Physical Fitness Test Jan 2024

The Alaska Department of Public Safety has a set of standards for our Physical Fitness Test. The test includes push-ups to failure, one-minute sit-ups and a mile and a half run. Here are how those individual tests will be measured.
Pushups to Failure
The subject must begin with their hands placed about shoulder-width apart, fingers pointing forward, and their feet about 6-8” apart. A test administrator will place a 3-inch block under the subject’s sternum. Starting from the up position (elbows extended), the subject must lower their body to the floor until their chest touches the 3-inch block. The subject then returns to the up position. This is one repetition. Repositioning of the hands or feet is not allowed at any time during this test. When the subject moves their hands or feet, the test will be determined finished. Resting is allowed during this exercise in the up position only. While resting, the subject must remain in up position with their arms fully extended and their back straight. If the subject fails to keep their back straight or repositions their hands or feet during a period of rest, the test will be determined finished. Pushups performed without the back essentially straight are not counted. The minimum number of pushups required to make it through the application process is 25. The minimum number of pushups required to graduate from the Academy is 32.
Common push-up mistakes we see every hiring cycle include not going all the way down, not going all the way up, resting in the down position, and arching your back, either up or down.
1 Minute Sit-ups
The subject starts in the down position by lying on their back, knees bent, heels flat on the floor, with their fingers laced and held behind their head. A partner holds the subject’s feet down firmly. The subject then performs as many correct sit-ups as possible in one minute. In the up position, the individual should touch their elbows to their knees, or pass the plane of their knees with their elbows. The subject then returns to the down position. The accepted down position requires their shoulder blades to touch the floor. Resting is allowed in the up position only. During this exercise, the subject’s neck should remain in a neutral position, their elbows must be in parallel to the sides of their body and their hips must remain on the floor. The minimum number of sit-ups required to make it through the application process is 27. The minimum number of sit-ups required to graduate from the Academy is 32.
Common sit-up mistakes we see every hiring cycle include not going all the way up or not having elbows breaking the plane of your knees, resting in the down position with your shoulders on the ground, bringing your hips off the floor or rocking yourself off the floor, and shoulder blades not touching the floor.
1.5 Mile Run
This is a timed run over a measured course. The course may be completed outside, on an oval track, or inside on a treadmill. If a treadmill is used, a 1% incline is required. The minimum time required to make it through the application process is 15 minutes, 12 seconds (15:12). The minimum time required to graduate from the Academy is 14 minutes, 29 seconds (14:29).
Common treadmill mistakes we see every hiring cycle include holding onto the treadmill handles for support while performing the run, not positioning the video camera to show the entire run from start to finish and not recording treadmill data, like incline and final run time.
Keep in mind that these are our two sets of minimum requirements, needed to make it through the application process and then to graduate from the Academy, but rather than shooting for the minimums, we recommend your goals to be that you arrive at the Academy already reaching the minimums needed to graduate and that you work in the Academy to reach our Excellence in Fitness Standards, which are 45 pushups, 40 sit-ups in a minute and a mile and a half run in 12 minutes, 42 seconds.
Applicants who do not meet the minimum acceptable standards will not be allowed to retest during the same recruitment cycle. Every applicant will be allowed one opportunity to complete the physical fitness test.