Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping: that is the sound of my BS meter going off. It might have been a test, or even a goal, but just how many were able to achieve this level of performance-especially in a military unit where your ability to develop a program and stick to it between deployments and normal training cycles would enable someone to maintain that level of performance.

I will stick with the weights, pool, and short distance sprinting. Thank you for the suggestion though... :rolleyes:

Crip

You're welcome

Of course not everyone in the Unit passes. The Unit standard is at least 20% pass everything. They give you a few days no PT after this. 1-40 Cav also have a 30 mile ruck march. Probably not that far for some people on this board, but it is for me. :eek:

What the hell is the purpose of a PT test that only 20% pass (which I find to be a liberal estimate). The events sound a bit ridiculous to me, but what do I know...

Crip

lol I never came up with this cav fit test. You have to go higher up in the food chain. I'm just a little pion in an ocean full of sharks. I agree this Cav Fit test is a bit ridiculous.

At different times in my life, I have exceeded each of these standards by a reasonable margin.

To do them all at the same time would be extremely difficult to achieve, even for an excellent athlete.
The training for the 40 yard dash and 10 mile run actually work against each other.

Someone who has long arms and short legs would be at a substantial disadvantage when trying to perform the bench and 10 mile standards.
It would not accurately reflect the fitness or ability of such a person.

To consistently maintain just these three would require a ridiculous investment of time for training, and would require substantial down-time between training sessions to avoid injury.
There would likely be better ways to spend that time.

Having done the training required to pass each of these standards one-at-a-time, I find the idea of requiring simultaneous performance to be absurd.

Something is wrong with these numbers.

<edit>
Shouldn't the 40 yd dash and 10 mile run times be maximums?

If the intent was to create a very difficult test that few could pass, then it seems the Cav Test hit the mark.

Of course, the designer of the test completely ignored the minimum characteristics of a good "goal": specific, attainable and realistic.

It goes with the hat that flips up when you step on the spur....:D

Perhaps the running events were mounted:D

Actually that comment came out of a discussion at the NCO club one evening. There were some fellows in Stetsons explaining this land-navigation course to us....we were somewhat impressed up to the time he mentioned the vehicle.:rolleyes:

The evening went downhill from there.

:D You may have intended it to mean mounted as in vehicles, but my first thought was a bunch of cav guys on horseback racing each other... I just made a fool out of myself laughing at this one...people are now wondering what i am doing...as i should be doing something else. Very funny , good one.

I agree with all of you that the Cav test is unrealistic and actually very dangerous. Can we say "LOD"? I just finished my BS in athletic training and spent some time working as a strength coach and this test pretty much goes against everything I have learned. The only way I can see this being applied is administering it over an extended period of time.

Getting back to the new army PT, I think its LONG overdue. My experience is from the guard side, where I would say the majority of soldiers simply train for that annual APFT. Its sad, I know. Training for an APFT and training for combat are two separate things and implementing a dynamic training program that is specific to battle drills is the key.

It was mentioned earlier this new program will cause more injuries and I can see why one may think that. However, if a soldier is progressed properly, it should decrease injury rates in the long run. The Army currently has a huge problem with sports injuries. Athletes, which soldiers are, in the civilian world train sport specific to prevent injuries in their competition. Soldiers should train for combat to minimize the risk of injuries during combat and drills.

With any luck the new Army PT will teach NCOs and officers how to design basic programs and the concepts behind it. I think thats the key. The 21-20 had some good basic information in it, but methods in performance enhancement and injury prevention have improved since then. Soldiers DESERVE the best we can offer them.

It was mentioned earlier, but I never saw a reply on it. Does anyone know where to get a digital copy of the new PT manual? :lifter

They used to have the Master Fitness Trainer program, but I believe it went away a number of years ago.

Location: Bad Tolz, FRG, January 77; ODA outside doing morning PT in the snow wearing parkas over sweats, artic mittens, and Chippewa mountain boots; no sun in sight and colder than an endangered polar bear's testicles.

Question by young SGT to TM SGT: 'Top, why are we out here doing PT instead of using the gym or the pool?'

Answer by TM SGT (Joe Alderman): 'Because we don't get paid to fight wars in an f'in gym.' :)

Richard