The most common fitness test used is one you can find in a majority of the military branches, Allied militaries, and most law enforcement departments.  The World's Most Common Physical Fitness Test (PFT) is pushups, situps, sit and reach, and 1.5 mile run.

Here is just a few of the groups who use this test as not only an entrance test to be hired but also a maintenance test performed every six months in order to remain employed:

Navy - Pushups 2:00, SItups, 2:00, 1.5 mile run

Air Force - Pushups 1:00, Situps 1:00, 1.5 mile run

Army - Pushups 2:00, Situps 1:00, 2 mile run  (add .5 miles = same way to train)

Coast Guard - Pushups 1:00, Situps 1:00, 1.5 mile run

Many Law Enforcement Agencies use this test as well for a fitness assessment entrance exam such as Maryland State Police, Delaware, New Jersey, West Virginia, New York, Alaska, Iowa, North Dakota, Utah, New Mexico, Maine, Montana, Alabama and other federal, state, and local police departments.

•     Pace, breathing, arm swing, stride – Learn to regulate your breathing by timing INHALES for 2-3 steps and EXHALES for 2-3 steps in a regular breathing rhythm to keep heart rate lower and running potentially faster in the last Ό mile.

•     Arm swing and stride – arms should be slightly bent but relaxed and swing in a straight line not crossing your body.  Stride and foot strike should be efficient enough so you are not running on your toes or too wide where you land on your heels.  Foot strike should be closer to the balls of the feet but not flat footed.

The pushup is the most commonly used exercise in military, law enforcement, and fire fighter training programs.  Learning how to ace a fitness test is required for most groups BUT being able to do multiple sets of countless pushups is usually required in most indoctrination training programs (Boot Camps, Basic Training, Military and Law Enforcement and Fire Fighting Academies).  Here are some tips for the exercise that has been around for 1000’s of years.

•     Proper hand placement – Keep hands just greater than shoulder width apart and placed lower than your shoulders as if you were doing a bench press.  This will place an equal amount of force on the chest, shoulders and triceps.   

•    Up / Down movement – Pushups in this test is a 1 minute sprint.  Building your endurance to do non-stop pushups for one minute is not as difficult as it may first appear.  To score your best, you should focus on doing pushups as fast as you can, however exert on the UP motion and relax your arms when coming DOWN.  Let gravity take you down. 

•     This is a pacing exercise as with running.  If your goal is 50-60 in 1 minute, you have to build up to withstand a pace of up to 1 situp per second for 60 seconds.