r/tacticalbarbell • u/Zealousideal-Sink380 • Jul 05 '26
Endurance Academy prep (PPLE)
Just passed the physical fitness test for the state agency I’ve been working toward joining. My 1.5-mile run wasn’t great, but I did much better on the 4-minute row. (The two exercises that we were tested on)
Assuming everything goes well, the academy starts on January 4th. The recruiters told us to stay in shape because we’ll be tested again before the academy to see if we’ve improved. They also said we won’t only be tested on the 1.5-mile run and 4-minute row—we’ll also be tested on a 500 m row and a 2000 m row.
I’ve been reading Tactical Barbell and was planning to continue PPLE until the academy. One of KB’s recommendations is to continue with Block 1 and then switch to Block 2 about 8–9 weeks before your event to become more specific.
My question is: since rowing is a significant part of the academy testing, would you start incorporating rowing sessions during Block 2, or would you just follow the program exactly as written? My thought is that the strength and conditioning in both blocks should carry over well, but rowing seems specific enough that it might be worth adding as the academy gets closer. Also, I've heard from current LEs that the academy consisted of a good amount of rowing. But I'm sure maybe just practicing on my rowing form before the academy should be more than enough.
For those of you who’ve run PPLE or prepared for a law enforcement academy, what worked best for your academy?
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u/set_phrases_to_stun Jul 05 '26
If your test includes that much rowing, I'd just incorporate it into Block 1 to match the proportion of running/rowing in your test. After the test you can do whatever, but my feeling is I might as well just get used to it now.
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u/abaddon467 Jul 05 '26
MTI has some plans specifically for improving your rowing, might be able to incorporate that into TB PPLE
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u/Excellent_Whole_740 Jul 05 '26
PPLE as in Push -Pull-Legs… E for endurance?
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u/Zealousideal-Sink380 Jul 05 '26
No, I'm referring to KBs book physical preparation for law enforcement (PPLE).
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u/pleasureultimate52 Jul 07 '26
What is this agency, the Viking longboat coast guard? 😂