How to Train for IPPT
Excel in the military push-up and 2.4km tests.
In this guide, we cover how to best train for IPPT, Singapore’s military fitness test, and the science behind the recommendations.
Part 1: Push Up
Form
When viewed from the top, your hands and your body should form an arrow shape. Researchers advise keeping hands less than 60 degrees away from your body and shoulder-width apart.
Point your fingers forward or outward, and externally rotate your hands like you’re tearing a piece of paper on the floor. This helps you engage more muscles.
Tuck your tailbone in, and straighten your knees.
Actively pull the ground towards you so that you don’t need to reset your form every rep.
Assisted Push Ups
Utilise assisted push ups if you can’t do five reps (yet).
Variations of assisted push ups: Knees on the ground, incline push ups, and bands at the hips.
Once you can do five reps of an assisted push up, make a progression.
Incline push ups
Getting Maximum Reps
First, do a max rep test to determine your starting point.
Do 3–5 sets of 80–90% effort at least twice a week.
Rest 2–5 minutes between sets.
Increase rep count per set for three weeks, then have a ‘deload’ week.
Repeat the cycle of three weeks progress and one-week deload.
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Part 2: 2.4KM Run
In this article and video, we deep dive into the sports science related to the 2.4km run so that you can craft your own training plan.
Energy Systems
Firstly, it helps to understand there’re three energy systems that we can utilise when we run.
We tap into different proportions of each energy system depending on the distance of the run.
The 2.4km distance lies between 1500m and 3000m, and we can deduce that it’s mostly an aerobic activity.
The exact percentage/proportion varies per individual, but past studies have shown similar figures.
Thresholds
Our aerobic and anaerobic threshold determines how effectively we can utilise each energy system, and the way to improve our 2.4km timing is to:
Improve aerobic threshold
Improve anaerobic threshold
Improve VO₂ max (which is the amount of oxygen we can utlise)
Improve anaerobic capacity (the amount of energy we can produce without oxygen)
Improve neuromuscular conditioning
There are many ways to improve the five areas, but to keep things simple, we’ll focus on:
Easy runs for aerobic threshold improvement
Tempo runs for anaerobic threshold improvement
VO₂ max intervals for VO₂ max improvement
Anaerobic capacity intervals for anaerobic capacity improvements
Strides for neuromuscular conditioning improvements
Designing Your Training Plan
Easy runs will form up most of your training plan because it trains your aerobic threshold and 2.4 is mainly an aerobic activity.
Do 3–5 easy runs per week, making one of the runs 1.5–2 times longer than others. This is to prepare you to handle the load during the faster workouts.
Increase training load by 10–20% each week, de-loading on the fourth week and after a twelve-week block.
Once you’re able to hit one hour of easy run, add in a faster workout. This can be either tempo run, VO₂ max intervals, or anaerobic capacity intervals.
For most people, tempo run and VO₂ max intervals will result in greater 2.4km improvements as they are mostly aerobic activities.
Insert strides as warm-up for intervals or at the end of easy runs to work on running form.
Refrain from planning back-to-back long easy run and either of the faster runs, as your body might not be able to fully recover, leading to overuse injury.
Sets for Each Type of Workout
Easy run: conversational pace, up to an hour
Tempo run: 20–30min at 10km race pace
VO₂ max intervals: sets of 300m-1200m, jog for half the distance or same amount of time ran for recovery
Anaerobic intervals: 100–400m, jog twice the distance as recovery
Strides: 50–200m, near maximum pace, walk or jog distance as recovery
Part 3: Home Workout Routine
What’s the quickest way to improve your IPPT score? Our answer is the ultimate IPPT workout, a 15 min routine with two sets of the following exercise selection and sequence:
1. Foam Rolling
We start off with one minute of foam rolling. This can be either on your pecs, your lats, or your upper back.
Ultimately, our goal here is to increase your range of motion for your next exercise, the push up.
This is so that you can go lower on your push ups, avoiding no-counts during the IPPT.
2. Push Up Progression
After one minute of rolling, we go onto the next exercise, push ups.
For this workout, we’re going to do as many reps as possible, even if it takes more than a minute.
If you can’t manage five proper push ups yet, start off by doing it first on an incline on a stable platform or on your knees.
This is as mentioned in our push up video, where we also covered why we are doing maximum reps.
3. Hip Flexor Stretch Progression
The next exercise is the hip flexors stretch, and our goal here is to give you some time to rest after an all out effort for push ups, as well as prepare you for the next exercise, which targets your glutes.
There are a few ways you can stretch your hip flexors, and one way is to go into high kneeling position, raising the foam roller as high as you can, and then gently pushing you hips forward.
Do 12 reps of this, breathing out whenever you’re going into the stretch, and use this exercise to slow down your heart rate.
If this is too easy for you, you can always do it with a lunge, as well as other progressions.
To get the gist of this exercise, just try doing a glute bridge before and after stretching your hip flexor. You should be able to achieve greater range of motion after the stretch. Hence the sequence.
4. Glute Bridge Progression
And the purpose of this exercise is to improve your running, or in this case, your 2.4.
We’re only going to do 12 reps of this exercise, so if this is too easy, progress to tougher variations like the single leg glute bridge, and then the single leg deadlift and then add thoracic spine rotation if you need.
The whole idea is that we progress from bilateral to unilateral exercises to prepare for plyometric exercises as mentioned in our strength training for runners video.
The combination of strength and plyometric training will translate over to different areas of your running, and depending on your context, you’ll need a different mix of both to improve your 2.4.
5. Sit Up Variation
The next exercise is sit ups, or more specifically, something that will help you improve your sit ups.
To improve your IPPT sit up score, if you’re unable to do consecutive sit ups for a minute, work on getting there by doing as many sit ups as you can.
Once your challenge becomes less of doing sit ups consecutively for one minute and more of increasing your sit up speed for them to count during IPPT, work on more explosive sit ups by first doing weighted sit ups and then faster sit ups.
For that, you might need something like a bag of rice or some form of weights. If you don’t have those in your house, you can improvise by doing sit ups with the foam roller above your head.
Alternatively, you can swap the sit up for leg raises to improve your hip flexor strength. Likewise, doing it fast will also help you improve your sit up speed.
6. Lateral Squat Variation
The purpose of this exercise is to help you with your running.
Specifically, we want to progress towards plyometric exercises which includes hopping sideways because running involves not only going forward, but also less obvious lateral and rotational movements.
A sample progression is lateral squats, then lunges, followed by lunging with thoracic spine rotation, then assisted lateral hops, and then unassisted clockwise and anticlockwise hops.
Regardless of the variation you choose, go for 12 reps of the exercise.
7. Side Plank Variation
Next up, we have the exercises that trains your abductors and adductors. Or in layman terms, the inside and outside of your legs.
The purpose of these exercises is, once again, to improve your run.
Variations for the adductors, a sample progression is single leg side plank, runner’s side plank, and copahagen plank.
Pick the exercises most suited to your capabilities, and do 12 reps of those.
It’ll help you with your lateral strength, rotation strength, and counter rotation strength. And these will help you handle your running better.
8. Lateral Leg Raise Variation
For the abductors, start with side lying lateral raises, then progress to side kneeling leg raises, and side kneeling kicks.
Likewise, do 12 reps of these.
9. Calf Raise Variation (Optional)
Last but not least, we have an optional exercise in the routine – 30 single leg calf raises, alternating each side as you go along.
While doing this, also add in dorsiflexion on the other foot, which means pointing you feet towards you.
This exercise as optional because the goal here is to get you to baseline strength. Once you have that, it usually makes more sense to do future progressions with weights.
Until then, if you find doing these single leg calf raises and dorsiflexions challenging, work on them or start with doing both legs at the same time.
You’ll need the strength when you run, or at the very least, to keep running sustainably injury-free.
References
Energy System Contribution to 1500- and 3000-Metre Track Running
Energy System Contributions in Middle-Distance Running Events
Anaerobic Threshold: Its Concept and Role in Endurance Sport
How Do Novice Runners With Different Body Mass Indexes Begin a Self-Chosen Running Regime?
The Start-to-Run Distance and Running Related Injury Among Obese Novice Runners: A Randomise Trial
Scapular Kinematics and Shoulder Elevation in a Traditional Push-Up (David N Suprak Et Al.)
Comparison of Muscle Activation Using Various Hand Positions During the Push Up Exercise (Robert M. Cogley Et Al.)
Dynamic and Electromyographical Analysis in Variants of Push Up Exercise (Marina K. Gouvali Et Al.)
Elbow Load During Pushup at Various Forearm Rotations (Shu-Zon Lou Et Al.)
The Influence of Strength and Power on Muscle Endurance Test Performance (Fernando J. Naclerio Et Al.)
The Relationship Between the Number of Repetitions Performed at Given Intensities is Different in Endurance and Strength Trained Athletes (Richens. B Et Al.)
A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis of the Effect of Resistance Training on Whole Body Muscle Growth in Healthy Adult Males (Pedro J. Benito Et Al.)
Effect of Push Up Speed on Elbow Joint Loading (Paul Pei-Hsi Chou Et Al.)
The Effect of Cadence on Muscular Activity and Performance During the Push-Up Exercise (Chris Pitsikoulis Et Al.)