Today for drill, some soldiers in my unit were assigned to take the APFT (Army Physical Fitness Test). Although I was not one of them, I did get to along for the ride and be pacer for a female during the two mile run. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday at drill.

The APFT consists of three parts: pushups, sit-ups, and a two mile run. A soldier has to do as many pushups and sit-ups as they can within a two minute time slot and run two miles within a certain amount of time. These numbers are then matched up with a percentage on a grading scale; therefore the highest you can score on a PT test is 300.

I’ll use myself as an example to illustrate this more clearly. I’m 21 and a female. According to the scale, my 84 sit-ups were above 100%, meaning I got 100 points for that event. I’m a huge fan of the APFT. I find it as gauge to how fit you actually are.

I know I need to work on my pushups the most, my arms are like little twigs. The test is what you make of it; you don’t work out, you’re going to fail. I’m not saying you have to be some sort of beast but working out every other day is going to help in the long run.

Hooah for a Saturday well spent!

P.S. I’m training to run in a half marathon in May. I run every other day and you know what I listen to on my IPod…Army Airborne and Ranger cadences. That sounds nerdy but it helps! Try it!