For many first responder applicants, the running required in law enforcement and firefighting fitness tests can feel like the toughest challenge. But here’s the good news: running isn’t the only way to train your cardiovascular system for success.
If you struggle with impact injuries, joint pain, or simply want variety in your conditioning, cardio alternatives like rowing, biking, and burpees can help you hit the same VO₂ demands you’ll face on test day.
Why Cardio Alternatives Work
Cardio fitness is about oxygen uptake and efficiency, not just pounding the pavement. By targeting heart rate zones and mimicking the intensity of test runs, you can build the same endurance without running every session.
Rowing, biking, and burpee circuits are all low-impact but high-output workouts that prepare your lungs, muscles, and energy systems for fitness testing.
Rowing for Test Prep
Rowing is one of the most efficient cardio alternatives for fitness test preparation because it’s a total-body conditioning tool. Unlike running, which primarily taxes the lower body, rowing demands synchronized effort from your legs, core, and upper body.
Why it’s effective for law enforcement testing:
Mental grit – Rowing requires rhythm and consistency under fatigue, which parallels the pacing needed to pass long endurance runs or multi-stage obstacle tests. Rowing is a full-body workout that demands both upper and lower body power.
Mimics explosive power needs – Rowing drives from the legs and hips, similar to the force required for jumps, stair climbs, or pushing obstacles on the test courses.
Sustains high heart rates – Intervals on the rower quickly elevate your heart rate into the same zones you’ll hit during the pursuit and obstacle sections of the PARE or COPAT.
Low-impact endurance – It lets you condition your lungs and heart without the pounding impact of running, which helps if you’re dealing with shin splints, knee pain, or hip stress.
Sample Workout:
- 500m sprint row × 5 rounds
- Rest 60–90 seconds between rounds
- Goal: keep pace consistent within ±5 seconds
Progression: Reduce rest time weekly until you’re sustaining your splits under fatigue.
Assault Bike Intervals
The assault bike is often called “the equalizer” because it works everyone hard, regardless of skill level. It engages both your arms and legs, making it impossible to “cheat” with one muscle group.
Why it’s effective for law enforcement testing:
- Full-body intensity – Much like the demands of the PARE’s push-pull machine or the COPAT’s obstacle vaults, the bike requires both upper and lower body endurance.
- High VO₂ output – The bike skyrockets your oxygen demand in seconds, closely simulating the cardio stress of sprinting from obstacle to obstacle in a test course.
- Anaerobic power – Short bursts of effort build your ability to recover quickly, which mirrors the stop-and-go intensity of test events (e.g., sprinting, climbing, recovering, then sprinting again).
- Scalable training – Whether you’re prepping for timed runs or obstacle repeats, the bike can be adjusted to mimic those exact work-rest ratios.
The assault bike (or air bike) is a brutal but effective alternative to running.
Sample Workout:
- :30 all-out effort / :90 recovery × 10 rounds
- Focus: maintain watt output each round
Progression: Move toward :30/:60 work-to-rest ratio while keeping output consistent.
Burpee Circuits
Burpees are a classic for a reason—they build explosiveness, endurance, and mental toughness all in one movement.
Why it’s effective for law enforcement testing:
Mental resilience – Anyone who has done a long burpee EMOM knows it’s as much a test of mindset as it is of physical capacity—exactly the kind of resilience law enforcement careers demand.Burpees build explosive power and cardiovascular endurance—both essential for obstacle course tests.
Explosive movement patterns – Burpees combine a squat, plank, push-up, and jump—training many of the same muscle groups you’ll use in wall climbs, dummy drags, and quick floor-to-standing transitions.
Functional endurance – Tests like PARE and APREP require you to drop, change positions, and keep moving under fatigue. Burpees condition you for exactly that.
Core + upper body integration – A strong core and chest/shoulder endurance are essential for the push-pull machine, vaults, and recovery runs within tests.
Sample Workout:
- 10 burpees every minute on the minute (EMOM) × 10 minutes
- Goal: keep each set under :30 to allow recovery
Progression: Add reps or extend duration to 12–15 minutes.
Combining Protocols Into a Weekly Plan
A balanced prep week might look like this:
- Day 1: Rowing intervals
- Day 2: Strength training + short burpee finisher
- Day 3: Assault bike intervals
- Day 4: Mobility + recovery
- Day 5: Run practice (or repeat your weakest alternative protocol)
By rotating through modalities, you reduce joint strain, prevent burnout, and still improve your VO₂ max
Success in Action
At Blue Line Fitness Testing, we’ve worked with countless applicants who couldn’t run due to shin splints, knee pain, or other injuries. By incorporating these cardio alternatives, many were able to increase their endurance, pass their fitness tests, and move forward in their careers—all without logging endless miles.
Final Thoughts
Running is a major part of first responder fitness tests—but it doesn’t have to be the only way you train. Rowing, biking, and burpee protocols can build the cardiovascular capacity, mental grit, and muscular endurance you need to perform your best.
Ready to take your training to the next level? At Blue Line Fitness Testing, we specialize in preparing first responder applicants with personalized coaching, open gym access, and official fitness tests like PARE, COPAT, SOPAT, POPAT and APREP.
👉 Check out Blue Line Fitness Testing for all your training and test prep needs
