Army Physical Fitness Test

Uriel

Uriel

Uriel

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The press-ups thread reminded me to post this.

I was starting to find the gym a little uninspiring so I thought I'd set myself some slightly different targets to work towards - and get out in the sunshine more.

The army physical fitness test is time to run a mile and a half (officially on level ground), number of press-ups (good form) in two minutes and number of sit-ups (feet restrained with arms crossed over the chest) in two minutes.

The 'pass' figures for men are something like:

In serice requirements:
1.5 mile run: 10:30
2 minutes press-ups: 44
2 minutes sit-ups: 50

(source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3687350.stm and my mate in the army)

I had a crack last week:
1.5 mile run: 14:08
2 minutes press-ups: 29
2 minutes sit-ups: 30

A bit of training during the week and I tested myself again today:
1.5 mile run: 13:30
2 minutes press-ups: 30
2 minutes sit-ups: 40

For the 1.5 mile run I plotted a route in my local park on http://www.walkjogrun.net/ Mine's quite hilly and I suspect my time will be quicker on the flat.

Just for comparison I'm currently 6'1", 17 st 10 lbs and estimated 32% body fat (measured from bioelectrical impedance scales so who knows how accurate that is?)

Anyone else had a crack?
 
Break between but not too long. I usually do 2 minutes but I've not seen a requirement anywhere.

I suspect most people will pass if they're doing some form of regular training. The 'heavies' amoung us are likely to struggle though.

Edit: They're minimum requirements for in service personnel. All soldiers are expected to do better. The entry requirement for Gurkhas is 1.5 miles in 9 minutes.
 
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Gah! Elbows in - gutted. Can probably halve my press-ups numbers.

Surely the best way you can become capable of running for 9 minutes flat-out is by doing more running, irregardless of natural ability? I used to do the running part of this when my friend was on leave from the army, to keep him training. My 1.5 mile times started off around 14 minutes. In the space of a couple of weeks (doing it every day) I'd got down to sub 10 minutes on a hilly route.
 
Ultra_Extreme said:
M8, no offence but by your stats, which fair play you have been honest about, from a fitness standpoint your a bit of a fat git. Can you really expect to pass a physical fitness test at >30% bodyfat? I know this thread isnt about you passing it but wouldnt you be better off seeking training and nutritional advice to get yourself in shape rather than attempting something that to all intents and purposes is not hugley difficult for someone who trains regularly.

Just a thought.
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Agreed to an extent. I have a mate who's a fitness instructor and my sister is a dietician. They've been advising me and I spoke to my GP before starting an excersise program. Current stats are down from 19 1/2 stone (and who knows what body fat) a couple of years ago. This time last year I was a stone heavier than I am now and about 37% body fat. Felt like I was going to be sick after my first gym session.

It's a process. My short term aim is just consistent improvement. Longer term I'll pass this and then move onto some other targets. However I honestly believe that I'll at least be passing these targets within a few months.

Edit: Regarding regular training - I havent just done this out of the blue. Been in the gym 2-5 times a week regularly for the past year.
 
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oddjob62 said:
Hmmm how can calling someone a git not be offensive? Fat yeah maybe, but git is uncalled for.
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Used to get called all sorts when I was a kid. Having 'sorted myself out', as it were, in my mid teens I should have never let my fitness slip again. I'll take it as a term of endearment in this case though ;)
 
Woah. Just checked the Royal Navy pre-joining tests:

Age Male - PJFT (mile and a half)
15 - 24 12 min 20 secs
25 - 29 12 min 48 secs
30 - 34 13 min 18 secs
35 - 39 13 min 49 secs

I'm pretty sure I can pass that on a treadmill now.
 
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Not thinking of joining the military or anything.

On walking pace, I believe that the fastest racewalkers will cover a mile and a half in about 10-11 minutes. So yes, it's walkable for some people.
 
'Git' does get thrown around as a friendly term -'fat git', 'old git' etc. Some people probably won't take too kindly. I think it literally means something like 'useless', 'worthless' or 'contemptable'.

Anyway - regarding these tests - I don't see this as a training programme in itself - just another way of checking progress. I get encouraged when I can see improvements so I like to set targets and monitor progress. To me, increasing the weight I can lift or running for faster and longer is a more desireable target than losing X amount of weight or reducing body fat percentage. I'm sure those things will continue to happen as a consequence of the other stuff I'm attempting.
 
As I said, it doesn't surprise me that the best in the paras can do 1.5 miles in 6:30. We're talking 30 seconds slower over the mile distance than world record pace. It's fast but not outlandish.
 
The guardian had a series of articles on army training which included a summary table of the times run by service personnel. Apparrently only the top 1% of men under 30 consistently make it in under 8:15.
 
Couple of running time results from me on the treadmill:

Both 2.4 km, no incline, pace varying between 10.5km/h and 15km/h. Was wearing heart rate monitor with self imposed limit of 177bpm (which dictated pace). I guess I could go faster runnng flat out but they were just training runs really.

13:01 yesterday after hour long FB routine.
12:01 today after just a warm up on the eliptical. Both were best times so far this year. Long way to go before I reach the just under 10 minutes personal best from about 1998.

Looks like my treadmill times are about a minute and a half faster than my outdoor hilly route.
 
Well it follows that, if you're carrying excess weight like me, too much would be a lot less than someone that weighed less. Simple force equations really.

For that reason, and previous ankle and shin problems, I wasn't doing any running until about a month ago. Most of my cardio excercise has been non-impact stuff like eliptical cross trainer and bikes. If anything gets painful I'll ease off the running. Don't think longer distances would do me much good at all.
 
Uriel said:
The press-ups thread reminded me to post this.

I was starting to find the gym a little uninspiring so I thought I'd set myself some slightly different targets to work towards - and get out in the sunshine more.

The army physical fitness test is time to run a mile and a half (officially on level ground), number of press-ups (good form) in two minutes and number of sit-ups (feet restrained with arms crossed over the chest) in two minutes.

The 'pass' figures for men are something like:

In serice requirements:
1.5 mile run: 10:30
2 minutes press-ups: 44
2 minutes sit-ups: 50

(source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3687350.stm and my mate in the army)
Click to expand...

Well "call me Frank and send me to Alaska".

I've been trying to pass this arbitrary running target since starting this thread in 2008. Up until this weekend I'd never got the 1.5 mile run under 11 minutes.

Earlier this evening I just ran the mile and a half in 10:25. Then, not having expected to beat it, I remembered the army PFT thing and just knocked out 49 press-ups and 57 sit ups (the press ups and sit ups haven't been a problem for a while)

So I guess I was hoping to get there quicker than this (I was 28 when I started the thread, 37 now) - but I got there in the end.

(for a little context you can see some of the fun I've had trying to control my weight over the last few years here: https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18149785)
 
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