The is no dieting. Only nutrition. or This is why you are a Manatee

[michael]

Yep, this is a bit of an issue. I used to subscribe to the theory of 'if you use the same method, it'll be out by the same amount' but I'm not even sure of that now, particularly with my BIA scales. You really have to use a combination of methods (measurements, etc) and a bit of gut feel to know how your body comp is actually tracking I think.

BIA scales are iffy. For men waist circumference is probably good enough. Women are curvey and confounding.

I recommend a small pioneer weight belt. If your waist creeps above 38" you won't be able to buckle it.

[chrisd]

It's a joke that they wanted me to run the 2.4km in under 12 mins AND perform an overly aerobic obstacle course an hour prior to the run. I get the "fitness" component because they don't want recruits to be lazy slow slobs but they have pathetic strength tests and in my opinion that's equally if not more important than having a good run time. I believe the push/pull component of the test is a measly 70 lbs.

I don't know what the obstacle course was like, but an hour to recover before doing half of a sub 24 min 5k sounds downright easy.

The push/pull test ? that stuff can be trained, right ?

Anyways, yes they probably are weeding people out from a mass of applicants. It's possibly fairer that the resumé distance test, where you throw the resumés down a corridor and select the ones that get furthest.

[cwd]

A *lot* of weird/unfair hiring practices are mostly to save time for the poor slob doing the selection.

I.e. the junior executive is told to hire 3 people and given a stack of 500 resumes/applications, of whom 6 will be interviewed in detail. He is given 1 hour off of his normal duties for this, plus as much of his evening time as he cares to volunteer.

Situations like this are why a degree from a prestigious university is so helpful, and why having a "black name" hurts you. Any tiny prejudice will cut you from the enormous list.

There are two strategies to overcome this hurdle.

(1) Become perfect, so no one can reject you. Be the favored gender/age/race, acquire the perfect degrees and credentials at any cost, etc.

(2) Don't play that game. Switch careers/specialties to one that's hungry for applicants. Get jobs via personal contacts, not via advertised jobs open to everyone.

If there's a huge shortage of underwater welders, become an underwater welder. Then you can get hired even if you are a fat transgender Somali high-school dropout.

[MattimusMaximus]

It's a joke that they wanted me to run the 2.4km in under 12 mins AND perform an overly aerobic obstacle course an hour prior to the run. I get the "fitness" component because they don't want recruits to be lazy slow slobs but they have pathetic strength tests and in my opinion that's equally if not more important than having a good run time. I believe the push/pull component of the test is a measly 70 lbs.

I don't know what the obstacle course was like, but an hour to recover before doing half of a sub 24 min 5k sounds downright easy.

The push/pull test ? that stuff can be trained, right ?

Anyways, yes they probably are weeding people out from a mass of applicants. It's possibly fairer that the resumé distance test, where you throw the resumés down a corridor and select the ones that get furthest.

Actually even I was able to run it in about 11 mins and I'm a lazy slow slob who hates to run and weighs 240 lbs. I wouldn't say it was easy though but I was fairly out of shape when I started training for it lol. Sadly I never got to try, they canceled the POPAT 2 days prior due to "insufficient staffing" ha!

I was trying to point out how ridiculous the testing is though and how the strength component is almost non-existent. They did tell us that an ex-CFL player failed their POPAT when applying for the same police force. I've seen the size/shape/and even strength of current members of police and corrections and most of them are laughable. In the gym they're quarter squatting with 135 lbs, use cables for everything, focus mostly on cardio (is that spanish?) and are either severely overweight if they're older, or underweight if they are new and younger. They want string beans who can run... no wonder the tasers have been over-used...