CFA fail

I suspect the academies want to know not only if someone is fit enough to be an officer down the road, but also if they are physically and mentally fit to meet the taxing challenges of Academy life, which includes the character and discipline to set goals and then work to achieve them. The CFA for most can not simply be kicked out without the time and effort of practice, and then performance at the time of the test. It is a bit of a microcosm in terms of the application as a whole. You can't just do it all in an hour or a day or week.

And I do think the CFA, like the application process as a whole, does tend to eliminate a lot of the people who don't have the required commitment necessary to be successful at the academies. A lot of kids stall in the process.

If you are a candidate, or a parent rooting for a candidate, you hope that the plan, effort and commitment is enough. If not, then you examine why you didn't succeed, and learn from it. I hope my son gets an appointment, but if not I am certain the experience was very valuable in terms of building character. The whole thing is exhausting from my perspective.
 
AF Fitness test is a 1.5 mile run, not a 1 mile run. It also includes a waist measurement. Just focus on the CFA right now though - seriously if you can do well on the CFA, you will do well on the PFA. This is the one you will do on Active Duty.
 
afrotc: I would not be too cavalier about saying
seriously if you can do well on the CFA, you will do well on the PFA. This is the one you will do on Active Duty.
.

Many cadets do not do well on the PFA, especially their 4* year. Most of it is due to altitude (hint: run 2x farther and 3x faster if you are a sea-leveler when you practice/prepare for USAFA). My son, who had a perfect score on the test in (I think) his 2* year, threw up and was ill for some time his first couple times in the Springs. Thin air, main culprit.

I think his name is still on the Field House wall - go look for it! Perfect score was pretty cool!
 
oops, mistyped that, I have completed the dang test enough times to know its a 1.5 mile run!! lol, sorry!
 
The PFA for active duty is a lot easier than the CFA or the PFT at the academy. I guess I wasn't clear, sorry about that. I just meant that you shouldn't worry about the PFA for active duty while applying to the academy.
 
Do you guys think there is any chance that I did pass though?
No I don't believe so. I'm pretty sure The CFA is more so a pass fail thing. Some of your events( i.e your mile time, pushups, shuttle run, which are under the averages) are enough to have you re do it again. The running part is crucial because of the altitude here in CO. My family hosted cadets for some years for the AFA and they said the hardest adjustment was the altitude so I feel AFA stresses that running part. Keep working at it you'll get It though! I was in the same boat but just train and if you want it enough you'll get the scores you want.
 
Sorry for hijacking the thread a bit but getting used to 7,200' shouldn't be that big of a deal for you young studs if an old man like myself can run a few miles at "slightly less than my normal" pace on my Denver layovers.:p The human body is pretty amazing. You can doo eet!
 
Getting used to altitude is not that big a deal if you prep yourself aerobically ahead of time. The week before the summer seminar, I could probably run barely a 5:10 mile (track season had just ended and I took my 3 week break) but at the seminar I was able to run a 5:30 for their CFA. They tell you ahead of time that if you are in good shape, the altitude is easy to adjust to.
Anyways I feel like we are getting a bit off topic lol. Yes, the CFA is used to see if you would be able to pass future physical assessment tests.

Imo, you were not anywhere near prepared for the test because you didn't work on each event in succession at least once or twice. I was like you, except I started taking CFAs early so I had time for another test (and I didn't have to take it at 6 in the morning so props to you for that). The second time I took the test my mile time dropped from a 5:20 to a 5:12 just because I had done the CFA before and knew how sh*tty it feels. The CFA just measures how much pain you can take in succession, so push yourself in training. Don't do push-ups until it's uncomfortable, do it until your arms feel like noodles and you can't do anymore. 2 weeks of a challenging push-up regime will do wonders. What I did before to get push-ups up from 70 to 120 in 3 weeks was 3 sets of my (current max reps-10) + 3 sets of diamond+wide push-ups (you do same number of push-ups as in your normal sets, but half are diamond half are wide and you don't take a break in between diamond and wide). The break in between sets is as long as you need. Then a couple times a week I would do 3 sets of 40 chair dips (so your number of dips would be -20 from normal sets). I remember straight up hating push-ups after those three weeks especially because I did that workout daily, but I never had to do serious pushup workouts again (2 years later I can still do 80 in 2 minutes easily). To get my core stronger for sit-ups, I did a ton of bicycle crunches and planks. I didn't really follow a regime though, but you will know what failure feels like. Reach that point, then try to push past because that's what will give quick results. For pullups practice calling cadence in your head. I did 3 sets of 10(for you maybe it'd be like 5) then after those three sets do 3x5 negatives (jump up to the bar and drop slowly for about 5 seconds)

As for your shuttle, I don't know what to tell you. I was barely able to go from 9.9 to 9 flat, but that was just from practice. The CFA really is just a measure of your common sense. Do you have the common sense to workout, practice and perfect it? Best of luck to you OP, and remember if you want something badly enough, you make time for it!
 
My kids, and many whom they knew, didn't want to just pass, like other type A personalities, they wanted to excel, to win, to be the best of the best.

Aiming to just pass - well, good luck.
 
Getting used to altitude is not that big a deal if you prep yourself aerobically ahead of time. The week before the summer seminar, I could probably run barely a 5:10 mile (track season had just ended and I took my 3 week break) but at the seminar I was able to run a 5:30 for their CFA. They tell you ahead of time that if you are in good shape, the altitude is easy to adjust to.
Anyways I feel like we are getting a bit off topic lol. Yes, the CFA is used to see if you would be able to pass future physical assessment tests.

Imo, you were not anywhere near prepared for the test because you didn't work on each event in succession at least once or twice. I was like you, except I started taking CFAs early so I had time for another test (and I didn't have to take it at 6 in the morning so props to you for that). The second time I took the test my mile time dropped from a 5:20 to a 5:12 just because I had done the CFA before and knew how sh*tty it feels. The CFA just measures how much pain you can take in succession, so push yourself in training. Don't do push-ups until it's uncomfortable, do it until your arms feel like noodles and you can't do anymore. 2 weeks of a challenging push-up regime will do wonders. What I did before to get push-ups up from 70 to 120 in 3 weeks was 3 sets of my (current max reps-10) + 3 sets of diamond+wide push-ups (you do same number of push-ups as in your normal sets, but half are diamond half are wide and you don't take a break in between diamond and wide). The break in between sets is as long as you need. Then a couple times a week I would do 3 sets of 40 chair dips (so your number of dips would be -20 from normal sets). I remember straight up hating push-ups after those three weeks especially because I did that workout daily, but I never had to do serious pushup workouts again (2 years later I can still do 80 in 2 minutes easily). To get my core stronger for sit-ups, I did a ton of bicycle crunches and planks. I didn't really follow a regime though, but you will know what failure feels like. Reach that point, then try to push past because that's what will give quick results. For pullups practice calling cadence in your head. I did 3 sets of 10(for you maybe it'd be like 5) then after those three sets do 3x5 negatives (jump up to the bar and drop slowly for about 5 seconds)

As for your shuttle, I don't know what to tell you. I was barely able to go from 9.9 to 9 flat, but that was just from practice. The CFA really is just a measure of your common sense. Do you have the common sense to workout, practice and perfect it? Best of luck to you OP, and remember if you want something badly enough, you make time for it!
Each person is different with altitude and of course you're body will eventually adjust you're right. But seeing that he said he ran a 9 min mile, being at a even higher altitude in CO definitely won't help his cause if he doesn't make the effort to train harder.
 
....didn't want to just pass... they wanted to excel, to win, to be the best of the best.
One of my favorite quotes is, "if the minimum isn't good enough, why even have minimums?". Needless to say, I've had lots of fun with it over the years. Unfortunately, there's no shortage of folks who live this way. Hey, someone has to be a Walmart greeter!
 
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