Get Special Forces Fit

The Special Tactical and Rescue (Star) Unit of the Singapore Police Force are renowned for their expertise in dealing with highly dangerous situations involving hostage and rescue, and the apprehension of armed criminals.

The lynchpin of their unique skill set: an extremely demanding level of all-round physical fitness.

As a measure of basic fitness, Star Unit officers are expected to ace their IPPT tests every year (attaining no less than the gold standard). But that’s not all: They’re also put through a rigorous fitness test that simulates the scenarios an officer may encounter in his work. The following workouts are designed by the instructors of the Star Unit to push every officer’s fitness level to the limit – so that he can excel at his job.

SCENARIO 1: FAST ROPE DESPATCH 

Moving into a hostile environment entails the rapid deployment of men who are able to quickly overwhelm the adversary. Star Unit officers are often inserted into unfriendly grounds via unconventional modes such as “fast-roping” – where the officer descends swiftly from a rope, albeit in a controlled motion.

 

Muscles needed The forearm and biceps muscles are heavily utilised to guide the officer down the rope, and to decelerate his descent before reaching ground zero. The Workout: Wrist Curls These build stronger forearms. Grab a barbell with an underhand grip, your hands a few inches apart. Straddle a bench and, with your back flat, rest your forearms on it, letting your hands and thebar hang off the end. Allow your wrists to bend back and the barbell to roll to the ends of your fingers. (1). Close your fingers as you curl your palms towards your biceps. (2). Pause, reverse the motion, and let the bar roll back to your fingertips. Perform 3 sets of 15 reps.

SCENARIO 2: LADDER EXTRACTION

Frequently, Star Unit officers are required to climb ladders with their assault gear. Sometimes, for quick extraction situations, they may even have to scale ladders that are attached to helicopters. Completing this speedily is clearly no easy feat.
 

Muscles needed To climb the rungs, upper- and lower-body strength is essential, plus an especially strong core. The Workout: Kettlebell Snatch  Grab a kettlebell with your right hand and stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, letting the kettlebell hang at arm’s length in front of you. Swing it between your legs and, in one fluid motion, pull it forward and up. When it reaches heart level, flip it behind your forearm and punch it overhead. The snatch trains your whole body in one move. Do as many reps as you can until fatigue, then switch hands.

SCENARIO 3: DOOR BREACH

The entry point into a room has to be breached before Star Unit officers can safely move in to apprehend dangerous suspects. The most common tool used to do this is the door ram.
 

Muscles needed The effective and dynamic swinging of the ram taps on the body’s midsection muscles.
The Workout: Cable Woodchopper and Reverse Cable Woodchopper (1) With your right side towards the weight stack of a cable station, grab the rope handle of a high pulley with both hands.
	(2) Pull it down and across your body until your hands are just outside your left knee. Reverse the move to return to the start. Do 15 reps, then face the opposite direction and do 15 more. SCENARIO 4: FIREMAN’S LIFT In a hostage rescue operation, civilians may need to be carried to safety. A fireman’s carry is usually employed by Star Unit officers to extricate any casualties from a dangerous environment.   Muscles needed Core strength is needed to perform the fireman’s carry. But core endurance is also needed to carry the person over a distance. The Workout: Romanian Deadlift This move is best for building core strength and endurance. Grab a barbell with an overhand, shoulder-width grip and stand holding it at arm’s length in front of your thighs. Set your feet shoulder-width apart with a slight bend in your knees. Pull your shoulders back. Then bend over at the hips to lower the bar down to your legs. Stop when your torso is parallel to the floor, or when you can’t go lower without rounding your back. Pause, then push down with your heels to return to the start. Do 3 sets of 15 reps.        SCENARIO 5: STAIR CHARGE The staircase is a Star Unit officer’s most common obstacle. And, often enough, they’re required to sprint up flights of steps with their full-battle order and heavy equipment.   Muscles needed Total-body strength and cardiovascular endurance. The Workout: 15kg Haversack Stair Suicide Drill Be warned: This will push your body to its limit. Carry a 15kg haversack and sprint up 10 steps, then jog down. Repeat, increasing to 20 steps, then 30, 30 again, then 20 and 10. Rest 60 to 180 seconds and repeat.