Jan 18, 20212 min read

Trying to Max The APFT - US Army Fitness Test

Updated: Oct 20

I wanted to see how I, a regular Top-10 finisher in the elite/pro categories at OCR events, would do when tackling the fitness tests for different military branches. I wanted a new challenge, so I tried to max the APFT.

Some important points of order. Firstly, my goal in taking this fitness test was to completely MAX the test. Second, I understand that the Army is implementing a new Fitness Test. However, I did not have the necessary equipment to attempt that test at the time that I took this test due to facilities closures as a result of the global pandemic. As a result, I am performing the "old" Army Fitness Test.

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The Army Fitness Test consists of:

2 Minutes of Pushups

2 Minutes of Situps

2 Mile Run

Again, my goal was to MAX OUT the test, which means a score of 300 or higher.

In order to max out the test with the hardest numbers from each age group, I needed to perform:

77 Pushup in 2 Minutes (27-31 age group)

82 Situps in 2 Minutes (27-31 age group)

2 Miles in 13:00 Minutes or Less (17-21 age group)

Scoring sheets for each event can be found HERE.

THE TEST

Pushups: I have to admit, I surprised myself on the pushups for this test. I hadn't tried to do a max number of pushups in many years. I do a lot of weight vest pushups, and I do up to 200 reps in a training session, but broken down into sets of 15 or 20 reps. Fortunately, I was able to complete 80 pushups in under 2 minutes. I maxed it!

Situps: Having not done more than 2 situps in the last decade (I do tons of other core exercises), I had no idea how well I would do on this test. I just tried to go as fast as I could in order to hit the 82 situps I need to max the test. However, after 2 minutes of doing the best I could, I was only able to complete 67 reps.

2 Mile Run: I was confident that I could complete this test and max it. I'd never run 2 miles specifically at a hard effort, but I knew I could average a good enough pace per mile to reach this goal because I'd done it for other distances. Well, after 12:34, I finished it. An average pace of 6:18. I maxed it!

Final Score: 284/300

It was fun! It's always great to try something new and challenge myself. I'd highly encourage others to perform this test and see how well you do. At the very least, it's a good change up, and at best, it might show you some areas of weakness upon which you can improve!

If you'd like to see a full video of my test, simply watch it below! Also, Subscribe to our channel so you can see more of this material (I'll be trying many other Military fitness tests).