Passing vs Maxing a Military PT Test

Passing and top scores on each branch's test

The passing rule and the highest score for each test, from each branch’s own test document.

• Army Fitness Test (AFT)Pass: 60 points on every event and 300 in total, or 350 in a combat specialty. Top: 100 points on each of the five events, 500 in total.
• Navy Physical Readiness Test (PRT)Pass: Probationary (45 points, the lowest passing level) or better on every event. Top: Outstanding High (100 points) on every event. Your overall category matches the average of your event points.
• Marine Corps PFTPass: 150 points in total and the minimum on every event, worth 40 points, or 60 for female pull-ups. Top: 300, which needs pull-ups, because push-ups stop at 70 points. 1st Class starts at 235. Combat arms Marines who pass below 210 go on remedial training.
• Marine Corps CFTPass: 150 points in total and the minimum, worth 40 points, on all three events. Top: 300. 1st Class starts at 235.
• Air Force PFRAPass: 75 of 100 points, with cardio, strength and core each at or above its lowest scoring row. Top: 100, made up of cardio 50, body composition 20, strength 15 and core 15. Excellent starts at 90.
• Coast Guard PFTPass: at least 45 points on each event. Top: 100 points on each event. Each result also converts to an evaluation mark, from 4 for Average to 7 for Superior (90 points and up).
• Space Force HPAPass: 75 of 100 points and the minimum in each part. Top: 100, made up of cardio 60, muscular endurance 20 and strength 20. Fit to Fight starts at 90. The charts are only in myFitness.

Source: the test documents listed under Sources, one per branch.

Why one weak event fails the whole test

On every one of these tests the minimum applies event by event (on the Air Force and Space Force tests, part by part). A strong event cannot carry a weak one. On the Army test, four events at 90 points and one at 55 add up to 415, well over the 300 needed, and the result is still a fail because 55 is below 60. The Navy and Coast Guard say the same in their own terms: below Probationary, or below 45 points, on any one event fails the test.

That rule decides how someone near the passing line should train. Extra points on your best event do nothing for your result until every event clears its minimum.

Training to pass a PT test

Score a practice test with the calculator for your test and rank your events by their margin over the minimum, in points. The smallest margin is your priority.

• Train the weakest event mostAt least two sessions a week, with the other events kept in your routine so they do not slip below their own minimums.
• Start with endurance workEvery branch’s test includes a muscular endurance event, and HPRC suggests building endurance first if you are new to training or coming back after months away: 2 to 4 sets of 12 reps or more, adding reps at the same load each week.
• Build cardio in small stepsIf the run, row or swim is the weak event, add no more than 10 percent to your weekly cardio from one week to the next.
• Test again before the real thingA second practice test a few weeks in shows whether the weak event has moved and whether another one is now closest to its line.

Source: HPRC, muscular endurance and training progression.

Training to max a PT test

Look up the top result for your age group on your branch’s standards page, then compare each event with it. Events already at the top only need enough work to stay there; the rest get your training time.

• Add heavier strength workStronger muscles make each push-up or pull-up a smaller share of your maximum, and HPRC notes that heavy resistance training can improve push-up results and running economy. Strength sets use about 80 to 90 percent of your one-rep maximum for 3 to 5 reps, with 2 to 3 minutes of rest.
• Add speed to the cardio eventOne or two sessions a week of short, hard intervals, such as 30 seconds hard followed by 30 to 90 seconds easy, kept apart from your longer runs.
• Plan the build in blocksTopping every event at once takes months of planned training, with a taper of a week or two before the test. Periodization for military PT covers the blocks.
• Take the rest weeksHPRC recommends one easy week after every 12 weeks of continuous cardio training, with no hard workouts.

Source: HPRC, USCG training series, cardiorespiratory endurance and block periodization.

When a higher PT score counts

Beyond passing, several branches record how well you did. Every Army evaluation report now shows your record AFT result and the points you earned, and army.mil says the AFT still carries up to 120 points for semi-centralized promotions. The Navy places you in a category from Probationary to Outstanding, and the Coast Guard turns each result into an evaluation mark. The Marine Corps sorts passing scores into 1st, 2nd and 3rd Class, and the Air Force and Space Force each name a top category from 90 points up.

Each branch’s personnel rules set how much these count toward promotion or assignments, so check with your unit before you plan a year of training around one.