Air Force ROTC PFA

[GenericUserName]

Is the PFA an important part of scholarship consideration? I can only do about 30 push-ups and 45situps but can run 1.5 miles in about 8:10.
Is the push-ups a problem?

 

[billyb]

starting working on them today; in 2 weeks you will be able to do more; in a month you will be able to many more

 

[cidgraddad]

Do 10 pushups every time you enter and leave your room. Do 10 between each class at school. If you do this, you can accomplish 100+ per day while building strength and not really breaking a sweat. Keep doing larger sets as part of your regular working out. In a month, when you get down to see how many you can do in a row it will surprise you in a good way.

 

[Tbpxece]

Are you male or female? The minimums for push-ups are dramatically different between the two. 30 is solid for female, but a huge red flag for a male. 45 situps is on the low side for males, but ok for females.

If you are female, focus on pushup form for the next few weeks, keeping your elbows in a little more to engage your triceps. You should be able to add at least 10 more pushups in there.

If you are male, focus on hitting 150-200 pushups per day, going as fast as you can without losing your form. Form is what kills a lot of guys unfamiliar with the AFPFT. The faster you go up front, the more time you will have at the end to push out those last 5-10 when you are fatigued. Don't go past 90 degrees if you are weak in pushups, and don't go past the max reps.

For the situps, remember they are little microcrunches, not a full situp. All you have to do is touch your leg somewhere with your elbows. For me, it is a movement that is about 1/4 of my normal situp. YouTube this to make sure you are not overdoing the movement.

For the run time, you are solid if you are male and dramatically overachieving if female . Make sure you can still do that run 2-3 minutes after finishing your pushups and situps. 8:10 is a fantastic time, very similar what I see a lot of SOF folks do.

Source: Years of 95+ scores on the AFPFT

 

[GenericUserName]

Are you male or female? The minimums for push-ups are dramatically different between the two. 30 is solid for female, but a huge red flag for a male. 45 situps is on the low side for males, but ok for females.

If you are female, focus on pushup form for the next few weeks, keeping your elbows in a little more to engage your triceps. You should be able to add at least 10 more pushups in there.

If you are male, focus on hitting 150-200 pushups per day, going as fast as you can without losing your form. Form is what kills a lot of guys unfamiliar with the AFPFT. The faster you go up front, the more time you will have at the end to push out those last 5-10 when you are fatigued. Don't go past 90 degrees if you are weak in pushups, and don't go past the max reps.

For the situps, remember they are little microcrunches, not a full situp. All you have to do is touch your leg somewhere with your elbows. For me, it is a movement that is about 1/4 of my normal situp. YouTube this to make sure you are not overdoing the movement.

For the run time, you are solid if you are male and dramatically overachieving if female . Make sure you can still do that run 2-3 minutes after finishing your pushups and situps. 8:10 is a fantastic time, very similar what I see a lot of SOF folks do.

Source: Years of 95+ scores on the AFPFT

I'm a male distance runner so runner is easy but I'll work on push-ups. Thanks for the tips.

 

[Tbpxece]

Do the bare minimum pushups and crunches, and assuming you max your run/waist measurement-- you're looking at an excellent out of the gate Probably better than 3/4 of applicants at this stage. You're just working to get as many of those last 10 points as you can. You're in good shape. I wouldn't get too worried.

Like I said pushups are the only real concern I see if all you can do is 30. 33 is the minimum. Failure to make any minimum component is an overall failure on the PFT. I assume this is also the same for the ROTC PFA since they appear to use the same chart. Easy fix, though. You should be solid in two weeks of doing 150-200 per day. Just don't do any for the last two days before the test. I know a couple of guys that failed that way due to muscle fatigue.

Good luck and keep up the running!

 

[Dckc88]

They want to make sure you have some level of fitness, it is when you get on campus that is the important time to shine. My DD is always amazed each fall when freshman (and upperclassmen too), come in not being able to come close to the minimum. She is in Army, but she says it is the same way for the AF attachment on campus as well. Do the best you can for your application, but I would not hold up your application for it.