Military PT Training: How to Train for Each Test Event

Which event to train first

Take a practice test and score it against your own branch’s tables. One event below its minimum fails the whole test, so the event closest to its minimum gets the most training time.

Strength events need the longest lead time. HPRC’s own plan for the Army Fitness Test runs 12 to 16 weeks, and no fewer than 10, because strength and power take longer to build than endurance. The eight-week plan in the guide above is for when eight weeks is the time you have.

Source: HPRC, Physical Fitness Training Series: Army Fitness Test.

Training for push-ups, sit-ups and the plank

Push-ups, the plank, the Air Force’s sit-up and crunch options and the Marine Corps Ammunition Lift are muscular endurance events: as many reps as you can in a set time, or a hold for as long as you can. For sets, reps, rest and how to progress, follow the endurance training in the how to prepare guide. HPRC’s training series add these points for the events themselves.

• One muscle group at a timeSupersets, two or more exercises done back to back, save time, but they give each muscle group too much rest to train its endurance fully.
• Sit-ups and crunchesA general core program improves sit-up performance as much as doing sit-ups in every workout, with less strain on your back and hip flexors.
• The Army’s push-up drillsFor the AFT’s hand-release push-up, the Army lists the supine chest press, the 8-count T push-up, the incline bench and the quadraplex.

Source: HPRC training series for the AFT, the Navy PRT, the Marine Corps PFT and CFT and the Air Force PFRA; army.mil/aft.

Training for pull-ups

The Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test (PFT) lets you choose pull-ups or push-ups, and HPRC advises choosing pull-ups if you want the maximum possible score. If you cannot do one yet, HPRC’s Train Above the Bar program builds to a first pull-up in four weeks.

• The exercisesBody rows on a low bar or straps, holds at the top and middle of a pull-up for 5 to 10 seconds, slow 5 to 10 second lowers from the top, and half reps from the top down to a 90-degree elbow bend and back.
• The scheduleThree sessions a week with rest days between, five sets a session and 60 to 90 seconds of rest between sets.
• The first attemptTry your first pull-up 2 to 4 days after the last workout of week 4. If it does not come, repeat the four weeks, for no more than two cycles in total, then work on general upper-body strength and endurance.

Source: HPRC, Train Above the Bar: Achieving Your First Pull-up; HPRC, Physical Fitness Training Series: USMC PFT and CFT.

Training for the AFT deadlift and sprint-drag-carry

The Army Fitness Test is the only test with a maximum-strength event, the 3-repetition maximum deadlift. Its sprint-drag-carry tests anaerobic endurance, how long you can keep up a high workload, which HPRC puts at 30 seconds to 3 minutes.

• Strength takes weeksIf you do not already lift, expect strength gains within about 2 weeks as your muscles learn to fire more of their fibers, and gains in muscle size after 4 to 6 weeks. Across a training year, HPRC suggests cycles of 10 to 12 weeks aimed at strength.
• Power and speedThe sprints and the lateral shuffle need speed, which comes from power built on a strength base: heavy lifts at 75 to 90 percent of your one-rep max, and lighter lifts done fast. Jump training (plyometrics) and high-intensity intervals with proper rest help as well.
• The Army’s drillsFor the deadlift: the sumo deadlift, the alternate staggered squat jump and the forward lunge. For the sprint-drag-carry: the straight-leg deadlift, the bent-over row and the 300-meter shuttle run.

Source: HPRC, Physical Fitness Training Series: Army Fitness Test; army.mil/aft.

Training for the Marine Corps CFT

The Combat Fitness Test (CFT) has three events: Movement to Contact, the Ammunition Lift and Maneuver Under Fire. HPRC splits the training by what each event demands.

• Movement to ContactA timed run over an 880-yard course, so it rewards speed. Distance runs alone will not build that speed; vary your run training with faster work.
• Ammunition LiftMuscular endurance with a rigid core, trained the way you train push-ups and pull-ups, starting with a core program.
• Maneuver Under FireStrength for the fireman’s carry, the casualty drag and the ammunition can carry, where you lift set weights and carry them over short distances, plus speed for the sprints.

If you train for the PFT and CFT year round, HPRC suggests about 12 weeks on strength before more focused power work.

Source: HPRC, Physical Fitness Training Series: USMC PFT and CFT; MCO 6100.13A, chapter 3, paragraph 5a, for the course length.

Training for the run, row, swim and HAMR

The timed cardio event tests cardiorespiratory endurance in every branch: the Army’s 2-mile run, the Navy’s and Coast Guard’s 1.5-mile run, row or swim, the Marine Corps’ 3-mile run or 5,000-meter row, and the Air Force’s 2-mile run or High Aerobic Multi-shuttle Run (HAMR). For a weekly cardio schedule and how fast to build it, follow the cardio training in the how to prepare guide. HPRC adds these points for particular events.

• How hardDo most cardio at 60 to 80 percent of your maximum heart rate (220 minus your age). Speed work takes you above 80 percent, which is fine.
• The 2-mile run and HAMRFor the Air Force’s cardio events, HPRC adds 1 or 2 anaerobic sessions a week: 30-second sprints with equal rest, short hill climbs and shuttle runs.
• The swimSwim speed depends on stroke technique, so train in the water. HPRC suggests repeated 50 to 200 meter efforts at a hard pace with 30 to 45 seconds of rest.

Source: HPRC training series for the AFT, the Air Force PFRA and the Coast Guard PFT.