Cpat

[LynnMurphy]

Looking for some good inside tips for the CPAT exam, short cuts, and training wise. I'm a female firefighter in Texas, in pretty good shape cardio and muscle endurance wise, but don't know a whole lot of people who have taken the CPAT to give some good advice on training. Whats gonna kill me first, endurance or strength?

[rookiemove]

Lynn - Seems like people who fail are split between those who don't make it off the stairs because they don't have enough cardio stamina and those who lack the strength to finish in the allotted time. Is there any way you can get to a gym that has the stairmill and a weight vest? Then you can find out quickly if that's the thing you need to focus on. I found that grip strength was something I especially had to work on. Practice dragging the dummy or just carrying a couple of heavy items such as 40lb plastic pails of foam. Good luck.

[ramseycl]

I just took the CPAT in October, and was the only female there, and the only thing I had trouble with was the dummy drag, everything else was pretty easy. They should offer a familiarization day before the test, definitely go. They let you try all the stations and you can get an idea of what you need to work on. If you don't have access to a weight vest get a good backpack and put weight in it. A lot of people struggle with the stairs, 75lbs is a lot of weight.
PM or email me and I'll help where I can.

[cfd504]

Our department offers the CPAT. There are guide lines to the CPAT that are very strict. 8 weeks before the test there is supposed to be a practice session at that time CPAT has an 8 week workout program that is supposed to be given to test takers. If you follow the program you should be able to pass that test easily.

[JamesDupre]

I just took the CPAT today. The best advice I could give is do a lot of cardiovascular endurance training. In my opinion the CPAT is about 75% lung capacity and 25% strength. You can get around the strength factor by using good technique on each station. You can't get around not having enough lung capacity. I trained for a little under 2 months with a 50 lb weight vest I purchased online.