AFROTC Scholarship PFA fail?

KansasMan

Future Jayhawk
Joined
May 17, 2018
Messages
27
I did my fitness test yesterday. Here are my results:

Push-Ups: 43
Sit-Ups: 40
1.5 Mile Run: 10:55

The scores are all at around the goals, except for the situps. I obviously would have failed an actual fitness test by 2 with that score. However, I can't find a definitive answer on whether I can submit these scores and still qualify for a shot at a scholarship. (I'm not shooting for a Type 1, I have plenty of other scholarships to make up the difference.)

So, in short, if I only got 40 situps, should I take the test again or submit what I have?
 
Your run time is adequate. Sit-ups are pretty low. Pushups are WAY low.

The next board isn't until February, so you have plenty of time to bring the numbers up, and I would highly recommend it.

Tips follow:

Remember the AF sit-up is actually more like a crunch. All that has to happen in the down position is that your shoulder blades hit the ground-- don't go so far down that your head touches the ground. In the up position, your elbows touch your legs-ANYwhere. What this means is that the overall movement is only about 1/4 of an actual sit-up. Get as close to your legs as you can and then go up just far enough so that your elbows (which can stick out) touch your thighs. Check out this video on YouTube-- outside of being a little far away from his legs (I get as close in to my knees as I can to minimize the up movement), he models a correct AF sit-up. Notice that his elbows stick out and as soon as they graze his thigh, he's going back down. If you get this down pat, you should be able to easily do 12-15 sit-ups in your first 10 seconds and then hold that pace for at least the first 40. Rest for a few seconds in the up position and then knock out the remaining 18 over the 20-or-so seconds you will have left.

Push-ups are pretty simple as well. Remember you only have to go down to where your elbows are 90 degrees. Don't go any further. Get used to almost collapsing on the downward movement and then shoot back up as soon as you get to 90 degrees. Practicing in front of a mirror is the best way to do this as you can also make sure your back is staying straight. If you keep your feet slightly apart, it will take some of the load off your shoulders.

For both PU and SU, shake the mentality that you are doing a "fitness test". You are doing a speed drill. To max out both (which any young guy should be able to do easily), it is just a speed test. Race up to 35 pushups as quickly as you can. Rest for 2-3 seconds in the up position and then do 10-15 more. Rest 2-3 seconds, and then finish out to max. You should be able to do more than one pushup and sit-up per second for at least the first 30 seconds once you get your head in the game.

Lastly, do not stop until you run out of time. I see this all the time and it is ridiculous. If you fatigue out, just hang out in the rest position until you have 10s left and then knock out 3-5 more.

To further reduce your run time, do 2 miles' worth of intervals (sprint at absolute max speed for 60s or 1/4 mile, walk for 120s or 1/8 mile) 1-2x per week for about a month and you will see around a 1 minute come off that time.

Keep in mind that over half the Air Force (including Guard and Reserve) currently scores >90 on the AFPFT. You'll want your PFA scores to be above a 90 for them to be considered competitive.

Per the Air Force PFT charts (In AFI 36-2905):
Max pushups for you is 67 in a minute. Max sit-ups is 58. Minimum push-ups are 33 and minimum sit-ups are 42. A competitive run time would be in the 9:46 to 10:10 time frame.
 
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