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Army PT giving me trouble

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  • #31
    Bill, how does it feel to be the Old Man?

    I gave up meeting the time requirements long ago but I am still determined to finish. My 5 miles went from 37 minutes as a young Captain to an hour and a half but I still finish the 5 miles.

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    • #32
      God bless you sir. If i tried to run 5 miles my knees would explode, let alone my back.

      How does it feel to be the old man...Hmmm, well, i try and distract myself with the company of beautiful women half my age So far, so good. :)

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      • #33
        I also try and distract myself with the company of women half your age. So far, so good. :)
        Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

        Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

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        • #34
          good god, br,

          for a second there i thought you wrote "the company of women half my age"... report you for being a pedo
          There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

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          • #35
            Originally posted by S-2 View Post
            APFT standards by age group-

            APFT
            Steve,
            The Army renormalized the APFT scoring table about 8 years ago or so. The 17-21 age is no longer the most difficult one to max.
            "So little pains do the vulgar take in the investigation of truth, accepting readily the first story that comes to hand." Thucydides 1.20.3

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            • #36
              Originally posted by Kevin Brown View Post
              I eat something light before it,

              As with at least some food, I notice I have much less energy and endurance.
              Kevin,
              For an APFT before 9AM, do not eat any breakfast. Have a slightly lighter than normal dinner. You want a completely empty stomach so that it's not drawing away any blood in an attempt to digest food.
              "So little pains do the vulgar take in the investigation of truth, accepting readily the first story that comes to hand." Thucydides 1.20.3

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              • #37
                Originally posted by Kevin Brown View Post
                I'm currently at 31 pushups, 66 situps, and a 21 min run. However, on the day of the PT test I was recvering from food borne illiness over the weekend and still wasn't up to speed. I would most likey have done better on pushups and situps, also form is a problem for all the above mentioned excersises.

                H&T

                I'm 5'11 and 149 lbs.

                I used to play lacrosse in junior high and excersised on and off throughout high school and college.
                First things first, you need to set a goal. "Getting better" will not provide enough motivation. Based on your body build and current scores, let's set a goal of 75 pushups, 90 situps, and a 14 minute run. The key to doing better on the APFT is specificity of your exercise program. For pushups and situps, that's generally very easy. For the run, it will depend upon how much stress your joints can take. Since you're a lighter build, it should be less of a problem at your age.

                PUSHUPS

                1 x 30 seconds max wide grip P/Us
                30 seconds rest
                1 x 30 seconds max normal grip P/Us
                30 seconds rest
                1 x 30 seconds max diamond P/Us

                During the 30 seconds, once you reach muscle failure, start doing girl P/Us (from your knees). When you first start doing this, you probably won't be able to do a single diamond P/U and will only be able to do a few, if any, normal grip P/Us based on scoring only 31 P/Us. However, as you keep with it, you'll find yourself being able to go the full 30 seconds for all 3 sets. Make sure you try to do the P/Us as fast as you can - that's what you are going to be doing on the test. Once you can do the full 30 seconds for all 3 sets, add in another round of 3 x 30 seconds with 30 seconds rest in between - start with the first 3 sets being feet elevated and the second three sets being normal. As you do your P/Us, touch your chest to the floor. While during the test you won't go all the way to the floor, you want to make sure that your exercised range of motion is greater than the tested range of motion - this will make sure you don't have an unexercised weak spot that will limit your 2 minute max.

                SITUPS

                3 x 30 seconds max S/Us with 30 seconds rest in between. You can add more sets if you find that your able to go full blast for all 30 seconds during your last set.

                This P/U / S/U improvement workout should be done every other day. This means that if your supermotivated, then you can do 4 workouts one week and 3 the next. However, it's sufficient to do the workout 3 times a week. Your 3 set total P/U and S/U will give you a ballpark figure (probably within 10 P/Us and 10 S/Us) for how you'll score on the real APFT.

                More on the run later.
                "So little pains do the vulgar take in the investigation of truth, accepting readily the first story that comes to hand." Thucydides 1.20.3

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                • #38
                  For the run, you'll need to do two things. First, you'll need a base of endurance. Thus, you should do runs > 2 miles. 3-4 miles at a slower than APFT, able to carry on a conversation pace, is fine. Do runs of this length 3-4 times a week. About 4-6 weeks out, go to the track or a 1/4 mile course, and then do 1/4 mile repeats. Run the 1/4 mile at your APFT pace or slightly below (e.g., for a 14 minute 2 mile, you'll need to run your quarters at 1:40-1:45) and then run a super slow jog 1/4 mile in between to recover your heart rate. You should be very smoked the last 3-4 quarter repeats. This is your body fighting the lactic acid buildup, just as your abs and arms fight the lactic acid buildup at the end of your last 30 second sets. Do this interval training 1 time a week in substitution of one of your slow runs.

                  If your legs don't like all the stress, then you can substitute other aerobic exercises up until two months out from the APFT for running (biking, rowing, swimming, elliptical, etc.), making sure that at least half of the sessions is biking/elliptical/stairmaster so your working primarily the legs (neither is the exact same as running, but your at least targeting the legs specifically).

                  In my young age, I had your exact build, and scored in the 90s (raw score) for P/Us and S/Us and in the 11's for the run. Now with 4 kids and other priorities, if I stick to a program like this, I'll score in the 80s (raw score for P/Us and S/Us and in the 12's for the run. For times where I slack, I'll score in the 60s for P/Us and S/Us and 14's for the run. Bottomline, this type of specific training works, even when you carry a small spare tire like myself.
                  "So little pains do the vulgar take in the investigation of truth, accepting readily the first story that comes to hand." Thucydides 1.20.3

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                  • #39
                    Last thing on the APFT training regime - do a diagnostic about 6-8 weeks after starting this so that you can gauge your progress. This will help keep you motivated in working towards your goal as you see progress. Also, two weeks out from your record APFT, do a diagnostic; you can expect to outscore the diagnostic by about 5 P/Us and 5 S/Us and go a bit faster on the run based on the adrenaline.
                    "So little pains do the vulgar take in the investigation of truth, accepting readily the first story that comes to hand." Thucydides 1.20.3

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                    • #40
                      i wish the tests would phase out S/Us-- they're -bad- for your back.
                      There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

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                      • #41
                        Situps used to be the easiest part for me. I could whip out 86 in just over a minute and a half.
                        Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

                        Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

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                        • #42
                          Growing Old sure beats the alternative!

                          I haven't run for years. I walk and use a treadmill. I had to do the swim PT test my last 2 years on active duty.

                          Jumping out of airplanes and armored vehicles and getting hit by an M113 do not equate to good PT skills in late middle age!

                          That said, I never was much of a runner...too big. I did all I had to, of course.

                          But if you wanted to ruck up and hump some klicks I was your man!
                          “Loyalty to country ALWAYS. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it.”
                          Mark Twain

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                          • #43
                            Getting hit by an M-113?

                            I'm sure there's a good story in there
                            Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

                            Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

                            Comment


                            • #44
                              Got hit as an LT when a track slid on the ice and threw me about 25 feet. It was moving too fast in an assembly area without a ground guide on a snowy icy German day.

                              Broke 2 vertebrae, my pelvis and arm...and the squad leader was relieved and courtmartialed for violating Division SOP.

                              After 3 weeks in the hospital they moved me to company XO so I would not have too much running around.

                              After about 6 months I was able to stumble through a PT test. In 9 months I was back to "normal".

                              Me and Ibuprofin are really good friends!
                              “Loyalty to country ALWAYS. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it.”
                              Mark Twain

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                              • #45
                                Originally posted by Albany Rifles View Post
                                Got hit as an LT when a track slid on the ice and threw me about 25 feet. It was moving too fast in an assembly area without a ground guide on a snowy icy German day.

                                If icy German roads don't get you vampires will...just go ask Tarek

                                It was an icy German road that had me dangling over a 200' quarry when my tank decided it would prefer the scenic route rather than the main road. Another 10 feet and that would have been it for all of us.

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