Took the OPAT along with a few other classmates that are branching Infantry/Armor this past Friday and thought I'd post to share insights and answer any questions. It was administered just like an APFT, with demonstrations, and timed rests between events.
I had no prior experience with any of the events and it was my first time doing them, except deadlift.
Long jump and medicine ball, I posted my highest distance for both on the second try and it all comes down to technique.
The long jump takes some coordination if you get the technique down of leaping, then bringing your knees forward and landing on your heels.
The medicine ball again, throw to low or too high and you won't get your max distance. The medicine ball is an explosive, fast twitch movement. One cadet, who also hadn't tried the event before, on his practice throws was hitting roughly 5m, then increased to ~6.5m on his recorded attempts based off advice from cadre about being as explosive as possible. Again, all technique.
The deadlift. Only way to get better is by doing it, properly. Fortunately the use of the hex bar is way easier in my opinion than a straight bar. All 7 cadets hit the 220lbs weight with no problems.
The beep test: Working on fast turn around and not trying to over anticipate the beep. Toward level 7-8 is where it starts to become difficult. At some points I caught myself, not properly timed and leaning forward to anticipate the beep, then I'd hesitate and start to withdraw, then the beep would go off. Again this was only happening in about 1/4th of a second, but it killed my momentum. Don't do this.
If there are any specific questions people have about the test, how its administered I can try to help any way possible. Some MSIII cadets are taking it tomorrow at PT and I can post observations from a larger pool as well.
Hope this helps, and it's nothing to worry about. All of the events can be practiced and improved through targeted workouts, just like doing more push-ups for the APFT.
Scores for reference:
Long Jump: 256 cm
Medicine ball toss: 7.5m
Deadlift: completed all weight levels.
Beep test: Level 12, iteration 5. (ie 12.5)
I had no prior experience with any of the events and it was my first time doing them, except deadlift.
Long jump and medicine ball, I posted my highest distance for both on the second try and it all comes down to technique.
The long jump takes some coordination if you get the technique down of leaping, then bringing your knees forward and landing on your heels.
The medicine ball again, throw to low or too high and you won't get your max distance. The medicine ball is an explosive, fast twitch movement. One cadet, who also hadn't tried the event before, on his practice throws was hitting roughly 5m, then increased to ~6.5m on his recorded attempts based off advice from cadre about being as explosive as possible. Again, all technique.
The deadlift. Only way to get better is by doing it, properly. Fortunately the use of the hex bar is way easier in my opinion than a straight bar. All 7 cadets hit the 220lbs weight with no problems.
The beep test: Working on fast turn around and not trying to over anticipate the beep. Toward level 7-8 is where it starts to become difficult. At some points I caught myself, not properly timed and leaning forward to anticipate the beep, then I'd hesitate and start to withdraw, then the beep would go off. Again this was only happening in about 1/4th of a second, but it killed my momentum. Don't do this.
If there are any specific questions people have about the test, how its administered I can try to help any way possible. Some MSIII cadets are taking it tomorrow at PT and I can post observations from a larger pool as well.
Hope this helps, and it's nothing to worry about. All of the events can be practiced and improved through targeted workouts, just like doing more push-ups for the APFT.
Scores for reference:
Long Jump: 256 cm
Medicine ball toss: 7.5m
Deadlift: completed all weight levels.
Beep test: Level 12, iteration 5. (ie 12.5)