[Masochist]

Originally Posted by Broadsword2004

IMO I'd think the Army PT test is poor indicator of how well one can perform physically as a soldier. Being able to do lots of pushups, situps, and a fast two-mile run means you are skilled in one area of physical fitness (endurance, cardiovascular and muscular).

You could be able to do loads of pushups, pullups, situps, flutter kicks, a fast run, and so forth, that doesn't mean you'll at all be capable of say having to lift very heavy objects and carry them or hump a heavy ruck.

Then you get the guys who are BIG, where if they tried to do things like pullups or pushups even, and situps, etc...they'd flounder completely, but they can do things like lift extremely heavy objects all day long and hump a heavy ruck pretty well.

To be truly fit, one should strive for a decent capability in both.

Systems such as the Ranger Athlete Warrior program are starting to address things like this. 3rd Bat brought in a well-known powerlifter to help address the large numbers of Rangers physically breaking down from training and combat.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m.../ai_n56406753/

How long until we see this Army-wide, with a drastic change in how we gauge soldiers' fitness levels is to be seen. PT is already changing from PU/SU/run, run, run to more combat-related exercises. It's a matter of finding tests that are cost effective and easy to implement (much the same argument with the tape test).