It's a pushup with a rest for the biceps between each and every pushup.
Pushups involve triceps, not biceps. The hand lift insures your chest comes in contact with the ground.
The old PT test really let me off the hook. I always did fairly well on the pushups and situps. I never could run well, but I just managed to stagger across the finish line with maybe 30 seconds to spare.
The five-event 1970s PT test was a nightmare, involving as it did the horizontal ladder, an exercise suited mainly to little wiry guys. I don’t think I ever passed it, which meant my 6-1, 200 pound butt was always on the carpet.
The three-event test I could work with. But I can tell you that when I collected my honorable discharge after eight years, active and reserve, I promised myself I would never run again.
I have kept this promise. Armed forces personnel need to maintain a reasonable-to-high level of fitness, depending on one’s specialty. I don’t expect Army journalists (my specialty) to be as fit as airborne rangers.
Just like IQ varies, inherent athletic ability does as well. Somehow our media gives the impression that everyone has an athlete waiting to get out.
I ask in reply: Does this mean everyone also has a scholar waiting to get out?
I suggest the answer to both questions is “no.” I did all right with any mental task I was assigned but no power on earth was going to make me more than a mediocre athlete.