Army Physical Fitness Test - Test Sequence


The test sequence is the push-up, sit-up, and 2-mile run (or alternate, aerobic event). The order of events cannot be changed. There are no exceptions to this sequence.
Soldiers should be allowed no less than 10 minutes, but ideally no more than 20 minutes, to recover between each event. The OIC or NCOIC determines the time to be allotted between events, as it will depend on the total number of soldiers who are participating in the APFT. If many soldiers are to be tested, staggered starting times should be planned to allow the proper intervals between events. Under no circumstances is the APFT valid if a soldier cannot begin and end all three events in two hours or less.
The following paragraphs describe the equipment, facilities, personnel, instructions, administration, timing techniques, and scorers’ duties for the pushup, sit-up, and 2-mile-run events.

PUSH-UPS
Push-ups measure the endurance of the chest, shoulder, and triceps muscles.


Equipment
One stopwatch is needed along with one clipboard and pen for each scorer. The event supervisor must have the following the instructions in this chapter on how to conduct the event and one copy of the push-up scoring standards (DA Form 705).

Facilities
There must be at least one test station for every 15 soldiers to be tested. Each station is 6 feet wide and 15 feet deep.

Personnel
One event supervisor must beat the test site and one scorer at each station. The event supervisor may not be the event scorer.

Instructions
The event supervisor must read the following: “THE PUSH-UP EVENT MEASURES THE ENDURANCE OF THE CHEST, SHOULDER, AND TRICEPS MUSCLES. ON THE COMMAND ‘GET SET,’ ASSUME THE FRONT-LEANING REST POSITION BY PLACING YOUR HANDS WHERE THEY ARE COMFORTABLE FOR YOU. YOUR FEET MAY BE TOGETHER OR UP TO 12 INCHES APART. WHEN VIEWED FROM THE SIDE, YOUR BODY SHOULD FORM A GENERALLY STRAIGHT LINE FROM YOUR SHOULDERS TO YOUR ANKLES. ON THE COMMAND ‘GO,’ BEGIN THE PUSH-UP BY BENDING YOUR ELBOWS AND LOWERING YOUR ENTIRE BODY AS A SINGLE UNIT UNTIL YOUR UPPER ARMS ARE AT LEAST PARALLEL TO THE GROUND. THEN, RETURN TO THE STARTING POSITION BY RAISING YOUR ENTIRE BODY UNTIL YOUR ARMS ARE FULLY EXTENDED. YOUR BODY MUST REMAIN RIGID IN A GENERALLY STRAIGHT LINE AND MOVE AS A
UNIT WHILE PERFORMING EACH REPETITION. AT THE END OF EACH REPETITION, THE SCORER WILL STATE THE NUMBER OF REPETITIONS YOU HAVE COMPLETED CORRECTLY. IF YOU FAIL TO KEEP YOUR BODY GENERALLY STRAIGHT, TO LOWER YOUR WHOLE BODY UNTIL YOUR UPPER ARMS ARE AT LEAST PARALLEL TO THE GROUND, OR TO EXTEND YOUR ARMS COMPLETELY, THAT REPETITION WILL NOT COUNT, AND THE SCORER WILL REPEAT THE NUMBER OF THE LAST CORRECTLY PERFORMED REPETITION. IF YOU FAIL TO PERFORM THE FIRST TEN PUSH-UPS CORRECTLY, THE SCORER WILL TELL YOU TO GO TO YOUR KNEES AND WILL EXPLAIN TO YOU WHAT YOUR MISTAKES ARE. YOU WILL THEN BE SENT TO THE END OF THE LINE TO BE RETESTED. AFTER THE FIRST 10 PUSH-UPS HAVE BEEN PERFORMED AND COUNTED, HOWEVER, NO RESTARTS ARE ALLOWED. THE TEST WILL CONTINUE, AND ANY INCORRECTLY PERFORMED PUSH-UPS WILL NOT BE COUNTED. AN ALTERED, FRONT-LEANING REST POSITION IS THE ONLY AUTHORIZED REST POSITION. THAT IS, YOU MAY SAG IN THE MIDDLE OR FLEX YOUR BACK. WHEN FLEXING YOUR BACK, YOU MAY BEND YOUR KNEES, BUT NOT TO SUCH AN EXTENT THAT YOU ARE SUPPORTING MOST OF YOUR BODY WEIGHT WITH YOUR LEGS. IF THIS OCCURS, YOUR PERFORMANCE WILL BE TERMINATED. YOU MUST RETURN TO, AND PAUSE IN, THE CORRECT STARTING POSITION BEFORE CONTINUING. IF YOU REST ON THE GROUND
OR RAISE EITHER HAND OR FOOT FROM THE GROUND, YOUR PERFORMANCE WILL BE TERMINATED. YOU MAY REPOSITION YOUR HANDS AND/OR FEET
DURING THE EVENT AS LONG AS THEY REMAIN IN CONTACT WITH THE GROUND AT ALL TIMES. CORRECT PERFORMANCE IS IMPORTANT. YOU WILL HAVE TWO MINUTES IN WHICH TO DO AS MANY PUSH-UPS AS YOU CAN. WATCH THIS DEMONSTRATION.” (The exercise is then demonstrated. “WHAT ARE YOUR QUESTIONS?”


Administration
After reading the instructions, the supervisor answers questions. Then he moves the groups to their testing stations. The event supervisor cannot be ready to begin. Successive groups do the event until all soldiers have completed it.

Timing Techniques
The event supervisor is the timer. He calls out the time remaining every 30 seconds and every second for the last 10 seconds of the two minutes. He ends the event after two minutes by the command “Halt!”

Scorers' Duties
Scorers must allow for differences in the body shape and structure of each soldier. The scorer uses each soldier’s starting position as a guide throughout the event to evaluate each repetition. The scorer should talk to the soldier before the event begins and have him do a few repetitions as a warm-up and reference to ensure he is doing the exercise correctly.
The scorer may either sit or kneel about three feet from the testee’s shoulder at a 45-degree angle in front of it. The scorer’s head should be about even with the testee’s shoulder when the latter is in the front-leaning rest position. Each scorer determines for himself if he will sit or kneel when scoring. He may not lie down or stand while scoring. He counts out loud the number of correct repetitions completed and repeats the number of the last correct push-up if an incorrect one is done. Scorers tell the testees what they do wrong as it occurs during the event. A critique of the performance is done following the
test.
When the soldier completes the event, the scorer records the number of correctly performed repetitions, initials the scorecard, and returns it to the soldier.