Game Day, Zero Hour, etc.

[Phant84]

Ok, this is the deal. Saturday at 8am I have a agility test. Not only do I have to pass (which, under normal conditions, I know I can), but I have to beat the other 99 (or however many actually show up) people taking it.

Now for the request: I need all of your game day tips, anything that will help me be stronger, better, faster. It doesn't matter how frowned upon it is (i.e. ephedra, red bull, aspirin at the same time).

You could actually say my life (or way of life) depends on it

Thanks in advance

[The_Jazz]

Phant, when I was competing I always used some sort of "centering" exercise. Generally that would involve me sitting or (perferably) laying down, listening to calming music while mentally running whatever race was coming up in my head from start to finish. I would invariably have myself winning, although that wasn't always translated to reality.

I had teammates that listened to speed metal, did math problems to distract themselves, and I even ran with a guy that would do handstands with the idea that he'd open the blood vessels in his head artificially. He's also the guy that ran a cross country race while tripping on 'srooms, so I don't necessarily advise that you take his example to heart. What I do advise is to think about what makes you perform at your best in this kind of situation and then try to focus on that.

[Plan9]

Breathing exercises. Making sure your body gets all the attention it needs.
Hydration. Stretching. Long nap. Whatever does it for you.

Don't have sex the night before anything important. Big no-no.

Sometimes... there is no good way to prepare except just go and perform. Like all those retards that paradrop for the Army. I've got 40 something jumps... and I tell ya... it never gets easier to accept or prepare.

[squeeeb]

caffiene. coffee your ass off. and be relaxed. easy to say, difficult to do. finally, start now and mentally imagine you winning, being given the trophy/ribbon/whatever. if it's a race, imagine you finihshing first. imagine you jumping higher/farther than everyone, etc. go to sleep thinking it. the night before especially.

other than that, training for the last 6 months would have helped. good luck.

[Phant84]

Now that I'm off work and not typing from my phone, I'll post some more details.

I've reached the 2nd stage of the hiring process for the local fire department, which is the the agility test. The agility test consists of the following:

Wall Jump
Jump a 4ft wall, a 6ft wall, run around some cones, jump 6ft wall, jump 4ft wall.
The walls are spaced about 6ft apart. Cones are 15ft away.

Ladder Climb
Climb a 50ft aerial fire truck ladder, ring a bell at the top, climb back down

Hose Drag
Drag/Pull a fully charge 3in fire hose 50ft

Stairs
Run up 3 flights of stairs and back down

Hose Pull
Pull fully charged 2in fire hose up 3 stories. (rope tied to hose, pulling using a pully)

Dummy Drag
Drag a 175lbs dummy 50ft

Run
Run 1/2 mile

Everything has a time limit, and not only do you have to do it under the time limit, you have to beat the other 99 people that passed the 1st part (written test. out of 773, I was ranked 41). Only hiring 25 people

Well, this is tomorrow morning, so I'll let you know how it goes.

Oh yeah, I have already been training for the past several months, for those that remember, I did the 911 fitness challenge earlier this year.

[Jetée]

Good luck then, my friend.


(And if possible, make your hands as callous and grippable as possible, since a fair amout of what you are going to be accomplishing involves pulling, gripping, and hankering on things.)

[Plan9]

Avoid caffeine. The let-down on it is awful.

I like the fireman ninja course! Cool!