Are pushups, sit-ups, and a run really the best way to test the fitness level of our troops?

2016-08-07T00:14:35-04:00

Should the general fitness of our troops continue to be tested with the standard pushups, sit-ups, and run? Should the PT test be done away with, dynamically changed, or kept the same? What are your thoughts?

Response by SN Greg Wright made Aug 7 at 2016 12:19 AM

2016-08-07T00:19:09-04:00

No. The entire physical fitness testing system needs to be changed across the board for all services. They should not be gender-specific, but rather, JOB specific. Want to be a grunt? Fine, do xxx and xxx and xxx. Want to be a SEAL? That's cool too, I don't care about your plumbing, just do xxx and xxx and xxx. It's really, really going to generally be ok if a truck driver can't march as far as an infantryman, etc.

Response by Capt Chris McVeigh made Aug 7 at 2016 1:25 AM

2016-08-07T01:25:14-04:00

I'd like to see it changed to run, pushup, pullup. Tests the major categories without being very complicated. The situps are a garbage test, when the question is "who didn't get 100?" you know you need a different exercise. If you have a different ab exercise that is actually useful, throw it in. The Marine Corps alternates the PFT/CFT to test general physical capabilities with more combat related abilities which is a good mix.

For those talking about job specific tests, yes those are good, but they should be in addition to the force wide standard, not instead of. Every service member should be physically fit, those in combat arms may have to meet additional standards for their daily operations. I'd fully support gender neutral standards as well.

Response by SrA Edward Vong made Aug 7 at 2016 9:05 AM

2016-08-07T09:05:07-04:00

Pushups, sit ups, and run, can be considered the standard test for general troops. Job specific troops may, or should have a different standard.

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 7 at 2016 10:35 AM

2016-08-07T10:35:23-04:00

The PFT/CFT of the Corps has served them well. Maybe adopt there standards as a minimum across all branches. Then add to those minimums for any job specific standards.

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 7 at 2016 11:20 AM

2016-08-07T11:20:28-04:00

What would my career field do? Eat a donut, drink a coffee,walkout to the flightline to do a 30 minute inspection, then, wander back to the shop to play a few rounds of maaden football in under 4 hours?

Response by SFC John Trujillo made Aug 7 at 2016 2:49 PM

2016-08-07T14:49:59-04:00

No. That test was adopted because it was simple and cheap. However, if you had an individual that could do a hundred pushups, hundred situps and run two sub-six minute miles, then there was a high probability that soldier was overall fit with enough upper body strength, core fitness and endurance and speed to be effective on the battlefield.
Having said that, I knew soldiers that couldn't run that fast but could carry a heavy ruck over a lot of ground in a short period of time and still be strong enough to fight.
I've seen soldiers that could run fast but not make it through an obstacle course or carry their equipment.
I am totally against Gender-Neutral Standards as that is just a guise for "Lowered" standards or even a complete Oxymoron of not being a standard at all. While at the XVIII ABN Equal Opportunity Course, one of the instructors asked, "Why do ya'll always call it lowering the standards? Why can't we call them revised standards?" The truth is that revise merely means change and if the standards were just being changed, then occasionally they would go up. However, since they always go down, it is appropriate and most correct to say the standards are being lowered'.

Do you think Spetnaz has decided to lower their standards (or use Gender-Neutral Standards if you want to call it that) to be fair?

Response by Cpl Justin Goolsby made Aug 9 at 2016 4:03 PM

2016-08-09T16:03:44-04:00

I think it's a good evaluator of fitness levels. In regards to a more practical measure of fitness, I see the Marine Corps Combat Fitness Test as a good example. We have the 3 mile PFT run to help test endurance and we have the CFT 880 run to test speed, especially while wearing the uniform. The pullup portion of our PFT I've always compared to being able to scale a wall or a fence if your legs weren't working. For the CFT, we've got the maneuver under fire which is basically a circuit course which involves transporting supplies and rescuing a casualty along with a zigzag running pattern to simulate dodging rounds. While situps might appear useless, you'd be surprised how hard they are to do once you haven't done them in a while. If you can't get a perfect score on the situps, it's a good indicator you may be a little lax in your PT regimen. For our CFT, we also have to do a set number of ammo can lifts. All of these things I believe serve a purpose in the field because if I or one of my brethren get hurt in the line of duty, we need to be able to get our fallen brother to safety so we can continue the fight.

Response by SSgt Paul Esquibel made Aug 12 at 2016 11:37 PM

2016-08-12T23:37:55-04:00

I think yes to a certain degree, I would additionally add pull ups and take away the waist measurement as that is in my opinion just a force shaping tool used for budget cuts. Plenty of troops that are like myself who are 6ft 4 and wide are naturally going to carry more body fat especially if you have more a Endomorph body type that gains muscle easily but has a hard time losing the fat that comes with it. As far the test components themselves I think they need to be more based around the mission we do today, in the past your cardio may have been needed to be able run 2miles in a certain time to accurately attain what your cardio level is, but in today's mission requirements the most your will be running is a short sprint in order to avoid being fired upon, with that said I think a mile or even half a mile that is more specialized in speed would be more appropriate. As far as push ups, sit ups and pull ups those components do test your overall strength of your upper body especially pull ups as they accurately show are you able to pull your own weight fully. Push ups and sit ups focus on one specific muscle group which aren't even the biggest on the body vs the back and legs have the most muscle fibers and use.