Areas to Improve

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gp_1022

c/o 2026 applicant
Joined
Oct 20, 2020
Messages
31
Hey everyone, I’m currently a rising senior in the candidate phase of my application, and I wanted to make an updated post here to get some good advice from like-minded people. It has been about a year since I last posted about the preparations I’ve been making to go to USAFA and become an officer in the Air Force, but now I’m in the thick of the application. As of now, my biggest concern has been the CFA. I am below the average numbers on numerous events (I am a male). Here are the results from my most recent practice CFA:

- Basketball Throw: 87’
- Pull ups- 12
- Shuttle run- 8.2 secs
- Sit ups- 70
- Push ups- 54
- Mile- 6:10

Does anyone have any workouts they found helpful for their CFA prep, especially for pull ups/sit ups/push ups? Also, I’ve been using the averages posted on academy admissions as the “pass/fail” cutoff in my mind. Is this accurate? If not, do any of you know what a more accurate cutoff might be?

For the other aspects of my application, here is a brief overview of my stats.
- SAT: 1540 (760 EBRW, 780 Math)
- GPA (unweighted): 4.0
- Class rank: 2/71
- Sports: Varsity letter in 5 sports, team captain of 3 varsity teams
- Extracurriculars: Officer and student leader of FCA, member of NTERACT club, founder and president of SAT study club, NHS member, Class of 2022 Vice President
- Community Service: 1000+ hours as an instrumentalist (bass guitar) for my church as well as community events, small group leader at my church, elected to my church’s music minister search committee, youth sports coach (football and basketball), volunteer at local homeless shelter
- Employment: summer work as a home construction worker for a local contractor, lawn care business
- Miscellaneous: winner of numerous essay contests on the state and national level, academic competition state runner up, attended USAFA summer seminar, attended and was voted to an elected position in Boy’s State, glider student pilot with 10 hours of flight time

I know this is a long post, but I cannot thank all of you enough. This forum has been a valuable resource throughout my journey so far, and I know it will continue to do so moving forward. Any advice that you have for me is welcome, thank you again.
 
Stew Smith’s website and YouTube videos on various CFA elements. He is a former SEAL, USNA grad, now a fitness professional, still very involved with USNA.

Buy a pull-up bar. Do them every time you go by.

My gut feel is your CFA scores are okay - are these from an actual baseline CFA run exactly per guidance? All reps are good form?
 
gp_1022 said:
Hey everyone, I’m currently a rising senior in the candidate phase of my application, and I wanted to make an updated post here to get some good advice from like-minded people. It has been about a year since I last posted about the preparations I’ve been making to go to USAFA and become an officer in the Air Force, but now I’m in the thick of the application. As of now, my biggest concern has been the CFA. I am below the average numbers on numerous events (I am a male). Here are the results from my most recent practice CFA:

- Basketball Throw: 87’
- Pull ups- 12
- Shuttle run- 8.2 secs
- Sit ups- 70
- Push ups- 54
- Mile- 6:10

Does anyone have any workouts they found helpful for their CFA prep, especially for pull ups/sit ups/push ups? Also, I’ve been using the averages posted on academy admissions as the “pass/fail” cutoff in my mind. Is this accurate? If not, do any of you know what a more accurate cutoff might be?

For the other aspects of my application, here is a brief overview of my stats.
- SAT: 1540 (760 EBRW, 780 Math)
- GPA (unweighted): 4.0
- Class rank: 2/71
- Sports: Varsity letter in 5 sports, team captain of 3 varsity teams
- Extracurriculars: Officer and student leader of FCA, member of NTERACT club, founder and president of SAT study club, NHS member, Class of 2022 Vice President
- Community Service: 1000+ hours as an instrumentalist (bass guitar) for my church as well as community events, small group leader at my church, elected to my church’s music minister search committee, youth sports coach (football and basketball), volunteer at local homeless shelter
- Employment: summer work as a home construction worker for a local contractor, lawn care business
- Miscellaneous: winner of numerous essay contests on the state and national level, academic competition state runner up, attended USAFA summer seminar, attended and was voted to an elected position in Boy’s State, glider student pilot with 10 hours of flight time

I know this is a long post, but I cannot thank all of you enough. This forum has been a valuable resource throughout my journey so far, and I know it will continue to do so moving forward. Any advice that you have for me is welcome, thank you again.
Click to expand...
that's a passing CFA, so keep doing what you are doing.
 
Capt MJ said:
Stew Smith’s website and YouTube videos on various CFA elements. He is a former SEAL, USNA grad, now a fitness professional, still very involved with USNA.

Buy a pull-up bar. Do them every time you go by.

My gut feel is your CFA scores are okay - are these from an actual baseline CFA run exactly per guidance? All reps are good form?
Click to expand...
Already done with the pull up bar! I went from only being able to do 1rep 6 months ago to now doing 12, so the improvement has been very encouraging. I’m blessed to be able to do all my practice CFA’s with the proctor who will be reporting my official scores, so this particular CFA was run according to the official standards from USAFA.
 
gp_1022 said:
Hey everyone, I’m currently a rising senior in the candidate phase of my application, and I wanted to make an updated post here to get some good advice from like-minded people. It has been about a year since I last posted about the preparations I’ve been making to go to USAFA and become an officer in the Air Force, but now I’m in the thick of the application. As of now, my biggest concern has been the CFA. I am below the average numbers on numerous events (I am a male). Here are the results from my most recent practice CFA:

- Basketball Throw: 87’
- Pull ups- 12
- Shuttle run- 8.2 secs
- Sit ups- 70
- Push ups- 54
- Mile- 6:10

Does anyone have any workouts they found helpful for their CFA prep, especially for pull ups/sit ups/push ups? Also, I’ve been using the averages posted on academy admissions as the “pass/fail” cutoff in my mind. Is this accurate? If not, do any of you know what a more accurate cutoff might be?

For the other aspects of my application, here is a brief overview of my stats.
- SAT: 1540 (760 EBRW, 780 Math)
- GPA (unweighted): 4.0
- Class rank: 2/71
- Sports: Varsity letter in 5 sports, team captain of 3 varsity teams
- Extracurriculars: Officer and student leader of FCA, member of NTERACT club, founder and president of SAT study club, NHS member, Class of 2022 Vice President
- Community Service: 1000+ hours as an instrumentalist (bass guitar) for my church as well as community events, small group leader at my church, elected to my church’s music minister search committee, youth sports coach (football and basketball), volunteer at local homeless shelter
- Employment: summer work as a home construction worker for a local contractor, lawn care business
- Miscellaneous: winner of numerous essay contests on the state and national level, academic competition state runner up, attended USAFA summer seminar, attended and was voted to an elected position in Boy’s State, glider student pilot with 10 hours of flight time

I know this is a long post, but I cannot thank all of you enough. This forum has been a valuable resource throughout my journey so far, and I know it will continue to do so moving forward. Any advice that you have for me is welcome, thank you again.
Click to expand...
My son had a pull up bar pre Covid. Best $35 “Santa” had ever spent. He would do one every time he walked by it. He also used the “ladder method” to increase his pull ups and push ups. Since gyms were closed Spring 2020 (even in Florida), he had nothing else to do but practice for the CFA. He maxed out several of the events.
Good luck!
 
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Your CFA scores all look passing to me. Most fall in the mid-range if you check academyadmissions.com

That being said, you can always improve. My DS, like you, could barely do 2-3 pull-ups when we started this journey. Over 8 months or so he was able to max the pull-ups on the CFA.

The key is just doing them. My DS did 5 sets of max pullups every other day (you need rest days to allow the muscles to build). He would add a chair for the last two sets and do 3-4 additional reps with the chair once he reached failure. Push-ups and sit-ups were similar. Every other day, trying to add 1 rep for each workout.

Work hard. You can do this.
 
B-ball - maintain or improve if time. you are in the range of 69-102 and of all 6 elements, you won't be doing it again (not for PFT)
pull ups - max this! going from 12-18 and arguably 1 pullup is significantly more valuable than 1 second on the mile!
shuttle run - improve here since you are below 8.1-7.8 range. based on your mile, it's probably your technique.
sit-ups - greatly improve here, even max if possible 70 seems a bit low of the range 81-95. try for technique - remember you don't have to go in a big swing all the way up and all the way down - read the instructions and note the elbow to leg and shoulder blades to floor. Are you going too far each direction?
push ups - try to max 62-75 and you are at 54. consider adjusting strategy - how many to a break and up/downward dog?
1-mile run - maintain or improve.

Take a lot of advice but remember, just like any sport, some advice may "speak" to you more than others. Without seeing you, it's hard to give good feedback for what you are actually doing. That said, here's the advice given to my DD given HER technical problems:

Basketball throw (she was trying to throw it)
DO A DAB
Think Greek statues
Actually a wind up
Gain velocity and power at each step
Dab arm – left arm
WHIP it to the left
CORE twists next
Right arm – straight as possible
Launch! Release at a 45 degree angle
Release will feel far steeper; not like throwing a football
Because basketball is not aerodynamic at all and will fall to earth very fast
4 fully fingers fully extended at the very end
Start at 60% effort to get the feel, timing, and ease on your shoulders!!!

Shuttle run (DD swimmer; not a land animal, was circle running)
This tests core stability and reaction time.
Do NOT run really hard all the way to each turn, and then try to turn fast. Your force will be all over the place, and you are circling. It takes forever for your force to recenter and move you forward in a straight line.
Instead, take 3-4 gigantic full power leaps, then COAST and TURN 180 degrees (1 foot, hand touch past the line) so that your FORCE is in a single line. Each time, power ½ way then coast. You will go faster because you aren’t really slowing down when you coast – your (rate of) speed will actually be the same but you able to channel your force in that straight line faster.

Again, this was advice for DD from a BGO who could see what she was doing wrong. But some truisms here, so modify for yourself!
 
And you'll like this, Christcorp's blurb on Why No Minimums

CFA

One if my friends who got in the the USAFA as part of the class of 2019 told me that they kind of ignored the CFA scores last year. His brother was also appointed but apparently got 20 under the average and still got in. I just wanted to clarify that this information is true and was womdering if...
www.serviceacademyforums.com
 
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