How Overhead Squats and Shoulder Taps Affect Law Enforcement Recruits

You might know that law enforcement recruits go through tough fitness tests. Two of these tests are the overhead squat and shoulder taps. The overhead squat checks out how well your body moves, especially your legs and back. Shoulder taps, where you tap your shoulders while in a push-up position, look at how stable your shoulders, trunk, and hips are. A study was done to see if these two tests are related and how they connect with body shape and fitness. The study looked at data from 202 recruits, who were mostly men. They checked the recruits' scores in the overhead squat and shoulder taps, along with their body size, body fat, muscle mass, and other fitness tests like push-ups, sit-ups, and running. They wanted to see if there was any connection between the test scores and the recruits' body shape and fitness levels. It turned out that for men, there was a small connection between the two tests. But for women, there wasn’t any clear link. The overhead squat score was somewhat related to body fat in women, and the shoulder taps score was a bit linked to muscle mass in men. However, when they split the recruits into groups based on their test scores, there weren’t any big differences in body shape or fitness. So, while body shape might affect how well you do in these tests, the tests themselves don’t tell us much about how fit or strong you are. It’s like they’re separate pieces of the puzzle.