About the APFT Push-Up Event
Push-ups measure the endurance of the chest, shoulder, and triceps muscles.
Instructions
The event supervisor must read the following: “THE PUSH-UP EVENT MEASURES THE ENDURANCE OF THE CHEST, SHOULDER, AND TRICEPS MUSCLES. ON THE COMMAND ‘GET SET,’ ASSUME THE FRONT-LEANING REST POSITION BY PLACING YOUR HANDS WHERE THEY ARE COMFORTABLE FOR YOU. YOUR FEET MAY BE TOGETHER OR UP TO 12 INCHES APART. WHEN VIEWED FROM THE SIDE, YOUR BODY SHOULD FORM A GENERALLY STRAIGHT LINE FROM YOUR SHOULDERS TO YOUR ANKLES. ON THE COMMAND ‘GO,’ BEGIN THE PUSH-UP BY BENDING YOUR ELBOWS AND LOWERING YOUR ENTIRE BODY AS A SINGLE UNIT UNTIL YOUR UPPER ARMS ARE AT LEAST PARALLEL TO THE GROUND. THEN, RETURN TO THE STARTING POSITION BY RAISING YOUR ENTIRE BODY UNTIL YOUR ARMS ARE FULLY EXTENDED. YOUR BODY MUST REMAIN RIGID IN A GENERALLY STRAIGHT LINE AND MOVE AS A UNIT WHILE PERFORMING EACH REPETITION. AT THE END OF EACH REPETITION, THE SCORER WILL STATE THE NUMBER OF REPETITIONS YOU HAVE COMPLETED CORRECTLY. IF YOU FAIL TO KEEP YOUR BODY GENERALLY STRAIGHT, TO LOWER YOUR WHOLE BODY UNTIL YOUR UPPER ARMS ARE AT LEAST PARALLEL TO THE GROUND, OR TO EXTEND YOUR ARMS COMPLETELY, THAT REPETITION WILL NOT COUNT, AND THE SCORER WILL REPEAT THE NUMBER OF THE LAST CORRECTLY PERFORMED REPETITION. IF YOU FAIL TO PERFORM THE FIRST TEN PUSH-UPS CORRECTLY, THE SCORER WILL TELL YOU TO GO TO YOUR KNEES AND WILL EXPLAIN TO YOU WHAT YOUR MISTAKES ARE. YOU WILL THEN BE SENT TO THE END OF THE LINE TO BE RETESTED. AFTER THE FIRST 10 PUSH-UPS HAVE BEEN PERFORMED AND COUNTED, HOWEVER, NO RESTARTS ARE ALLOWED. THE TEST WILL CONTINUE, AND ANY INCORRECTLY PERFORMED PUSH-UPS WILL NOT BE COUNTED. AN ALTERED, FRONT-LEANING REST POSITION IS THE ONLY AUTHORIZED REST POSITION. THAT IS, YOU MAY SAG IN THE MIDDLE OR FLEX YOUR BACK. WHEN FLEXING YOUR BACK, YOU MAY BEND YOUR KNEES, BUT NOT TO SUCH AN EXTENT THAT YOU ARE SUPPORTING MOST OF YOUR BODY WEIGHT WITH YOUR LEGS. IF THIS OCCURS, YOUR PERFORMANCE WILL BE TERMINATED. YOU MUST RETURN TO, AND PAUSE IN, THE CORRECT STARTING POSITION BEFORE CONTINUING. IF YOU REST ON THE GROUND OR RAISE EITHER HAND OR FOOT FROM THE GROUND, YOUR PERFORMANCE WILL BE TERMINATED. YOU MAY REPOSITION YOUR HANDS AND/OR FEET DURING THE EVENT AS LONG AS THEY REMAIN IN CONTACT WITH THE GROUND AT ALL TIMES. CORRECT PERFORMANCE IS IMPORTANT. YOU WILL HAVE TWO MINUTES IN WHICH TO DO AS MANY PUSH-UPS AS YOU CAN. WATCH THIS DEMONSTRATION.”
Additonal Points to demonstrate the Push-Up Event:
The following points must be clarified during the demonstration:
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The soldier’s chest may touch the ground (mat or floor) during the push-up as long as the contact does not provide him an advantage. He cannot se the ground to bounce off of or momentarily rest on. However, penalizing a soldier for touching the ground with the chest is unfair. Some soldiers have a large chest or abdomen or are otherwise developed in a way which makes touching the ground unavoidabel when they are in the correct down position. Do not count those repetitions in which the long bone of he uppper arm does not reach a position parrallel to the ground.
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Soldiers may reposition their hands during the push-up event as long as the hands remain in contact with the ground at all times. The hands can be repositioned either forward, inward, outward, or backward. If a soldier repositions his hands too far backward, the legal front-leaning rest position may be violated.
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If a mat is used, the entire body must be on the mat.
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In the rest position, a soldier may sag in the middle or flex hs back in an altered front-leaning rest position; however, he may not readjust his hands backward and/or bend his knees to such a point that when he bends at the waist and/or knees, he supports most of his body weight with his legs. If this occurs, the soldier’s performance in the event will be terminated.
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The feet may not be braced during the push-up event. Test administrators must ensure that a non-slip surface is available.
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Soldiers may do the push-up event on their fists. This may be necessary due to a prior injury. There is no unfair advantage to be gained by doing so.
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Soldiers may not cross their feet while doing the push-up event. This ensures as much standardization as possible and avoids violation of the proper front-leaning rest position, which is the only authorized starting position for this event.
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Soldiers may not take any part of the APFT in bare feet
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Soldiers should not wear glasses while performing the push-up event.
