MAX apft

[dalejmurphy]

Looking for suggestion on a training schedule
for the army APFT, i'm close to maxing it but never quite make it,
any comments/suggestion/tips on a program will be appreciated

 

[TheChosen1]

What type of training? Weights? P/T Exercises? Is this for personal use or use with your platoon/company? :think:

 

[RobInKuwait]

Looking for suggestion on a training schedule
for the army APFT, i'm close to maxing it but never quite make it,
any comments/suggestion/tips on a program will be appreciated

I've found that doing a standard bodybuilder strength and size routine with some cardio included, my PT score has gradually improved.

Nothing has increased my run time like heavy squats. Avoid those gay army 5-8 mile runs like the plague. They will slow you down big time. Focus on sprinting and squatting. 2 miles is not a distance run, its a sprint.

As for push ups, I think dumbbell presses and dips have helped me the most. You get a better range of motion with these than barbell press. Also don't forget about your back as they are the opposite muscle group.

As for sit ups focus on good form using only abs and no hip flexors. Then when it comes time for the PT test cheat like a mofo using your hip flexors and bouncing. I find army sit ups incredibly easy cause if you do them right then you don't even use your abs and just use hip flexors and momentum from bouncing off the floor. If you don't know what I mean watch people who max and see how they bouce.

Army PT is terrible. Your level of physical fitness gets worse following a 4 times a week regime consisting of massive amounts of push ups, sit ups, side straddle hops, and gay ass 5-8 mile runs. You will exhaust the same muscles youre trying to work on and all your event scores will drop. If possible do PT on your own.

 

[TheChosen1]

Army PT is terrible. Your level of physical fitness gets worse following a 4 times a week regime consisting of massive amounts of push ups, sit ups, side straddle hops, and gay ass 5-8 mile runs. You will exhaust the same muscles youre trying to work on and all your event scores will drop. If possible do PT on your own.

I agree. There's no real strength or endurance training in it. The same applies to police academy agility training. Jumping jacks, sit-ups, running in place, and 1 mile runs did nothing for us when I was in the academy. I've seen guys in academy gain weight after graduation, as opposed to lose weight.

 

[good_guye28]

what is the biggest problem for you? run situps or push ups? or is it all of them.

when i was deployed to the pentagon i was stationed at ft. myer with the ol guard...(which sucked by the way)

anyway i took the pt test and went extended scale and scored a 343.. the two star general that came to visit us from michigan gave me a coin for my test score...

 

[hypo]

the reason they make you do all these endurance exercises is because that is what a practical soldier needs in the field. Very rarely will a soldier have to deadlift a truck off someone or use any real heavy weight movements. What he might have to do one day is run from enemies in hostile territory, carrying all his gear with him for miles and miles. That's where the 5 mile runs become useful.

Anyway, I would imagine the most practical soldier would be as small as he could be, yet also be as strong and endurance trained as he could be... that's pretty much what running etc does.

 

[RobInKuwait]

the reason they make you do all these endurance exercises is because that is what a practical soldier needs in the field. QUOTE]

Actually, the army physical fitness test was designed to test muscular strength and endurance with no outside equipment. All one needs is a stopwatch to administer the test.

I think the most practical movement for a soldier is pull ups. A soldier needs to be able to pull up up their own bodyweight. Another practical test would be a roadmarch or something along those lines. When do soldiers get to run without equipment in tennis shoes in combat?

I'm not sure what exactly is on it, but I think the marine PT test is a better measure of muscular strength and endurance than the army one. I know it has pull ups and some other good stuff like that.