(PFT) Physical Fitness Test - Marine Corps

[JackSteel4Life]

Well in the Marine Corps the way they determine your physical fitnes is from three different events. Running, Pull-ups, and crunches.

Running - Every Marine must run 3 miles in atleast 28 minutes to pass. If you get under 18 minutes then its woth 100 points as you progress...19 minutes, 20 minutes and so on they subtract points from the total 100 you start with. So for every minute over 18 they subtract 6 points. Which averages out to 1 moint per 10 sec.

Pull-ups - Male Marines are required to do atleast three pull-ups to pass. If you get 20 pull u-ups it is worth 100 points. For every pull-up you dont do out of the 20 they subtract 5 points. So if you were to only get 15 pull-ups then you would only get 75 points.
Female Marines are required to do what is called a flex-arm hang where they hold their chin at or above the bar without touching. They are required to hang for atleast 20 sec witha maximum of 70 sec. Each second is worth approximately 2 points.

Crunches - Every Marine is required to do atleast 45 crunches in 2 minutes. If you get a 100 in 2 min then you get 100 points. For every crunch you dont do out of that 100 they subtract 1 point. So every crunch is worth 1 point.

Now there are 3 different classes of PFT scores. First, Second, and Third. First class is from 225 - 300 points dependiong on age. As age increases the requirement for first class goes down. Second and third classes I dont know what the point scale is because Ive never had below a first class. Any Marine Male or Female that fails to get atleast a first class PFT score gets put on what is called "Remedial PT (Physical Training)" This means that on Mon-Wed-Fri all Marines on Remedial PT are required to run/ pull -ups/ crunches or waht ever theyre lacking at. Soemtimes they do other things like resistance training it all depends on the seniopr Marines that are in charge of Remedial PT.

Gettig put on Remedial PT is very difficult to do unless you just dont try. I can walk a First class PFT.

Not alot of people know about Marine Corps Physical Training Standards so here is just and inside look on how the Marine Corps judges or Physical Fitness.

One more thing...Body Fat... The Marine Corps does the tape method to find BF % which we all know is the lousiest way to calculate...Male marines are aloowed no more tahn 18% "IF" they have a First class PFT score and Females are aloowed no more than 21% "IF" they have a First class PFT score.

Contrary to popular belief. There are overweight Marines. We do have "Fat Bodies". It is really difficult, like I said earlier, to become below standard unless you just dont try. So if you see a fat Marine it is because he/she doesnt care about their physical apperance. If you hear otherwise...their full of crap.

Im done ranting and raving, but It thought this might be a good post to get this forum started. Thanks guys and Semper Fidelis...HOORAH!!!!

[italionstallionl]

very cool

[dinoiii]

Crunches - Every Marine is required to do atleast 45 crunches in 2 minutes. If you get a 100 in 2 min then you get 100 points. For every crunch you dont do out of that 100 they subtract 1 point. So every crunch is worth 1 point.


Good thing our marines will have strong hip flexors I suppose. This is a very confusing objective. While I won't claim to know jack about being a marine (and perhaps that's just it), I would likely consider myself educated on abdominal musculature and its development.

Proper abdominal development (which may be the thing that aids these marines in combat) would likely NOT be considered a huge feat here. It takes more strength of abdominal muscles to do 15 proper crunches with the proper focus in 1 minute than it would to rush out 45 and not have an eccentric focus. Help me understand the rationale - going out to any marines on this question.

[max von]

All I can say is, I think they would have killed me in boot camp

[dinoiii]

On boot camp: through pure torture, not muscle-building...agreed.





I could say, however - if it were not the abdominal region, excess musculature could be an impedence in combat, etc... so perhaps employing so much catabolic activity is ideal, dunno... (i.e. - cardio, psoas-building 100 crunches in a minute, and whatever else may be incorporated).

As a purely laughable situation, what if we simply could, however scare the living daylights out of all other countries and we could avoid wars and other foolish activity.

Perhaps suicide bombings and the like would be less doable with a more muscular America as well. unfortuantely, today's obese American could likely not stand up for itself. It would most certainly run out of breath first.




[please note: the above comments, while talking about tragic circumstance are BY NO MEANS aimed at pissing people off - but they likely will - In advance, I ask before you type loaded retort ... which part remains untrue?]

[almostbig]

Good thing our marines will have strong hip flexors I suppose. This is a very confusing objective. While I won't claim to know jack about being a marine (and perhaps that's just it), I would likely consider myself educated on abdominal musculature and its development.

Proper abdominal development (which may be the thing that aids these marines in combat) would likely NOT be considered a huge feat here. It takes more strength of abdominal muscles to do 15 proper crunches with the proper focus in 1 minute than it would to rush out 45 and not have an eccentric focus. Help me understand the rationale - going out to any marines on this question.

on the APFT (army physical fitness test) you do sit-ups instead of crunches. Granted this is not going to measure your ab strength as much as your hip flexors, but it is still a sign of pysical fitness. Plus, imagine being a grader and trying to see if a soldier (or marine) is doing a proper crunch while he is going as fast as possible to get 100 in two minutes.

When you talk about strength and the millitary you picture some Rambo type dude. In my experiance that is rarely the case. Most of the time, the seasoned career men that gets your respect instantly are more lean than anything else (clint eastwood in heartbreak ridge). The millitary requires conditioning for your job field, not brute stength. If a soldier carryies a machine gun for 2 months there is not going to be a major change in his apperance or bench, but what ever muscles that takes are now conditioned for the task.

The Army has its troops do things for two reason....Training and Discipline. The goal of the test is to show a soldier the standard and what has to be accomplished. You will not find one career soldier that would tell you the APFT is what makes us in shape. It is stricly a measuring tool. The strength part comes from their peers and leadership. Now when you get to the more elite groups i.e. marine scout snipers, rangers, SF, etc....Standards go up and different fitness task are required. That is when i would expect to see a test that is more reasonable about measureing strength (once agian job oriented...not bench your weight 10 times)...I dont know for sure being i have never taken that path for my career.

You have to realize the army and marines are only designed to go up agianst the bad guy's regular army and marines(or insurgents that are not typically well trained if at all). They need numbers so the requirements are made so that the majority of healthy people can be apart of the organization.

[dinoiii]

I like your numbers rationale almostbig. what is healthy exactly to the military?

I was funnin' around in my post suggesting the "bad guy" wouldn't dare mess with us which is why I addendumed it at the bottom to prevent what I felt was going to be an onslaught of "you suck" mentality comments in retort. Nah, I am simply anti-conformist (weird in the medical profession, perhaps a means to an end is all).

Far be it of me to preach what it takes to be a military man, I know NOTHING about it. For that I am likely to be called a coward and even potentially worse. The fact is, this argument would likely come down to politics and why I believe we are in wars and the like is an agenda, solely that (alas, I will take on all grumbling that comment generates as people are entitled their opinions and I would likely "return to class" should someone care to school me with proper proposal of the contrary).

I agree with the discipline argument as well, but there is something to be said about potential equivalency of discipline and torture.

And my views of a muscular Osama bin Laden would likely change my essential agreement on the "most muscular" opponent, but to that effect, I think you presented your case well.

[shuttaLCD]

JS4L,

Just curious if you could give us some other things that are done in Boot Camp??

Kinda curious just how "hard" it is...I am not saying its not hard..I am not degrading the Marines in any way. I myself am looking into it. Thats why i ask



-Shutta

[dinoiii]

I concur.

I would love to learn more to be honest. My aforementioned posts were not degrading any form or branch of the military - I really wish this section of the forum would expand a bit and any intellectual debate for those of us who are not involved in the military would certainly like to learn.

In addition, I think it is kind of funny actually to picture a group like Ronnie Coleman, Jay Cutler, and the like in a set of camoflague attire. I am just saying I wouldn't mess with em.

[almostbig]

Whats healthy in the millitary?

my own opinion is that the millitary accepts people that have the ability to learn there proposed jobs...I believe in the army you can score as low as a 27 or 28 on the ASVAB out of a possible 99 for some of the available jobs. And not have any mental or physical defects that would prevent or hamper your proformance, or end up costing the millitary money to treat in the future...feel free to add anything that i missed.

How hard is Basic?

I know the question was directed to js4l, so i waited a couple of days for him to get first crack at it.


How hard is it. Honestly its not that bad after the fact. The first thing you have to learn is that everything you do is going to be wrong. Everytime someone messes up everybody pays for it. Drill Sergeants will be everywhere all the time. You will not be treated like an adult or a child...even worst....a Private. You will think that your name is "Hey You". If you are a teenager you will miss home, and if you got a girlfiriend they will have you convinced she is with "Jody". At first all of this seems like the worst thing in the world. Then out of nowhere you dont care if you get smoked. You dont care if they make you stand in formation for 2 hours. You know that tomorrow will come, and more importantly chow is only a couple of hours away. By then you just play the game. So you do some Front, Back, Go's for the Drill and continue on.
When I was worried about passing BRM (Basic Rifle Marksmanship)or EOCT (End of Cycle Testing). I would just think of the biggest geek i knew in the millitary that had already passed Basic. Then i would look at the biggest geek in the Company and see that he was still there. Hell, if they could do it why couldn't I.

[PDnet]

Back when I was in (89-92) the PFT was a little different. Pull-ups and the run were the same as described above. Instead of crunches we did situps. 80 situps in 2 minutes was good for a perfect score. 0-60 were worth 1 point each, each above 60 was good for 2 points.

Having strong abs and hip flexors is an important trait for many Marine activities. Part of the Marine endurance course is a high-bar kip. Think of a soccer goal. Jump up, pull your legs up, and then throw them back over the bar. You'll end up spinning around like a 98 pound anorexic gymnast. Now, put on boots, LBA gear (pistol belt, suspenders, ammo pouches, and 2 full canteens) and a rifle. The ability to man-handle that kind of weight is all about having strong abs.

I think someone else mentioned another good reason for the high rep nature of this exercise. It is tough to develop much of a gut when you're cranking out that many reps. I'll tell you this, no one I PT'd with got any bigger from Marine PT. You are doing way too much aerobic exercise and too many high rep, relatively low weight exercises. You will get lean and wiry as hell, but chances are you aren't putting on weight. Assuming you started relatively healthy. I know there are some guys who come in undernourished and they may gain weight from the proper nutrition. But they are few and far between nowadays.

[cuderbeast]

My buddy went through the Army Basic camp and came back 19 pounds heavier.

[Ranger Medic]

Semper Fi

I did not think basic was all that hard. But I was in great shape going in. I ran everyday, lifted and did a crap load of pull-ups and push-ups. I was already a big guy and fit so the DI's just loved me. Plus I was 19 years old and on my own since the age of 15, so I was more mature and better at handling the mental stress. The mental stress is the hardest thing to overcome. Your body will adapt to anything you put it through but add the mental stress and if you do not handle it well your body will not adapt, its that easy.

[PDnet]

You hit it with the comment about mental stress. The environment is designed to push you mentally and physically. I think the physical stress compounds the mental stress. Lack of sleep, constant aches and pains, limited calories (at least during the Crucible) all conspire to get inside your head. I understand Ranger school is very similar. It is designed to show who can manage pain and endure, rather than who is the biggest or strongest. You can walk onto The Island in average physical condition and leave as honor recruit if you have the correct mental outlook. It is all a game. You have to play it to succeed, but if you can see it for what it really is, it is much easier to handle. The DI's typically don't have anything against you personally, it is just part of the experience.

[88m]

I went through basic in the summer of '05 and the hardest part of it all was the being away from home and not being able to call home or go any whare. The phycial part wasnt to bad. After week 3 your body just adapts to it. Its alot of body weight exercises. i.e. push up, sit ups, flutter kicks, monkey f*****s, squat thrust and over head arm claps.

That and you do alot of running. When i got back it was nothing for me to do a 14-15 minnute 2 mile jog and knock out 50+ push ups. I was in great condition both physicaly and mentaly. Besides all that we got to shoot alot of different weapons which was wicked fun. Im a Maine boy, weapons training is a wet dream.

[Got2getbig!]

I am Navy and here is a few links to give you an idea of our standards. (It is not an official navy website, but the person who manages it is a sailor, I guess she loves doing this on her free time)
Once you click on the link you will see diferent age brackets. Just click on them to find out the physical requiriments for each.

http://www.navygirl.com/PFA.htm

When doing situps you have to make sure back toches the ground when going back and your elbows touch your tights (hands on shoulders until done)

Personally, I think most sailors are fat and lazy, very few go for the outstanding, most just go for the minimum, happy not to fail (myself, I like my outstandings). After they run they are ready to die! I F**** hate that, because I can't find a coworker who would comit to train hard or train period!, so I train bymiself 98 percent of the time.

In short words, basic training is 2 moths in great lakes, illinois. Your new name is "recruit" until graduation day and they you are a sailor. Somebody mentioned, mental stress being the worst, and yes it is, people crying because they miss mom, dad, friends and family is not common. Fear is a big factor as well.
If you excersise regularly the physical part is easy, because it is desiguened for the average american.
The problem is that most americans are fat and/or sedentary the only excecise some teens get is when they start jumping on front of the playstation when they pass the last level!:( .... Over 60% of us in america are obese. And we are the country with more diet supps and diet everything! We eat like s**** and take a pill (miracle pill is coming just wait, maybe in 100 years...:rolleyes: )

[HillbillyRock]

I was also in the corps,0321.It is my understanding that they wanted explosivness in every excercise you done.The PFT was more for endurance than muscular development.They just wanted explosivness and a quick reaction time.They wanted speed more than anything.When we got to Camp Geiger after boot camp we were aloud to hit the on base gym if we wanted to if there weren't any more pt or drills for the day.Alot of us opted to work out in the Gym at Lejune after SOI and weapons training instead of hitting the off base prositutes.I wanted to grow muscle,not grow other stuff,lol.The thing I liked in bootcamp more than anything was the Obsticle corse,man it is a straight up blast.Oh and how hard is bootcamp?It's not like it was 20 years ago,but you make it as hard as you want to,mentally and phisicaly.I recomend making it hard on yourself to gain that extra strength,I did.When the rounds start flying and you hit the stuff(I don't curse anymore substitute stuff) you need to be ready,I have seen first hand the one's that weren't ready.Thats all I can say because we weren't supposed to be hot when i was in.