Vanity - Army Basic Training Fitness Requirements? (posted 8/28/2002)

08/28/2002 | Myself

[freeasinbeer]

I am interested in the fitness requirements for the Army Basic Training.

(i.e. how many pushups, situps, etc for minimum BT requirements, and what are considered to be above average levels).

I realize these are different for each age group, but after countless Google searches, I can't seem to find any diffinitive answers. Can someone here help me out? I am male, age group 20-25.

I am trying to measure my current fitness level against that of the armies with the possibility of future enrollment in mind. Thanks!

[dighton]

Tell me this is a misprint, or my eyes are going bad:

Each new male soldier must perform 13 push-ups and females one, in order to leave the Reception Battalion and move to the next phase of training.

[Sungirl]

I am taking this aerobics class called Boot Camp at the gym....it's an hour long....I can't imagine going through a real boot camp. Good Luck!

[Sungirl]

That seems fair to me.

Pushups are murder for women!

[freeasinbeer]

Well, I haven't been training at all yet, and as it stands today, I meet all the basic requirements for the army (ie. over 40 pushups, 50 situps, under 16min 2 mile), so I figured after some months runup in training, I would be amply in shape for army/marines, no?

I mean, if I can get close to a 300 in a few months time, would this not be a good indicator? Or am I dreaming thinking that these scores mean anything?

[Ace the Biker]

Don't worry you'll do better when you have a big, mean, loud DI shouting at you.

[freeasinbeer]

Thanks for that!!

[oc-flyfish]

Ahh... Ranger push ups....

[Cogadh na Sith]

Nope, you read it right.

Notice too how the standards are LOWER for the younger guys.

I'm 34 now and the standards for me are about the same as they were under the old 17-21 yo APFT standards. Talk about not getting a break...

The worst part is--as a Company Commander/1SGT, the guys in your company now don't have to be in as good a shape as you were when you were their age! Lame!

[oc-flyfish]

If you really want to go hard core then go Airborne, RIP and then Ranger School. Those guys are serious bad dudes!

[rdb3]

Those were... interesting.

Check this out. When I was in basic at Ft. Leonard Wood, we had a Drill (E7) who was AB/R/SF and sported a perfect PT score patch on his PT uniform. He tested me when we arrived at the company. He showed me up since I knocked out 81 push ups in the preliminary PT test.

This Drill was my platoon sergeant, as well.

Now, near the end of the white flag phase, he challenged me to a personal PT challenge on push ups. I said I'd do it, but with a twist.

I told him that we should do it three ways. First, the regular push up. Second, the wide-armed pushup. Lastly, we should do the "diamond" push up. The winner is the cumulative one out of all three tests. If I lost, he said I had 2 hours of fireguard every night until graduation. I told him that if I won, the entire company should immediately go to the blue flag phase. Our Top was there and he agreed.

I beat him.

For some reason, he never showed me up any more. Go figure.

[Newbomb Turk]

Don't worry. You will have a huge jump on most 18 year old enlistees. Just keep your mouth shut and your ears open. Think of it as getting paid to get in the best shape of your life.

[oc-flyfish]

Fort Lost in the Woods, eh? My brother went there as well for Basic.

I was in ROTC for a short time but distinctly remember the diamond push up... Ouch!

Good job beating the DI!

[11th Earl of Mar]

If you are not in good enough shape to be a soldier, you can still enlist. But only you may have to get a sex-change operation.

[tazman3]

You don't need a 300 on the APFT to pass Basic Training. But you need to score at least 300 on every 6 month APFT test to get the most out of your promotion eligiblity points. Not to mention the primary reason, if you need to move left, right, or forward to get out of the way of incoming fire, that you'll be in the best shape to do it.

Be ready to jog at least 10 miles with a pack on your back. It's not a problem if you're in shape. That 300 on your APFT will make it a lot easier!

[Uncle Meat]

I can't imagine going through a real boot camp. Good Luck!

I went in during the old army days.Seen Full Metal Jacket?It was a lot like that.The drill Sargeants were sadistic not like the touchy-feelie ones you see on the discovery channel.I can't get over how they don't cuss like they used to.Some of the stuff they said was hilarious,but you tried your damnedest not to laugh or you would get dogged.My platoon had 4 drill sargeants so we had it worse than the other two platoons.Plus the Senior drill was this monstrous Somoan that had tree trunk arms and legs that had it in for my platoon.Every one was terrified of him.We didn't have females ,so they could get as sadistic as they wanted.They couldn't lay a hand on you but had ways to make you hurt so bad that you'd prefer a beating just to get it over with.

[31R1O]

42 push-ups
52 sit-ups
run two miles in 15:54
these are the basic minimum requirements that will score you a 180 on the APFT(Army Physical Fitness Test)

[pittsburgh gop guy]

"If you really want to go hard core then...."

JOIN THE MARINES!

[oc-flyfish]

Not! :-)

[trevorjohnson]

I am at Fort Lost in the Woods right as we speak...errr....type. Active duty. It's not bad if you are not in Basic. Pretty hills to walk up in leisure (maybe not so good to march up). Plenty of woods to hunt (maybe not so fun to bivouac)....

[freeasinbeer]

Yeah, thanks for that. That is about where I am at this point, so lots of work to do!