Your physical fitness will not improve by even a millimeter the day before the physical fitness test.

Even so, there are still ways to make a difference based on how you spend the day before and the day of the test.

3 things to finish by the night before

• Keep your practice light and finish early, then go to bed at your usual time

• Try on your clothes and shoes for the day of the test to move around in them, and put your admission ticket in your bag

• Check the route to the venue and the meeting time, and decide on your departure time

Hello, I’m Anitaro. I served as a firefighter for 15 years and also worked as an examiner in charge of measuring physical fitness tests for recruitment exams.

There is nothing to add the day before. Only things to subtract.

It is natural to feel anxious the day before.

Because you are anxious, you will want to run more. You will also want to check your pull-up count.

However, if you push yourself hard the day before, the thing that will increase more than your record is your fatigue.

Your physical fitness test record is determined by the measurement on the day of the test. If you bring fatigue with you on the day, you will not be able to perform at the level of your practice.

❶ Rest your body

Please keep your practice light and finish early. Stretching is enough.

If you feel restless doing nothing, just lightly trace the movements of the events. You don’t need to count the repetitions.

Please go to bed at your usual time as well.

❷ Final check of clothing and shoes

There are candidates who notice for the first time on the day of the test that their clothes are difficult to move in or their shoes are slippery.

Especially for pull-ups and side steps, the fit of your clothes directly affects your movement. Clothes that make it hard to raise your arms or pants that are too tight will reduce your score just by being worn.

Before the day before, gather your full set of clothes and shoes for the day, and try them on to move around. It is safer to avoid wearing brand-new items for the first time on the day of the test.

In addition to your admission ticket, put the items listed in the exam guide into your bag at this time.

❸ Check the route to the venue and the meeting time

Make sure you have finished checking the access to the venue and the meeting time by the day before.

The anxiety of “not knowing if I’ll make it in time” tends to make your movements stiff on the day of the test.

Check the route and travel time, and decide on a departure time that gives you plenty of leeway. This will save you from panicking on the morning of the test.

As a former examiner, I was looking at more than just the numbers next to the scores

When I was in charge of measuring, there were things that caught my eye besides the numbers I wrote on the score sheet.

For example, a simple “Thank you.” Candidates who could say this left an impression on me, regardless of their physical fitness scores.

This is what I saw as an examiner doing the measuring. I have written about what else I noticed in the paid article introduced at the end of this post.

Abilities observed in each event (a rough list)

The events vary by municipality. Here are the events adopted in many exams. Please check the application requirements for your specific exam to confirm the actual events.

• Grip strength: Muscular strength to exert force instantaneously

• Sit-ups: Muscular endurance (the ability to use abdominal muscles continuously) and core strength (the ability to stabilize the body)

• Seated forward bend: Flexibility

• Side-step test: Agility (the ability to move the body quickly)

• Standing long jump: Lower body explosive power

• Pull-ups (some municipalities use inclined pull-ups): Upper body pulling strength

• 20m shuttle run: Full-body endurance

One thing to add: the shuttle run is often the last event. Since you will be running in a state of exhaustion from the previous events, please think about your pacing for the “entire day across all events.”

Day-before checklist

• Keep today’s practice light and finish early

• Gather your clothes and shoes for the day, and try them on to move around

• Put your admission ticket and belongings in your bag

• Check the route to the venue and the travel time

• Decide on your arrival time and departure time

• Get into bed at your usual time

Conclusion

The physical strength you have built up until now will not disappear overnight.

From my perspective as someone who conducted the measurements, the examiners are not your enemies.

I have summarized what the examiners were looking at from the venue on the day in a paid article.

https://note.com/lovely_zephyr454/n/n8646083519ec

For those taking the test tomorrow, which event are you most anxious about? If you let me know in the comments, I will answer as much as I can.

Thank you for reading until the end.

Note that to prevent identification, the timing and some settings in the article have been adjusted from reality. The experiences and figures remain as they actually were.

I am writing stories that I could not write when I was on active duty. If you feel like you can relate, please follow me so you can receive the next story.

🚪 For first-time readers. I have summarized where to start reading my articles in this one post as a map.

https://note.com/lovely_zephyr454/n/nfd16e82adb5c

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Anitaro | 15 years as a firefighter → City Hall

15 years as a firefighter, then on to City Hall. Having seen both worlds of “public service,” I am writing the honest truths I couldn’t write while I was still active.

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