Fitness Test

[Gryphon]

IMHO, just do pushups... do them when you wake up, and before you go to sleep.. then you‘ll be able to do the 19 in no time

as well, i suggest to do them practically hands together, that way you‘ll be able to do more, and be more ready for basic

 

[chriscalow]

on the jump courses they make you do them with your hands on your helmet, they are very hard at first but with practice your reps start to skyrocket very quickly,,, especially for the regular kinds. I dont know if you have a helmet.. probably not, but improvise, use a basket ball or something and spread your feet a little over shoulder height, to stay stable. and your even give your body some indirect exercise.

 

[GrahamD]

Hey Da_Man. You said you could do 12 push-ups with your hands almost together. The push-up in the fitness test is to have you hands below your shoulders.

Yes it claims that you can keep your hands under your shoulders during the test.....
However, the guy running my fitness test also made me put my hands so close together that my thumbs could have touched if I stretched them out.
I posted about this a while ago, I got 30 at the test. I usually do 40+ with my hands under my shoulders, without difficulty, and without reaching true failure. At the test, I was lucky to get 30, after that rep there was nothing left, absolutely nothing. The hands almost touching method IS HARD. Get ready for it if you have a fitness test looming. Also I had to go down until my chest was on my hands and my chin was on the floor, so get ready for that too.

As for level 6, I thought the absolute max was 4. I was tossed from the exercise at the end of #2 and told that it was average. The fireman that was there (who was in amazing shape by the way) was tossed at the end of #3, plus his first set was really slow becasue he was over 29. So I think you must be mistaken about reaching level #6. Probably you mean level #3, and that is if you are a regular long distance runner, biker, or swimmer.

 

[Da_man]

it says stage 6 on my report im no long distance runner.

 

[Bert]

GrahamD>
If the Tester made you do that style of push-up, then it differs from the standard test provided to applicants. Its might be something to question.

I‘ve heard that those applying to Res infantry units, particularily MPs, are given the gears.

Its not a valid test in a sense because that style of push-up has a dependancy on the person‘s
physical structure, whether your hands pronate or supinate and the range of wrist motion. 30 of that style is good though.

 

[chriscalow]

he he mp‘s thats good. how do they judge the levels on the step test. I dont really know anything about it. I‘ve looked everywhere but its the one thing i cant find.

 

[AndrewD83]

Bert said - "I‘ve heard that those applying to Res infantry units, particularily MPs, are given the gears"

Given the gears?? What does that mean?

 

[combat_medic]

Helmet pushups isolate different muscle groups than regular ones, and so would not be the best bet in trying to increase strength for regular pushups. One good exercise to build up your back and shoulder muscles is to sit on a bench or stationary chair, put your legs straight out on the floor in front of you, your hands gripping the edge of the bench, and lower your butt below the bench, until your arms are at about a 45 degree angle. Push yourself back up. Repeat this one a lot, any time you have 2 minutes to spare.

As for the step test, you walk up and down on a set of steps and they measure your blood pressure. It gets faster after each level. The only way to prepare for this one is simply to do a lot of cardiovascular PT (running, cycling etc.).

 

[portcullisguy]

The thing I realized this summer after doing many, many pushups on the three courses I have taken in the last year (BMQ, SQ and BIQ)... is that your arms do not necessarily have to be big to do push-ups, nor are they supposed to be.

Overall fitness is important, because if your arms are doing ALL the work, you aren‘t doing the pushups correctly.

My abs and back muscles were just as sore as my arms after doing pushups constantly. In fact, several times we were just in the push up position, not moving, and that really takes a toll on the abs if they‘re weak.

My advice is to do a circuit of pushups, and sit ups, and push ups and sit ups, even changing the pacing (slowly, and quickly)... but do not overtrain as someone else mentioned.

Do different pushups and do them regularly, giving yourself days off to rest.

I‘ll be the first to admit I‘m hardly a big man, but after a while I was holding my own and keeping up with the pushups.

Oh, here‘s another one the para guys love: try the 5th point of flight procedure. Don‘t know what it is? It‘s a sick and twisted move similar to a certain pilates position, with you on your back, legs straight and together, feet 6 inches off the ground, arms straight and fingers pointed, raised above your head, and your chin in your chest. If you can hold that longer than a couple minutes, you‘ll have no problem on a BMQ.

 

[Duotone81]

I have been working out for a few years now and what I‘ve noticed helped increase the number of clean pushups I can do is dips. Very effective in increasing upper body strength. This exercise strengthens not only your chest but your tri‘s (which also need to be strong to do many pushups) and shoulders too.

 

[SFontaine]

I‘ll try these dips.

 

[GrahamD]

GrahamD>
If the Tester made you do that style of push-up, then it differs from the standard test provided to applicants. Its might be something to question.

That‘s an interesting observation, however, since I did my fitness test at CFRC Toronto, likely one of the busiest recruiting/testing centers in Canada, and the guy running the test has been doing it for a long time, I‘m going to assume that he was right and you are wrong.

Besides, why would I question it? What‘s it going to accomplish if I go in and say "You know, I could have done much better if you let me do pushups MY way...."

Next you‘d have me saying, "I don‘t feel confident that you are conducting this live fire exercise effectively, I‘m going to run up front and get everyones attention and maybe we can vote on a new team leader...."

 

[Infanteer]

Right on Graham....

waaa...the military won‘t accomadate to my needs...boo hoo...I have rights too

 

[Bert]

Dispite the theatrics, OK.

 

[humint]

Check into the way they made you do the push-ups. I think the fitness tech may have had it wrong. You should be doing push-ups with your hands out at the shoulders and not in together.

 

[Da_man]

well i can do them now.... but now i can get an appointment week days between 9:00 am and 4:30 PM

 

[Deleted member 585]

Not to step on anyone‘s toes, but, making sure you can do more than 19 pushups of any style would be best. You won‘t ever be blind-sided by allegedly differing techniques enforced by testing staff.

By varying the incline of your body, the spacing of your hands, and incrementally adding weight like loading a ruck with books -- you WILL pass the next fitness test.

You can do pushups anywhere, anytime. When I run, I do 25 pushups evey time I reach a fire hydrant... man, I never realized they were so close together.

Add to regular training at the gym as recommended by Bert, combat_medic, portcullisguy, and Duotone 81.

Cheers.

 

[jonsey]

25 pushups when you reach a fire hydrant? ****, thats a lot. Ok, I have a question about increasing pushups. I can currently only do 10 of the style described by the Fitness Guide I receved from the CFRC. Would adding a weighted pack while doing them help to increase the number I can do quicker than doing it wouthout anything?

 

[OLD SCHOOL]

Elevate your legs on a chair or a step or two.
Try one more ever couple of days. You will be at 150 in no time Seriously.

Later on, do them on your fists rotating onto your front two knuckles(punching knuckles). This will build wrists without stretching tendons in your normaly turned palm. Rucksack is great too after you can do the required amount but the incline works as well.

Bottom line, don‘t sweat it, just work on it and you will go far. :warstory:

 

[GrahamD]

Adding resistance (weight) to any exercise that you are not already somewhat proficient at is a very bad thing. Its a really common way that people injure themselves when first starting to work out.

If you can only do 10 pushups, then you are a long way away from needing to add resistance.
Adding resistance is neccessary only when you can do more pushups (or any exercise) than is good for your joints, tendons, muscles etc.
For example: if you are doing more than 30-50 pushups before you even start to feel the burn, then it is probably time to add some weight, because the repetetive strain on all your parts from the shoulders down to your wrists is going to start doing you more harm than good. *see Tendonitis*

Back to adding resistance "too soon". The most important aspect of any exercise is your form. I see guys coming into the gym all the time, throwing 200lb on the benchpress and struggling to get 5 reps while their buddy spots them, assisting on all 5. They will stay at 200lb for years doing that, and will likely injure themselves , because they never sucked it up (their pride) and benched 135lb for a few weeks with good control so they could build up to 200 under their own power later on. Instant results in fitness are a myth, even on steroids results take time. Throwing a backpack full of weight on if you can only do 10 pushups is just asking for an injury. Probably in your wrists or shoulders, and worst case your spine, and injury takes way longer to recover from than it would to ever so slowly progress 1 more pushup at a time as Old School mentioned.

The body weight resistance exercises (pushups, situps, pullups, lunges) are all very good for stregthening and toning muscle, and you will be amazed at how quickly you can progress with them if you are just a little patient at the start, and stick to your workout schedual. Don‘t take on too much at once in the begining, or you will likely burn out and lose interest.