Military Fitness Test

 

How do you stack up?

Yes I know it’s the dreaded term we all hear, either at the gym as we watch staff post the monthly gym challenge on the board, or as part of our fitness training with a trainer, or even as part of our working lives.

It’s also something some of us never even think about; we go to the gym, or run, swim, cycle and lift weights day in and day out and sometimes see the benefits of what we reap. However, do we really know if we are making progress.

Some of us are disciplined enough to keep training diaries and can see progress on the type of training we are conducting. But! Do we actually know it’s working – well that’s where fitness tests or fitness assessments come into their own.

Generally speaking, there are unlimited numbers of tests some standard, some invented by trainers or coaches for a specific purpose; however they all do the same thing. They give a baseline on the standard of fitness a person has and further tests evaluate progress.

Most general fitness tests cover the following main areas

Strength
Speed
Suppleness
Stamina

Don’t worry about the “ins and outs” of the test and the “why”, all we need to know is that it’s a way of testing and evaluating our progress in relation to our programme. In the main, we should test ourselves approximately every six weeks and try to ensure that the tests are conducted as close as possible to the previous test conditions.

After this, we can incorporate the tests into our training programme and make the necessary alterations to ensure that we progress rather than regress.

Try thie simple tests next time your at the gym or outside and see how you stack up. You don’t need any fancy equipment, most of it can be done outside or within the confines of a gym, make sure you have a pen and paper to record your results.

Military Fitness Test

The following test is an adaptation of the personal fitness test, used by the Army to test fitness standards. All you need is a stopwatch and partner to count and score your results.

The test consists of a series of basic exercises designed to test strength and stamina:
· A timed 1500 meter run (best effort)
· Maximum repetitions of the following exercises over a 2 minute period:-

Sit ups

Press ups

Burpees

 

 

The scoring system is as follows:
How to Score the Assessment

Exercise Level Novice

 

 

1500m Run 7.40mns+

 

Press Ups 1-20 reps

 

Sit Ups 10-37 reps

 

Burpees 1-15 reps

 

Exercise Level Intermediate
1500m Run Under 6.30mins

 

Press Ups 21-40 reps

 

Sit Ups 38-61 reps

 

Burpees 15-30 reps

 

 

 

Exercise Level Advanced
1500m Run 4.20-6.25

 

Press Ups 41-60 reps

 

Sit Ups 62+ reps

 

Burpees 31+ reps

 

 

Press Ups- for 2 minutes- Standard full press up, arms just over shoulder width apart, legs together, back straight. You should lower your body until it is one inch from the floor, if you have a training partner see the following:

Male – One fist your chest should touch your partners fist which is placed on the floor below your chest thumb on top
Female – You should attempt to complete full press ups alternatively- Half press ups knees on floor, your partner should have one fist on top of the other.

Sit Ups – for 2 minutes- Lie on your back, feet flat, knees bend, shoulder blades only should touch the ground, hands on thighs. When you start the sit up, your wrists must pass your knees to be counted, on the way back your shoulder blades only should touch the ground

 

 

 

1500m run as fast as you can-

Treadmill,  incline, level 1, speed as fast as you can

The test and assessment are only a guide to your overall fitness ability and many factors such as

· Rest
· Training
· Eating
· Competing
· Commitment to the test

May [and can] affect your results each time.

That’s the end of the Military Fitness Test. All you have to do is conduct the test, score your results and tweak your training to improve in all areas, weak and strong alike. Just remember to conduct the tests as close to the original test conditions as possible each time. Over testing is just as bad as over training!

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