Garda Fitness – Failure wasn’t an option this time – StrongLife

Garda Fitness – Failure wasn’t an option this time

So yesterday morning (Saturday the 27th August) I got a text from PT client Katie to say she had passed her Garda fitness exams and she’s now going to be joining An Garda Siochana as she embarks on her new career.

But it wasn’t straight forward for her. She had already done the exam a few weeks ago and failed on her pushups. Needless to say she was devastated. (she was already in a gym but needed guidance this time).

My mission was to make sure she didn’t have to go through that heartbreak again.

And I was delighted this morning when I got the text to say she had aced it!

“I did it!!! I literally cannot thank you enough! Thanks for taking the time to train me. Only for you I don’t think I’d have pushed myself enough to pass. You’re the best. Pints are on me sometime” < (can’t beat free pints!)

Now if you’re not familiar with the Garda fitness exam this is what is required for a female in her age category:

  • Bleep test to level 7.6
  • 30 Situps in 60 seconds
  • 20 full, unbroken pushups off your knees

So 4 weeks ago we got to work on making sure she didn’t have to taste failure again.

First port of call was to develop correct technique on her pushups and the spend time making her stronger to get through them.

Secondly, she suffered with back pain and had problems squatting due to mobility issues. I’m glad to say that after 2 weeks all had cleared up following some mobility work and learning how to engage and use her abdominals in every exercise along with daily life.

We ran a structured program to develop all the muscles required to pass her exam while also undoing old bad habits, improving posture and working on how to properly engage her core.

In only 2 weeks we had made huge progress and her pushups jumped from 8 to 16 while getting stronger over all.

The final week was spent doing mock runs of her exam and still fine tuning her training to ensure success on the day.

And it’s so great for me to have been able to ensure Katie passed the exams and is now well on her way to career she really wants.

Katie never missed a session and when she turned up she put in the work (all while putting up with my sh*t talk and weird sense of humour).

She didn’t let failure put her off. She came back more determined than ever and has reaped the rewards.

The key to success is to not let failure stop you, it’s to get back up and go again.

It was really enjoyable to train her and be able to make a difference in such a short space of time.

Well done Katie and all the best in your new career!

Colm.

Colm Duignan