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Any Advice on PFT??


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As far as the cals go, I'm into lifting weights. After following Starting Strength for awhile I crushed the cal portion of the test with out ever doing cals(82 push ups, 87 sit ups).

 

My advice is to squat, bench, overhead press, deadlift, and power clean on top of your running. You will see huge improvements very quickly with your cals.

 

I only do push ups and sit ups for PT tests now(active Air Force).

 

The most important thing is to find a workout program that you enjoy and will do consistently.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am less than one minute off passing the run portion now. I can almost taste victory! When I first began, I was 4.5 minutes off. Granted, I couldn't even jog half a mile then without slowing to a walk.

 

Patience and persistence.

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Good work Lindsey. Have you ever ran with weights? I have something similar to this tactical160_us_army_acu_commando_chest_harness.jpg

That I will wear occasionally during runs that you can fit 2.5's and certain 5 lb weights in each cargo compartment. Or if I'm feeling lazy I'll just do a 5-6 mile ruck with a light weight on my back (50 lbs) with one of theseAtom11843.jpg

I also have a ballistic helmet my uncle gave me that I wear also, it strengthens the neck muscles and gets your ready to wear heavy sh*t on your dome. The more weight you're used to running with = easier and shorter run times without all that extra sh*t.

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You know, I actually do have a 25 pound weight vest (with removable weights) that I may try using a little bit. I noticed on my more recent runs when I'm finishing the 2-miles it isn't my legs that are hurting, it's that I'm way out of breath. That seems to be the limiting factor. I'm gonna go for some longer slower runs this week so that 2-miles feels like nothing. If anyone has any other advice for improving lung capacity and endurance, I'm all ears.

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Thats weird I am the exact opposite, when I am running my legs get tired first while I have no trouble breathing. Sometimes even my heart rate doesn't even get that high while running, I try to push myself harder but my legs end up getting tired quicker.

 

Do you do a lot of longer runs? I have no issue whatsoever hitting my goal times when I'm doing quarter mile intervals, and almost no issue when I'm doing half-mile intervals. Piecing it together into a two mile stretch at goal pace, however, is when I am gasping for breath at the end.

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Everyone is different, for me, I'll get cramps in my lower abdomen and get a dry mouth before I start to get to the point of failure. I've been blessed with low BP and runners lungs so it's all just repetition to me. I've learned to run on the balls of my feet, which conserves energy and has less impact on my knees and joints in the long run. Also, I try to slow my breathing down to lower my heart rate during the my run as well. It feels weird at first but a low BP is important to have.

 

And you guys need to start doing 3 miles with us USMC OCS hopefuls, we'll get you in shape :)

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Everyone is different, for me, I'll get cramps in my lower abdomen and get a dry mouth before I start to get to the point of failure. I've been blessed with low BP and runners lungs so it's all just repetition to me. I've learned to run on the balls of my feet, which conserves energy and has less impact on my knees and joints in the long run. Also, I try to slow my breathing down to lower my heart rate during the my run as well. It feels weird at first but a low BP is important to have.

 

And you guys need to start doing 3 miles with us USMC OCS hopefuls, we'll get you in shape :)

 

And so the inter-service rivalry begins. ;)

 

That's my plan this week though, actually, is to really start getting those three miles in and build it up to five eventually. Next time I do a timed two-mile *hopefully* it will feel like nothin'.

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Do you do a lot of longer runs? I have no issue whatsoever hitting my goal times when I'm doing quarter mile intervals, and almost no issue when I'm doing half-mile intervals. Piecing it together into a two mile stretch at goal pace, however, is when I am gasping for breath at the end.

 

I do 5K's (3.1 miles) every once in a while, but never more than that. I also do sprints, ill sprint the straight aways and jog the turns for 2 miles, or I will do 1 lap at 1:30 pace then jog the next lap then 1:30 pace again etc for 2 miles. And I feel your pain, the hardest part is being able to bring it all together for 2 miles. I am currently hovering around a 14:00 minute 2 mile +/- 20 seconds depending if I worked out that day.

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I got a 288 on the APFT!

 

75 Pushups = over a 100 score

 

75 Sit-ups = 95 score

 

13:34 Run = rounded to 93

 

Hell yeah! Nice work. What did you score on your first APFT and when was it? Are you going to try to take another one before the board?

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  • 4 weeks later...

Yeah, work out for months before you take it. There is no magic bullet. :P

 

Sheesh, so helpful. ;)

 

Seriously though, do you find jogging 1 lap (or two) helps a lot? Or just some stretching (what kinds)? Or, do you run a lap hard and then walk around until the test starts? There is no magic bullet but there is strategy.

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Caffeine?

 

2 minutes of pushups. Rest. 2 minutes of situps. Rest. 2 mile run.

 

I've seen almost no one do any sort of warm up before the PFT here. Yes, a good warm up could help, but with how regulated the PFT is, the timing can be weird. You have your mandatory rests between events. If you warmed up before everything started, you'd be cold by the run.

 

I honestly just start my run out slow and let myself warm up the first 1/4 mile before pushing hard that way I don't sprint, lose steam, and slow down early. Test anxiety usually has my heart going before the run starts, anyway.

 

I warm up regularly for normal workouts, but the PFT just doesn't feel like a normal workout.

 

Sorry if that isn't much help!

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