Fitness testing at police academies: Optimal fitness for duty
| Published date | 01 June 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/14613557231159534 |
| Date | 01 June 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Original Research Articles |
Fitness testing at police academies: Optimal
fitness for duty
Matthijs Koedijk
Department of Human Movement Sciences, Amsterdam Movement Sciences and Institute
for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands
R.I. (Vana) Hutter
Department of Human Movement Sciences, Amsterdam Movement Sciences and Institute
for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands;
Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR),
the Netherlands
Peter G. Renden
Department of Human Movement Sciences, Amsterdam Movement Sciences and Institute
for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands;
(Faculty of Health, Nutrition and Sport,) The Hague University of Applied Sciences,
the Netherlands
Lisanne Kleygrewe
Department of Human Movement Sciences, Amsterdam Movement Sciences and Institute
for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Raôul R. D. Oudejans
Department of Human Movement Sciences, Amsterdam Movement Sciences and Institute
for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands;
(Faculty of Sports and Nutrition,) Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences,
the Netherlands
Abstract
Fitter police recruits are more likely to graduate, are less injury-prone, and fatigue less rapidly. Although most police acad-
emies implement fitness testing to ensure a minimum standard of job-specificfitness, academies may benefit from utilizing
fitness tests that challenge recruits beyond the minimum fitness demand. The current study evaluated whether a fitness
test called Professional Fit (ProfFit) of a police academy aligned with the academy’s purpose to challenge their recruits to
become optimally fit. We evaluated whether the ProfFit measures an all-round range of fitness characteristics. Moreover,
we evaluated whether the ProfFit measures higher fitness levels than the minimum fitness demand for duty. Police recruits
(N=103) were tested on the ProfFit, six extra fitness tests known to measure one (isolated) aspect of fitness, and a
standard practice job-specificfitness test. Results showed that the ProfFit measures an all-round range of fitness charac-
teristics: anaerobic power, strength lower extremities, strength upper extremities, isometric strength, and muscular
Corresponding author:
Matthijs Koedijk, Department of Human Movement Sciences, Amsterdam Movement Sciences and Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Vrije
Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Email: matthijs.koedijk@tno.nl
Original Research Article
International Journal of
Police Science & Management
2023, Vol. 25(2) 170–182
© The Author(s) 2023
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DOI: 10.1177/14613557231159534
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