Unraveling the Boundaries of Police Physical Fitness: Normative Values of Police Physical Fitness Based on a Representative Sample of 8,000 Federal Highway Police Officers Aged 21-70 Years From Brazil.

Abstract: Marins, EF, de Araújo Rocha Junior, V, Castagna de Freitas, F, Rossy e Vasconcelos Júnior, J, Aparecido Minervi, N, Dawes, JJ, and Boscolo Del Vecchio, F. Unraveling the boundaries of police physical fitness: normative values of police physical fitness based on a representative sample of 8000 federal highway police officers aged 21-70 years from Brazil. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2024-To develop age- and sex-based normative tables related to physical fitness components (cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular endurance, and power) from a representative sample of the Brazilian police population. This analysis included archived data from 8,628 police officers evaluated in 4 physical fitness tests (PFTs) conducted in 2020. Cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed by a 12-minute run test, endurance by the 60-s sit-up and push-up tests, and lower-limb muscular power by standing broad jump test. Additive quantile regression was used to determine percentiles and estimate age-based charts for each test by sex. Reference values were described from these data. Significant differences between sexes for all measures of physical fitness (p < 0.01, d = 0.14-1.68), except for upper-limb endurance, were observed (p > 0.05, d = 0.05). There was a decline in performance in all measures of physical fitness among police officers of both sexes with advancing age categories, with younger groups performing better than older groups (p < 0.05, d = 0.27-3.17). Age charts and curves were created using the output of quantile regression of reference values for cardiorespiratory fitness, abdominal and upper-limb endurance, and lower-limb power corresponding to the 10th, 20th, 40th, 60th, 80th, and 90th percentiles at all ages, for both sexes. Classificatory tables were presented by age and sex, with reference values for the tests using percentile values. Lower levels of physical fitness were observed with aging, and men exhibited higher overall values than women. The reference values presented can serve as a guide for interpreting the results of PFTs obtained by other police institutions and developing training programs to enhance health, fitness, and performance.