CrossFit program improves APFT scores True or False?‏

I believe that any fitness program, that is structured and makes it fun to stick with can improve your APFT.  The most important thing is that you can make it harder as you improve and that it is fun enough to do all the time.

I'll be the bad guy. I can't stand crossfitters. I will let them have their space and let do what they are doing but it is just a form of exercise and is not the only way to work out. I go to the gym and pick up heavy things. I also find a nice trail and run a long time. It has worked awesome for me. My best two mile was when I was deployed and did my Pick up heavy things/Run a long time fitness program and got a 10:59. Meanwhile these two "Fitness God's" thought I was using steroids. They didn't understand how they could be crossfitting and not see the results that I was seeing.<div><br></div><div>Nothing is wrong with Crossfit. It is a great program to be honest but there are some tool bags that swear by it just as they swear by any craze. That is what turns me off to it. I tried it a couple times and didn't like it. So I stay with what I got. If you take an individual and tell him that Crossfit is the only way you are wrong. It is an option.</div><div><br></div><div>And for crying out STOP POSTING YOUR WOD on facebook. I don't care nor does anyone else besides the people you just worked out with.&nbsp;</div>

Look at it this way, I make the same argument I make for Vibram Five Finger shoes.  Take a random cross section of the military lets say... 100 soldiers male and female equal parts that just do PT on a daily basis as prescribed by the company commander.  Now take another cross section of 100 Crossfitters OR individuals who train in things like Vibrams, take a PT test.  I will guarantee you without a shadow of a doubt that the latter cross section WILL score a higher average on the APFT than the first section.  Why?  People who put themselves in programs such as Crossfit and purchase aids such as minimalist shoes are people that are actively bettering themselves and going above and beyond...

I definitely agree.  Crossfit works soo many muscle groups at once.  Outstanding program and I think Soldiers do better when their physical fitness routine is not "routine".  In the past so many exercises were mundane, but adding some Crossfit, Zumba, Insanity exercises to your program peps it up a bit and I think my Soldiers enjoyed it immensely!

Why is that even a question? A consistent program of intense physical exercise improves APFT performance, True or False? I think the answer is obvious. Crossfit is great for people with the time, energy, and motivation to do it. There's also the real concern about injuries common in any consistent high-intensity exercise. Military physical training has to be more broad-spectrum and tailored to the needs of the unit, not just guns-blazing all the time. That stuff is great if you're safe, but just adopting it for a unit might be too much of a good thing.

I haven't tried Crossfit yet, but I can attest to Insanity and the Asylum programs. I used to struggle breaking 50 pushups on the PT test. Now I'm wanting to max my pushups in 1:40 or less (maxed in 1:45 last Saturday).

While the programs also REALLY help build up the abs, quads, and hip flexors, I find I still need to do SOME regular situps - say one set of 50 or so every other day - so I can maintain muscle memory. I'm also maxing or nearly maxing that event as well.

Crossfit, P90x, Insanity are all great ways to improve one's fitness levels. they have done wonders for me and several of my troops. After my injuries and surgeries my 2 mile run went from 17:03 to 24:55 or worse. Since I have started doing Crossfit, running more, P90x and insanity (I do this with my fiancé so as not to get bored or stagnant) I have dropped my 2 mile run time back down to 19 mins or less. Nobody wants to go through their military careers broken, so I see this as a slap in the face to my doctors that said I would never be able to get back to where I was.

Yep, but so does dong push ups, sit ups, and running....as a variety, HELL yes you and you Soldiers should do it. I mix in a FGB every now and then, and my 30 bubbas love it. Filthy 50 works well also.

First rule of crossfit is to tell everyone you do crossfit.

Old topic revival!!  A little background on me: I've been doing CF for just under 4 years, have been a coach for 10 months.  When I first discovered CF, I was in a unit that did not do PT (medical).  CF improved my APFT score; it was the only type of fitness I had aside from the occasional 5k "fun run" on post.  The following year, with no running between October and March, I decreased my 2m run time by 42 secs.  Considering that I was already sub-13, that's quite an improvement.  All I did in that period was CF.  It helped, for sure.  Aside from a 4-month stint where I was going to school full-time, I've been at it ever since.  Fast forward to now, I am currently half-way through class 14-719 of the Master Fitness Trainer Course, and I'm looking at things from a different perspective now.  I used to shun PRT for its "skipping across a parking lot" and terrible forward lunge form.  It's been done wrong in so many places, for such a long time.  Fixes are coming, hence the surge of MFT Courses. Now, I can tell you that CF, as a "broad, general & inclusive" program will help, but it is not the absolute answer.  As warfighters, our needs are anything BUT broad, general, or inclusive.  Our training should make us experts at our WTBDs, and that is the purpose of PRT. Our line of work requires a bit more than CF's "General Physical Preparedness".   In my personal opinion, CF and PRT can co-exist.  A foundation of CF with the specialization that comes from proper performance of PRT will make for a very well-rounded warfighter (physically, at least).