Did the military help you get into shape, or did the military stop your fitness goals?

I'm an old timer, but I went to Infantry OSUT at 204 lbs and failing push ups on the initial PT test to 182 lbs six weeks later and above 240 on the APFT. I was doing better than that by the time I finished OSUT. After I commissioned, I showed up at what was then Infantry Officers Basic Course at 178 scoring above 280 on the APFT, I left at 164 and scoring 297 on my final test. Never could get 100 percent on the run.
Did I mention that I was 27 during OSUT and over 30 at IOBC.
I think that the APFT was only marginally effective in keeping you in shape to do what you need to do as an Infantry Soldier. The new test is a real step in the right direction if they actually start training to maximize the scores on that test.
Scoring 100% on the run on the 19 year old scale really didn't mean much when you were humping a 50 lb mountain ruck and a M60.

Depends. I had been working as a logger for better than a year before I enlisted, and cruised through basic. The running was a little challenging, but not too bad. If you are out of shape, it can be hell. As for the weight, I don't think I gained or lost a pound.

I think only people who were high school or college athletes before basic get slowed down. Your average high schooler who is doing PT every day and being physically active from sunup to sundown. While basic isn't hard, it is exhausting, and the PT and diet are consistent. Even the Drill Sergeants have to cycle on and off every other day to prevent from being burned out.

They helped me get into shape.

Current ACFT standards... over 70% of women fail. Military doesn't get you in shape.
You do...

I went to Basic while I was still in high school. I started working out about a year before I enlisted so I started with an ok base. I will be honest though, softball spring training was tougher than basic training PT. I only lost about eight pounds in basic.

I started OSUT in great shape. I gained nearly a pound each week throughout, and I graduated in even better shape. Then I got injured in Airborne School, which made it difficult to exercise for quite a while. I did what I could, and largely through independent PT (profile PT was basically going to the gym and doing what you could on your own, in my unit at that time) I got myself in good enough shape to graduate RASP. In the 75th, it was easy to stay in shape, but not to really excel. There are too many surprises. Does it make sense to crush yourself at the gym after work when there very well may be an unannounced PT test or ruck march the next morning? It was the same when I went to the 82nd. However, the best shape I ever got in was while I was on gate guard at Fort Bragg. I always knew exactly what my schedule would be. Therefore, I was able to work out on my own for about ten hours a week. I had a walk/run program that was about an hour each day, and a strength conditioning program that was about an hour three times a week. Shortly after I got pulled from that, we were still on Rear D, and I often got to do PT on my own. I would run Ardennes and Longstreet in kit. I had a hard time finding a squad-sized element or larger (who would be wearing regular PTs) that I couldn't leave behind. Typically, no one passed me at all as I ran the length of both streets (the PT sections, anyway) during PT hours. That was probably the best shape of my life.
Now, I'm a full-time MBA student with a family and a job, and I am out of shape. Not terribly by most standards, but I would be in better shape if I were still in the Army getting paid to work out most days.

The military taught me team work, discipline, and the integrity of the squad. The connections formed in the combat zones are unmatched anywhere else!
As far as my physical fitness I've been engaging in aerobic exercise for 45 yrs. now.
Rich

Ashley Nicole When I joined the Air Force & was going through BMT, it was the first time in my life that I weighed what I was told I was supposed to weigh for being 5'7" - 150lbs. I was always a skinny little sh*t. I was in MUCH better shape in the military.
When I got out, I went back to being a skinny little sh*t because I wasn't working out as often. I got back in to military physical shape when I went to police academy.

More than helping or hurting, over time the military has changed my fitness goals. At one point in my life I was just a bit over 300lbs (I'm 6'4") and going nowhere, a friend got me into running and I was able to drop enough weight to consider enlisting, by the time I shipped to OSUT I was 189lbs. The running in OSUT was a huge drop off in volume for me and the food was much more calorie dense than what I had been eating. By the time I graduated from my IET I had gone up to 225lbs (it wasn't muscle) and was borderline with PT. I went back to what had worked for me prior (running a lot) and dropped some weight, but I barely had the strength to pass push-ups and sit-ups. After spending most of my time as a private struggling with PT I came to realize that I needed more strength to pass the APFT and began seriously lifting weights. After training this way for about six months my PT scores shot up and at this point in my career I generally score very high on my APFT. My fitness goals are now centered mostly around adding strength with a few cardio sessions per week to keep my run times down. I haven't taken the ACFT yet, but I have no fears of poor performance in any of the six events.

TL;DR: The military took my fitness goals from being a great runner to being strong and fit. I went in to OSUT in shape as a distance runner, I now find myself in shape but a stronger, somewhat slower shape.