Twonk
Maybe they used an older age group. Your standards are the same one I remember.

My exercise program:

Day yum... I thought it wasn't possible for someone my age (41.) I'm in pathetic shape at 6' 189 lbs... I used to have a couple friends in the service and wanted to work out with them - you know, to learn how it's done properly and all.

Unfortunately, upon joining the military they instantly had an enormous disgust for anyone NOT in the military (especially liberal arts majors such as myself.) Damn shame that - they were good guys...

Those numbers do seem pretty low, I know I could pull them off without being anymore conditioned than I am now. Hitting the skatepark for six hours a day does a body good...

Oops. I must have just logged out of Hotmail, because I see a frikkin' "get in shape" link on what I think is fark.com! Must be on msn.com by accident. Oops. Sorry. Was looking for Fark, where I will find an article on how to sit on your fat ass in front of your computer screen and wish you could get in shape easily.

Oh, and I just recently resigned myself to move from my standard 34 waist to 36. "sigh"

bump: Given, basic is a lot different now than it used to be...When I went through basic in 1991, I had a 42 year old and a 35 year old in my platoon. The 35 year old was an Air Force crossover, and the 42 year old had no prior service (he was a high school teacher).

On second thought, maybe being a high school teacher qualified him for combat experience (c;

vishus

Good luck, man.

Hey Anvil, thanks for the link. Does anybody know why they suggest not running on the third week of self training? It says "No running. High risk of stress fractures", but only on the 3rd week. Can someone expound? Thanks

I dunno - maybe it's just the mid-life blues, but I figured they'd just laugh at someone like me. Must be all the times in the past where they've laughed at me.

Jikel_M:

During the third week of starting a running program you are really prone to getting shin splits and stess fractures in your lower legs. It's best to take a week off and then continue with the program. Ride a bike or cross-trainer instead. If you are already a runner, continue with the running during week three.

Starr77:

That's weird. Army web site says new enlistees can't be older than 34. I wouldn't expect it to vary thaaat much.

The fitness criteria listed in that article don't look too tough to me. I wonder if the run has to be done in boots -- that could make a big difference.

I have a question about a poor-man's solutions to getting in shape:

Can one get physically fit with just sit-ups, push-ups and bike-riding/running/walking?

magic... uh. yes

Ok, just asking.

I'm a dumbass who doesn't know anything about gyms and wouldn't have enough money to pay for membership in one, anyways.

hehe yeah me too

i normally do 40-45 pushups per set, two sets.

i got a guy in my office, who does 150-200 pushups each morning. he is built. 75-100 each set, two sets. woah.

damnnn that's intense... some of my friends on the football team can only do like 60 in a set hehe

/DOH

looks like I forgot to close the bold tag

Yeah, those numbers are a tad low if memory serves correctly.

I can say this though, I reported to boot camp (Navy-Orlando) with a 35 waist at 182lbs and left with a 29 waist(!) at 175lbs...lost all the fat, put it back with muscle. That workout ain't no joke guys, and the Navy version is obviously less of a killer than the Army or Marines.

The Army APFT standards changed a few years back. The changes slightly increased the MAX reps and time for the second and third age groups. I think the 17-21 male age group min is still the old 42, 52, 15:36. But this requirement is for soldiers in AIT or beyond (60 points per event), in order to graduate from BCT you only need 50 points per event.

Tigger,

HAHAHAH!!!

Actually, I was one of the luckiest of the lucky when we went to boot camp as we were in a co-ed facility, and we were one of the only male companies in the same building with a female company...right upstairs in fact. Yeah, that stairwell got a good workout...everyone on fire watch late night would go upstairs and talk, vice-versa. I (not the only one) hooked up with a nice girl from Iowa...beign forcefully removed form the presence of the opposite sex makes for amazing sex once you can meet back up : )

Those look like the Army's minimum standards. (Read: only fat/nasty people perform at mins).

As a current Active-Duty Marine, I can say that the Army's PFT is a farking joke. The Marine Corps PFT is far more demanding and actually requires some upper-body strength and endurance.

3 mile run (18 min to max, 27 to pass - if you run a 27, good luck advancing in the Corps), Pullups (20 to max....I think 3 to pass), and Situps (100 in 2 mins).

Not to sound like a recruiting poster, but it's pretty much true; nothing will whip your ass into shape and keep it there like steady cardio PT + weight training.

/soapbox

Just looking at the figures, one can say the Army PT test is easy. What isn't mentioned is the testing conditions. Lift a hand or foot, or touch a knee to the ground when doing the pushups? Disqualified. Fail to "break the plane" for your first 10 pushups? Go to the end of the line and retest. Fail to break the plane AFTER 10 pushups? Listen to the scorer go "11...12...13...13...13...lower...13..lower..14"

And then there's the situps...

In Janurary of 2003 I joined the gym hoping to get that "omg look at that hunk" physique. I was weighing at 165lbs/6'0 and I'm 25 years old. Working out about 3-4 times a week, mostly weight-work and light cardio. I ended up quitting smoking (5 year habit) because I felt like a useless turd on the treadmill. Now I weigh 194lbs, able to run a couple of miles without hacking up a lung and I still haven't gotten laid since last November. something went horribly horribly wrong.

Just wondering. What qualifies as a "pushup"? This may sound stupid, but I think it's a legitimate question.

I used to do 2 sets of 100 in the morning, but I decided that I wasn't getting close enough to the ground. Now I'm doing 2 sets of 40 and I hit my chin on the ground every time I go down.

So, what counts and what doesn't?

That's another thing I never understood...

Why the hell we had to do endurance running in the Navy...I mean, where are we going to run to??? Not much room on a ship if ya know what I'm sayin'

Heck, my job consisted of sitting in a little room monitoring the activities of a nuclear power plant on the carrier Enterprise...PT? ok, I get it...but running???

aturley
The Army defines a proper pushup as lowering the entire body as a single unit, shoulders just past the elbows ("breaking the plane"), then bringing your body back up with your arms extended.

(This is, of course, assuming your scorer isn't one of those dicks who thinks "breaking the plane" means bouncing your chest off the ground)

aturley,

If you have a friend that can help you, do this.

Have him make a fist and place it under you. Do your push-ups. Touch his fist every time. That's the proper way.

Alternatively, use a baseball or something about the same size as your fist.

A "push up" was:

head raised and looking forward (not at the ground)

a straight line from shoulders to ankle (back not arched or bent)

go low enough that your chest could touch the top of the scorer's fist placed on ground under you

back arched was considered a rest position if you needed it for some reason

aturley, if you are really really careful, and go down onto your chest hard enough, you can bounce back up a little ways. You'll be able to do more, but you need to practice at it before you get really wild (or it's gonna hurt more than it needs to)

correct me if I'm wrong kabar, but a correct pushup means lowering yourself with your arms at your sides until your uppper arms are parallel to the ground. If you go further, you are asking to strain something.

GuessWho
If your chest hit the ground, that was a no-go...back of the line.

Deveyn,

Your lucky, I had to go through 14 weeks of OSUT (Ft. Lost in the Woods summer 95) and it wasn't gender integrated. Hell, most us attended church services on sunday just to see some females.

Well, we do pushups in the USMC only for PT purposes, not for a test of any sort. But, since I've been stationed at a couple Navy commands, I've had to do a couple Navy PFTs, and their definition of pushups is palms flat on the deck, shoulder width apart, go down till your elbows break a 90-degree plane. For my age group, to max the pushup portion, its 87 pushups in 2 minutes. While I can do it, its tough as hell. So there's no way in hell that the 30 pushups mentioned above is anything but a minimum for the Army. I know the Army is soft and all, but not as soft as the Navy for god's sake.

Perceived softness (in descending order):
Air Force -> Navy -> Coast Guard -> Army -> Marine Corps

that is all
:)

OK time for my .02...I'm 34 and in Delayed Entry for the Navy, long story...anyway, basic minimum requirements for males: 34 push ups in 2 min, 43 sit ups in 2 min, and 1.5 mile run in 14min (not sure on the run time)...I stress BASIC MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS also referred to as PROBATIONARY, you are expected to do MUCH more...As for myself, I'm 6' 205lbs and in (what I thought to be) pretty good shape...Martial arts classes three nights a week...Black Belt in tae kwon do...belts in karate and aikido...tournaments championships, blah, blah, blah...Push ups, no problem, I did 80+ and decided to stop and wait (couldn't believe that some of those 18-19 y/o's couldn't do ten push-ups), then came the sit ups, I damn near threw up, 40 was all i could do and then that 1.5 mile run, piece of cake, nope, I barely finished in time...An overall rude awakening but then again there are 30+ people in DEP, I'm the oldest by ten years and it seemed that we all finished at about the same level...Knowing that boot is going to be much harder and not wanting to get showed up by a bunch of kids, I'm now working out twice as hard...

What the hell, how bout another.

Raizok Great work on the bod. Maybe you should get your back and chest waxed.

I must have burned a few callories just killing those pop up ads......

"I will PT you until your asshole is sucking buttermilk, do you understand me?"

Maybe its because I'm 16, but this test they have to pass, that seems so difficult i can do in my sleep.. i run for the cross country team at my school and can do 2 miles in under 10:30 and can do 60 sit ups and 55 push ups in one minute. The ironic thing is taking a look at me, im only 5'6 and skinny as hell. No one assumes i can do what i can. but it doesnt seem that difficult.

I know of a great way to get in shape like the military -- JOIN THE MILITARY!

First I'll make my snide, late comment, then I'll go back and skim the other comments.

Soldiers must run two miles in under 18 minutes
That's pretty tough. 5k in under 18 minutes is a decent pace. Oh wait, that's 2 miles, not a 5k time.

Ok. Now to skim the comments.

2003-07-23 05:46:43 PM kabar
3 mile run (18 min to max, 27 to pass - if you run a 27, good luck advancing in the Corps)

What does that mean "18 min to max, 27 to pass"? If you run faster than 18 minutes, you don't qualify?

"Sorry soldier, you ran too dang fast."