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PCA/Fitness test
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Here are my top tips for the PCA - this is what I found helpful, but everybody is different. I can only offer my opinion based on what I experienced and what worked for me.
ATTITUDE - Positive Attitude - stride in to the hall with your head held high and an absolute certainty in your head that you are going to pass. Don't talk yourself out of a pass before you even try. Don't worry at how the people coming out look - everybody is different.
MAXIMUM EFFORT - the PCA is a max effort test. Don't try and pace yourself (see LAPS), give it everything you have from the start. Push hard.
LAPS - your second lap will be slower than your first, your third will be slower than your second. Get a fast first lap in and get some time in the bank.
SPEED - sprint from the start to the crawl. Sprint from the jump to the wall - everything else is close to each other. Once you finish the obstacles on each lap and drop the bag, sprint along the back, up the side and along the top to the crawl. SPRINT!!!! This is where you can make time. Lengthen your stride and go as fast as you can. On the last lap, once you drop the drag bag, run like you stole it!! And keep going until you are through the green cones (finish gate).
BIG LOSSES - the crawl, stairs/over/stairs and cones are the obstacles to make sure you clear without having to redo. If you make a mistake, you have to complete the obstacle, return to the start of it and redo it. Take it careful. The other obstacles don't take as much time to redo, but still, aim for zero faults. Don't panic if you do get a fault though, there is still time.
INSTRUCTIONS - if you think you have done something wrong, don't stop and look at the PTI. They will give you a loud instruction to redo something if required (BACK!!!!), so charge on and only stop and redo if they tell you to.
LACES - at the briefing the PTI will tell you to tighten your laces - make sure you do! One guy in the C2 PCA lost a shoe on the way round and had to stop and put it back on again!
CRAWL - crawl right to the end of the mat before you stand up (your hands should be at the end, not your knees/feet). It's hard to judge where your back is so make sure you don't stand up too early and knock a bar off.
STAIRS - if you are tall, go out the exit gate backwards - makes it easier to keep your back/head down. And I think it aligns you better for the balance beam.
BALANCE - deliberately step on the black lines at the start and end.
WALL - get your toes planted on the first ledge and a good grip on the top. Push hard with your legs and pull with your arms - foot on the next ledge and push - then knee on the top. You don't need to stand up at the top. Crawl/scramble on hands/knees/toes across and drop down the other side. Standing up just wastes energy and makes for a harder drop on the other side.
BAG - lift it as high as you can so that there is less resistance on the floor, although it does slide OK on the floor anyway. If you don't quite get it over the line the PTI will tell you and you just have to pull it the rest of the way, you don't have to redo.
PUSH/PULL - get MAD!! When you finish the last lap, walk slowly over to the machine while taking big slow deep breaths to get some of your wind back. Step up, get aligned and think about someone/something that has really made you angry and channel that anger into the machine.
LEAVE - leave it all on the course! Don't walk out of the hall thinking that you could have tried harder.
AFTER - bring water - you will need a drink afterwards as your mouth will have zero moisture. Give encouragement to the next people going in. When you get your envelope, if it has a binder inside (feels like a pencil) then you have passed.
BEER (other drinks are available!) - you passed, have one/several to celebrate!!
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That's interesting D4z, I am over 6ft as well and I found it easier to lift the first half of the bag up off the floor so that I had to bend down less. I lifted and dragged it with one hand while running forward and I was slightly off to the side of it, so it was away from my legs. But, as I said, everybody is different and the tips were just what worked for me 0
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I can't wait until its over!
Anyone any tips on how to make my lungs feel like they arent bleeding?! I think thats what slows me down on my final lap
I failed by a VERY VERY small number of seconds in C2
This time i'm going in, taking all of C3POPO's advice (thanks ) and getting that first lap done FAST!!!!!!!!!! 0 -
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The fam sessions are great- the PTIs give you some good advice and are really helpful plus you get to meet other candidates and have a good chatYea looking forward to it in a weird sort of way, will be interesting to get down to the familiarisation session too. Sprints sprints sprints!
I was the same Smilo89, I failed the PCA in C1 by a couple of seconds and was out of the processI can't wait until its over!
Anyone any tips on how to make my lungs feel like they arent bleeding?! I think thats what slows me down on my final lap
I failed by a VERY VERY small number of seconds in C2 This time i'm going in, taking all of C3POPO's advice (thanks ) and getting that first lap done FAST!!!!!!!!!! My big mistake was that I tried to pace myself to ensure I would have enough in the tank to get round all the laps, but I was too slow and then I made a couple of mistakes during the last lap and failed. In C2 and C3, I passed in under 3.5 minutes as I just went full on and didn't make any mistakes. Beforehand, I did short sprint training (I believe the fancy name is Fartlek!). I went for a 3 mile run three times a week, but during the run, I picked a point (next road junction, number of lampposts ahead) and sprinted flat out to the point and then walked or jogged slowly until I recovered, then picked another point and ran flat out again. As I progressed, I could make the sprints longer and the recovery less. I think this really helped when doing the PCA as I could really hammer the sprint sections and recover better. 0 -
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Congrats homer, real happy to hear that you passed. How did it feel for you this time round?
Thanks blueboat. Definitely felt stronger. Lap 3 on my first attempt was just awful but didn't feel anywhere as bad this time. Improved on previous time by a good 30 seconds so well pleased. I followed a simple training plan and it clearly paid off.
My advice to future PCA takers is if you don't pass first time make sure to attend the support sessions as they really help. I think all those that attended the sessions passed.
Felt a bit bad for those who got the skinny envelope as I've been that person and it's no fun 0 -
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Thanks blueboat. Definitely felt stronger. Lap 3 on my first attempt was just awful but didn't feel anywhere as bad this time. Improved on previous time by a good 30 seconds so well pleased. I followed a simple training plan and it clearly paid off.
My advice to future PCA takers is if you don't pass first time make sure to attend the support sessions as they really help. I think all those that attended the sessions passed.
Felt a bit bad for those who got the skinny envelope as I've been that person and it's no fun
Again totally agree with Homer! I passed yesterday to at the retest but defo the sessions really helped!0 -
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