Military Physical Training

[Calamity Jane]

I"ve been thinking about my physical fitness regimen and I've been gazing at videos like "Boot Camp Bootie", "Boot Camp Burn", or my favorite "Kick Butt Boot Camp". It got me thinking.....What kind of physical fitness test do you have to pass to make it through basic training? For example: How many push ups or sit ups in a minute...how fast do you have to run etc.... I'm thinking about setting some goals. I think it would be cool to be fit as a soilder. So what am I going to have to do???

[ChuckS]

Jane,

Pull up a box of Twinkies and go read this stuff:

http://www.army.com/enlist/APFT.html

[uscbigdawg]

Army APFT is pretty basic stuff. Don't take this the wrong way, but it's heavily weighted towards females.

That said, for a female soldier between the ages of 17-21, the following are the minimums to pass:

Push-ups: 19 (in 2 minutes)

Sit-ups: 53 (in 2 minutes)

2-mile Run: 18:54

These scores will put you at the 60% and thus passing the APFT (Army Physical Fitness Test). Not too difficult as you can see. Sadly we still have a lot of females that cannot pass, but that's a whole other topic.

For further reference, check out Army Field Manual: FM 21-20.

Rich

ETA: Under TRADOC PAM 350-1, a basic trainee only needs to score a 50% on all three events to pass Basic Training).

Edited November 22, 2006 by uscbigdawg

[Wakal]

Open mouth.

Insert doughnut.

Repeat.

Oh, sorry, that is the Navy PT test

Since the Army regs have already been posted, I'll just add the Air Farce standards for a 30 year old female:

Pushup (one minute): 40 (for full points, 10 out of 10)

Crunch (one minute): 42 (for full points, 10 out of 10)

1.5 mile run: 26.06 (3 points out of 50); 11:54 (50 points out of 50)

Abdominal Circumference: 38" (3 points out of 30); 29.499" (30 points out of 30)

Just for reference, since men and women are equal in all things and must be held to the same standard or else reap the whirlwind of punishment under the draconian Equal Opportunity and Treatment "rules", here is the Air Farce standard for a 30 year old male

Pushup (one minute): 52 (for full points, 10 out of 10)

Crunch (one minute): 51 (for full points, 10 out of 10)

1.5 mile run: 21:30 (3 points out of 50); 9:48 (50 points out of 50)

Abdominal Circumference: 43" (3 points out of 30); 32.499" (30 points out of 30)

Passing, for both males and females, is 75% of the total available points.

Alex

[D.Hayden]

The Army test was/is the same if you're a cook or in the infantry.

Hopefully, real line units have a stricter test - at least informally.

It's like getting Marksman in shooting, you can be pretty bad and still pass.

[ChuckS]

Army APFT is pretty basic stuff. Don't take this the wrong way,

I thought it was pretty easy since I could pass the old guy test (37-41) even if my age group would be 4 columns to the right of that!

Wakal: That was GLAZED donuts. And, you forgot the beer and cigarettes! Come on, get it right...

Edited November 22, 2006 by ChuckS

[uscbigdawg]

Glazed Krispy Kreme Donuts. Flippin' Air Force always has the cool stuff (see an Orange Julius AND a Dairy Queen at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan)!

Chuck - I crossed over into the 32 y/o age group this past September (damn I'm gettin' old) and basically I show up to the test and I'll pass. However, I like out doing the younger folks as I'm one of the "old guys".

Rich

[Calamity Jane]

Thanks guys. I wonder how many push ups I can do?

[BSeevers]

Thanks guys. I wonder how many push ups I can do?

Easy

Drop and give me 19 or 40 soldier

[Chris Keen]

Hey if I can pass it .............. ANYBODY should be able to.

I did my boot at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma in the summer of 1991. It was regularly 90 degrees before noon. And I remember one time during the 2 mile run, I got passed the 1 mile marker ..... then got to what I thought was the 2 mile marker ...... found out I was waaaaay wrong, tossed my cookies, found my 2nd wind, and finished the whole thing.

[Micah]

I regularly do 1 hour sessions of cardio on the treadmill while watching MB DVD's, the World Shoot, or any one of Shreds fine movies.

Multi-tasking endurance and shooting tips is one way to get in shape

[big_kahuna]

Not sure if it's still this way, but the US Marine Corps PFT in the 80's and 90's consisted of:

20 pullups (no time limit)

80 situps or more in 2 minutes

3 mile run (in 18 minutes or less for a perfect score)

[Theo Carter]

Marine Corp has up the sit up to 100

[outerlimits]

marine corps in 1971 was about the same-only difference now, as i understand it, is you don't get routinely punched, kicked, cussed, etc. i had heard all the words but never used the way my DI's did. actually funnier than hell. i could go on for hours with the stories. bottom line, if yer a marine, plan on running-forever, and then more. pushups-like the di said, "till the ambulance gets here". whatever you can think of, the marine corps does it 10 times over, and then again. the only way to do. i'd do it all over again. even without the draft.

then there was the m-14...sweet, till you got your thumb put in the action for saluting incorrectly...

[Chris Keen]

I remember one of our famous 3-mile "before breakfast" runs early one morning, when my knee started hurting more than it had in the last 8 weeks. But when the Senior Drill Sgt. saw me falling back in the group ......... he rewarded me with a FREE session with a private trainer .......... SATAN HIMSELF! We went an extra mile and back after the rest of the platoon went to chow.

I never fell back again :D

[walangkatapat]

I"ve been thinking about my physical fitness regimen and I've been gazing at videos like "Boot Camp Bootie", "Boot Camp Burn", or my favorite "Kick Butt Boot Camp". It got me thinking.....What kind of physical fitness test do you have to pass to make it through basic training? For example: How many push ups or sit ups in a minute...how fast do you have to run etc.... I'm thinking about setting some goals. I think it would be cool to be fit as a soilder. So what am I going to have to do???

If you want a perfect score: 3 miles in 18 minutes, 20 pullups, 80/100 situps in two minutes, can't remember if it was 80 or 100 situps, this was 24 years ago.

Edited November 23, 2006 by walangkatapat

[Chills1994]

Here are the PFT and AFT max's and min's for men and women at the Air Force Academy:

guys (min/max)

pullups 7 / 21

long jump 7'00" / 8'08"

situps 58 / 95

pushups 35 / 72

600 yd run 2:03 / 1:35

AFT 1.5 mi run 12:21-12:25 / 7:45

gals (min/max)

pullups 1 / 8

long jump 5'09" / 7'02"

situps 58 / 95

pushups 18 / 48

600 yd run 2:23 / 1:53

AFT 1.5 mi run 14:14-14:17 / 8:55

Two minute time limit on the situps and pushups. The 600 yd run is a misnomer. In the 6,000 ft + altitude it felt more like a sprint.

Cadets are required to take the PFT and AFT every semester, except if they score above a 400 or if they max it out with a 500 total score. If you get a 400 one semester, then you don't have to take it the following semester. I think if you got a 500 once, you didn't have to take it again for the rest of your stay (mmnn.. err..sentence) at the Aluminum Womb.

Chills

"I wear the ring."

[Calamity Jane]

Got a question about the pull ups. When you do a pull up are your palms facing your face...or facing away from your face? Which way is the easiest? Also which muscle group would I have to make strong to do that? I can not do ONE pull up.

I have a secret confession. I've always wanted to be as fit as Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2. Remember the scene where she is doing the pull ups in the pysch hospital? You boys ever heard of "pipe dreams"? I think I may be suffering from them.

[big_kahuna]

Got a question about the pull ups. When you do a pull up are your palms facing your face...or facing away from your face? Which way is the easiest? Also which muscle group would I have to make strong to do that? I can not do ONE pull up.

I have a secret confession. I've always wanted to be as fit as Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2. Remember the scene where she is doing the pull ups in the pysch hospital? You boys ever heard of "pipe dreams"? I think I may be suffering from them.

When I was active-duty in the USMC they didn't care, palms in or out. They just wanted to see your chin lifted over the bar.

For most people, narrow grip with palms toward face is easier. This spreads the work between your biceps, latissimus dorsi, and various supporting muscles in the upper back. Wide grip with palms facing outward works your latissimus dorsi more and your biceps less.

The best training gym exercise is probably machine-assisted pull-ups. One form of pullup assist machine is basically a platform you stand on that lifts some (but not all) of your body weight. Another form is an inclined plane with a roller-borne pad that you lie on. The central theme is that the machine decreases the amount of body-weight you are pulling.

If you want to isolate your biceps and lats, you can do curls and lat pulldowns respectively.

[flyingchange]

Got a question about the pull ups. When you do a pull up are your palms facing your face...or facing away from your face? Which way is the easiest? Also which muscle group would I have to make strong to do that? I can not do ONE pull up.

I have a secret confession. I've always wanted to be as fit as Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2. Remember the scene where she is doing the pull ups in the pysch hospital? You boys ever heard of "pipe dreams"? I think I may be suffering from them.

Pullups - palms are facing away (overhand). Chinups - palms are facing you (underhand). Generally, chinups are easier because they use your biceps. Pullups are mostly back.

The best way to build up the strength to do a pullup is to do negatives. Get a bench or a chair, put it under the bar, climb up there, get in pullup position with your chin over the bar and then sloooooowly lower yourself down. If you've got access to machines, you might try lat pulldowns first, then an assisted pullup machine, to build the strength to do negatives, but switch to the negatives as soon as possible.

Good luck!

[robomanusa]

have someone show you what an "Iron Mike" is and be sure to do plenty of those,hehe

mountain climbers, bend and reach, pushups......all are good

maybe run some 30/60's or 60/120's

[Chills1994]

Our version of an "Iron Mike" was with an M-1 Garand when I went through Beast in the summer of 1990. I kid you not, we were issued

M-1 Garands. They were de-mil-ed and supposedly the barrels were filled with lead to make them even heavier.

Anyway...the Iron Mike was done by lifting the Garand from chest high to over your head and simultaneously doing a "lunge" in a stationary position. When you returned to a standing position the rifle was brought back down to your chest, and then you did another lunge but this time you switched which leg went forward. The whole time you are doing this your are supposed to be sounding off with a loud and thunderous "IRON MIKE".

+1 on the pull ups vs. chin ups

+1 on doing the negatives to get up to doing a full pullup. That's what we taught our female Basics when I was Beast cadre. Somebody would help the female basic get her up high enough so that her chin was over the bar and then push up on her knees. Once she was ready, the helper would let go, and the female basic would try to keep her chin up above the bar as long as possible.

+10 on Linda Hamilton looking hot in T2, like this pic here:

http://a1259.g.akamai.net/f/1259/5586/5d/i...-C10103072.jpeg

Then there's always flutter kicks. Ah....what fun!!!

Edited November 24, 2006 by Chills1994

[Chris Keen]

Ahhhhh yes ................... mountain climbers!

I can still feel the pain in my knees from doing those!

[R112mercer]

Don't forget boot slappers, hello dolly's, leg lifts, and my favorite: stand upright and extend your arms straight out. Then keep them that way. For a really long time. For kicks they used to make us move our arms in little or big circles.

There's also the deceptively named "leaning rest". They used to make us go into the "down" position of a push-up and hold us there for what seemed like forever.

I don't remember the exact numbers but to graduate the Police Academy as a 21-29 year-old male the standards were something like:

38 push-ups (1 minute)

42 sit-ups (1 minute)

1.5 mile run (12:52)

[ranger]

What is really sad is that it is the younger soldiers who typically fail the APFT. The older soldiers gut out the APFT and will pass the APFT no matter how ugly the score. We have the APFT every October to start the new Fiscal Year and it was the younger soldiers who failed.

Of course, passing the APFT and meeting height/weight requirements are not a requirement in the Army to deploy overseas!