = 741; females = 353) who underwent 18 weeks of academy training were analyzed. Initial 20-m multistage fitness test (20MSFT) and 2.4-km run assessments were completed during weeks 4 and 5 of training, with final testing completed during weeks 16 and 17, respectively. A repeated-measures analysis of variance (p < 0.05) with a Bonferroni post hoc analysis determined changes in aerobic fitness in the 20MSFT and 2.4-km run between male and female recruits. A mean difference of 9.27 (95% confidence intervals [CI] 14.8-10.9; d = 0.63; p < 0.001) shuttle increase in 20MSFT performance and 20.1 (95% CI 16.0-24.2; d = 0.49; p < 0.001) second improvement in 2.4-km run time were demonstrated when averaged across sex, yielding a larger performance improvement forthe 20MSFT compared with the 2.4-km run. Conversely, there was a smaller magnitude of change in aerobic fitness between male recruits and female recruits for the 20MSFT(d = 0.47) compared with the 2.4-km run (d = 0.50). The findings indicate that current academy training results in improvements to aerobic fitness and to a greater magnitude in the 20MSFT compared with the 2.4-km run. These results may affect policy considerations for law enforcement agencies regarding aerobic test selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]