From the Spartans of yore to today’s special forces units the warriors in our society have always been held up as an example of brains, brawn and bravery. Their power comes not just from their armaments but from the disciplined training regime that they put their body through in preparation for battle. We’ve seen the boot camp montage in hundreds of movies, but how far could you get in an actual military physical fitness test?


Demi Moore in GI Jane, 1997

Earlier this week Samer looked at the benefits of body-weight training, and I hope you’ll notice here that none of the tests require exercise equipment. For the American military, fitness tests vary by specific job requirements and which branch of the military you’re part of. For this week, I’ll present the Navy SEALS Physical Fitness Test:

Navy SEAL Physical Fitness Test

Exercise	Minimum	Recommended
Push-ups in 2min	42	100
Sit-ups in 2min	52	100
Pull-ups	8	15-20
1.5 mile run	11 min 30s	9-10min
500 yard swim	12min 30s	8-9min

And I'll leave you with this thought: “There is one main thing that all of the Special Forces units have in common: Minimum standards are ignored, and they always push themselves to their maximum physical effort.” - Stew Smith, former Navy SEAL and military fitness trainer.

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