Girls worried about physical ability

usafahopeful1

Prospective Cadet 2017
5-Year Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2011
Messages
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Are there any girls who were worried about being able to do well enough, physically (for PT, during Beast, etc...) who are now at the academy and would be willing to share how things turned out?
Any stories, help, or advice is appreciated!
Thanks
 
Are there any girls who were worried about being able to do well enough, physically (for PT, during Beast, etc...) who are now at the academy and would be willing to share how things turned out?
Any stories, help, or advice is appreciated!
Thanks

I'm not a woman, but I will say this: Women have been attending the air force academy for the last 37 years. And they've been doing so proudly and successfully. Physically making it at the academy is not a "Women" thing. There are plenty of men who were not able to handle the physical requirements.

Remember; the military academies are not primarily about an education at one of the top-10 universities in the country. It's about building leaders. It's about being part of the ultimate team. It's about being part of something so much bigger than yourself. It's about being willing to put your life ahead of your country's and ensuring a way of life. And in doing all of this, setting an example for others in our country and abroad on how wonderful life truly can be. If this is what you want, then just give it everything you have. That is all anyone can ask. If you're 5 foot 0 inches and 90 lbs, you'll probably have to work harder than others. But if you want something bad enough, you can achieve it. It's totally up to you. Best of luck to you. Mike....
 
Are there any girls who were worried about being able to do well enough, physically (for PT, during Beast, etc...) who are now at the academy and would be willing to share how things turned out?
Any stories, help, or advice is appreciated!
Thanks
Here is a link to the current AFA catalog.

http://www.academyadmissions.com/img/assets/PDF/Entire_Catalog.pdf

Page 9 has an outline of the CFA (Candidate Fitness Assessment) average scores.

Compare yourself to these average numbers and work towards doing better.

A lot of it will have to do with your mental attitude towards the challenge. Henry Ford once said "Think you can, or think you can't. Either way, you will be right!"

In other words, think positively about your ability to succeed. Make a realistic assessment of where you are now. Make a plan of how you will get to where you want/need to be. Commit to executing your plan. Do this and you can do anything you truly feel is important.
 
There were girls faster than me at NASS.
There are girls that can max out to the male standards on the CFA.

Are there girls than can run 3 miles under 19 minutes (a lot of males, including myself that haven't been running for years can't)? yes

Can females train to do pull-ups? yes

Can females max out on the sit-up part of CFA? yes, in fact quite a few do

Will the strongest/fastest female be stronger/faster than the strongest/fasted male?
no

However, to reach these standards, it is definitely do-able if you set your mind to it.
 
I'm at USNA, but keep in mind that physical fitness is probably the fastest way to gain/lose credibility as a female.
I'd imagine it's similar at USAFA. Your detailers and classmates will notice if you're always the one lagging on a run or struggling during PT and that will hurt you. Consequently, you'll have an uphill battle for gaining their respect.
Along those lines, if you're a female who can keep up and is always putting out, you'll be in a good place. Obviously there's plenty of people (females and otherwise) who are PT studs but awful leaders or mediocre at PT and good leaders, but fitness is a big part of succeeding at a service academy.

Don't use those CFA scores as a guideline. Again, I'm at USNA, but at least for pushups/situps shoot for the male averages in there or better.
 
I know that the CFA isn't the greatest way to compare what girls at USAFA go through during PT, BCT, etc but I just want to share my story.

Honestly, I was a girl that couldn't do anything on the CFA. I know this because when I went to Summer Seminar, I rarely made the averages on the CFA requirements. Needless to say, I didn't max out on anything. I had a pathetic 30 feet basketball throw, ~60 situps, ~20 pushups, no pullups, and a HORRIBLE mile time (I was probably one of the slowest). The one thing that I made an average score was on the shuttle run.

Seeing that I was physically inept, I was motivated to work out and train so that the real CFA that I would take in the future would turn out to be with great results. Daily, I worked on pushups, pullups, and situps. My martial arts class offers Friday night classes where we would just condition (literally hundreds of situps, pushups, "power pushups", bear crawls, etc.) Cross Country helped me with my mile and shuttle run (all of those sprints!). For some reason, I forgot about the basketball throw and didn't really focus on that. But I guess I didn't really need to because of the other conditioning exercises that I was working on daily. Needless to say, I got stronger, both physically and mentally. I was ready for the CFA and got at least all average scores, if not, maxed out on them. I even maxed out on the men's shuttle run and situps.

Sorry for the long post, but I assure you that if you put your heart into it along with perseverance, nothing is impossible. I can testify that :thumb:
 
You can tell when people are working hard and when they are not. Some of the biggest strongest freshmen in our squad (that could probably break me) I have no respect for because they don't even try. On the other hand, the smallest, weakest girls (or guys for that matter) will give it everything they have and more and I have a huge amount of respect for that. That said, you will break more often, but that means nothing to your overall performance. We really do want to see you succeed no matter how much you get yelled at etc. it makes everyone happy when we see someone work so hard and make it through no matter how physically fit they are.

Hope to see y'all in 2nd BCT

-Brian
 
Thanks

Thanks for all of the help!
I guess I am just worried about being that one who 'lags behind'. I am honestly not in that bad physical shape, but I swim, so I have to practice other things to do reasonably on them. I have seen other threads for pull-ups, and most of them suggest doing negatives if you cannot do one, but if you don't have a pull-up bar, what are some exercises you can do to train for pull-ups?
Thanks
 
Pull-up bars aren't expensive, but if you are hard up for cash, you can get along by using the horizontal part of a swing-set in a local park (or something similar).

Honestly, swimming is pretty good exercise. Obviously, you'll want to do other sit-ups, pull-ups, push-ups, running, etc to get used to doing those correctly and quickly, but swimming tends to be a pretty decent whole body workout.
 
Pull-up bars aren't expensive, but if you are hard up for cash, you can get along by using the horizontal part of a swing-set in a local park (or something similar).

Honestly, swimming is pretty good exercise. Obviously, you'll want to do other sit-ups, pull-ups, push-ups, running, etc to get used to doing those correctly and quickly, but swimming tends to be a pretty decent whole body workout.

Do pull ups on the diving board at the pool - great way to get some support and build strength. Works for lots of swimmers. :biggrin:
 
When I was in high school I would train for pull ups by jumping up and grabbing the roof of my house.

Yeah, my hands bled the first few times, but it worked. I lived on a farm so the nearest park was 7 miles away. I also had a pullup bar put in the doorway of my bedroom. So everytime I'd go in my room or outside or in the kitchen I'd do a set.

That was like five years ago though.

Being in the military I can sprint for four minutes and I'm already at the base gym!
 
Do pull ups on the diving board at the pool - great way to get some support and build strength. Works for lots of swimmers. :biggrin:

Sounds like something the lifeguards would love ;)
We don't have a diving board at our pool, regrettably,
but the blocks should work, thanks for the idea!
 
Are there any girls who were worried about being able to do well enough, physically (for PT, during Beast, etc...) who are now at the academy and would be willing to share how things turned out?
Any stories, help, or advice is appreciated!
Thanks

Obviously you need to be physically fit for USAFA. The CFA requirements are a good indicator of the level of physical ability needed. As Christcorp said, women have been coming to USAFA for for a long time now and have been successful. During BCT and freshman year, you will do everything as a team with the people in your squad. Most PT at USAFA will have to do with teamwork, so if you are the weakest one your classmates will be there to support and to help you finish strong. You will not be left behind. With that said, you do not want to be a burden on your teammates with a complete inability to do anything physical. The biggest thing is always work to improve yourself. Good Luck:thumb:
 
Pull-up bars aren't expensive

less than $24 at Amazon. This is what my son bought to work on his pullups. It fits in a doorframe.

http://www.amazon.com/Iron-Total-Upper-Body-Workout/dp/B001EJMS6K

31on-yLI1AL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
 
My question as a woman would be if I could make it physically in the AD world?

Could I drag a 190lb 5'11 ft male out of the water with 15 ft waves wearing flight gear? Water Survival will drop your arse in the ocean!

Could I carry a 70 lb ruck sack for 8 hrs as an ALO in Afghanistan? Land will require you rucking it!

If your goal is non-rated, i.e. personnel, it will be a cake walk. If it is rated be prepared to fight physically.

The AFA only guarantees a commissioning and a college degree. It does not guarantee you will make it through your AFSC.
 
My question as a woman would be if I could make it physically in the AD world?

Could I drag a 190lb 5'11 ft male out of the water with 15 ft waves wearing flight gear?

Could I carry a 70 lb ruck sack for 8 hrs as an ALO in Afghanistan?

If your goal is non-rated it will be a cake walk. If it is rated be prepared.

Thanks for keeping my eye on the ball. I would like to be in Military Intelligence.
 
Thanks for keeping my eye on the ball. I would like to be in Military Intelligence.

Unfortunately, the military doesn't have 2 different physical requirements for getting into the academy or air force. They don't care if you're wanting to be a pilot, intel, or civil engineering. Now, once in, there are some jobs that will have additional physical requirements. And what PIMA says is dead on. But when you go through your CFA, DODMRB, Basic Training, Academy PT training, etc... they don't have different standards based on what type of a job you want to do later on after graduation.
 
Obviously I am a woman, and my issue has always been men get a different level than woman.

Let's be honest, Jeannie Flynn was an F-15E squadron commander. This airframe is a 2 seater. However, the AF had different regs for her.

Bullet, my best 1/2 is a guy, @ 5'11 and 190 lbs. He is the father of 3 with a wife.

Now remember when it comes to physical ability as a woman, and as flier, if you go down in the wash, you will face a widow if you don't have the strength.

I am just trying to pound in your mind that their your physical strength is not just about you, other lives will rely on you too.

You can do it! I hope that this reality check makes every female to strive for a higher physical goal.
 
My daughter maxed on all CFA but the mile (and she did well on that too). She can do 20+ pull-ups. She can climb a rope without using her legs. It takes more work than the men, but it can be done - its all about consistent training.
 
My daughter maxed on all CFA but the mile (and she did well on that too). She can do 20+ pull-ups. She can climb a rope without using her legs. It takes more work than the men, but it can be done - its all about consistent training.

20+ pull-ups! I'm impressed. Pull-ups are definitely my biggest problem. I can do about 50 push-ups right now, max sit-ups, and have a 6:50 mile. I really need to work on my sprinting skills (shuttle run) and pull-ups. Practice makes perfecty (or at least better)!
 
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