APFT at the Levee – April 2018

tl;dr here’s the score sheet with all of today’s results

THE SCENE: I rolled into the Levee at 0503. The flag was already planted, and AO Q Slicnut was driving around the football field to check the gates – ALL LOCKED! The public school your hard-earned money is paying for won’t let you on their precious turf! Figures. YHC was a Boy Scout and is always prepared, so he and Slicnut commenced to execute Plan B. We needed a 2 mile route, and I used this website to map it.  We grabbed a government-issued safety cone, moseyed to the turn point on Wolf River Blvd, dropped said cone, and moseyed back. 

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH x20, Daisy Picker x15, Windmill x10, Arm Circles forward and back

THA-THANG:
Today, YHC had the privilege of proctoring the Army Physical Fitness Test. F3 is generally opposed to clipboard Qs, but this event would be too complicated to do it and Q it. Our plan is to complete this test once every 6 months to track our individual fitness progress. It’s not a perfect test (there is no perfect test), but it’s something. The test includes 2 minutes timed push-ups, 2 minutes timed sit-ups, and a 2 mile run. YHC recruited a couple PAX who were Army/National Guard to help demonstrate the exercises. 

“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. 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.” “WHAT ARE YOUR QUESTIONS?”

“THE SIT-UP EVENT MEASURES THE ENDURANCE OF THE ABDOMINAL AND HIP-FLEXOR MUSCLES. ON THE COMMAND “GET SET”, ASSUME THE STARTING POSITION BY LYING ON YOUR BACK WITH YOUR KNEES BENT AT A 90-DEGREE ANGLE. YOUR FEET MAY BE TOGETHER OR UP TO 12 INCHES APART. ANOTHER PERSON WILL HOLD YOUR ANKLES WITH THE HANDS ONLY. NO OTHER METHOD OF BRACING OR HOLDING THE FEET IS AUTHORIZED. THE HEEL IS THE ONLY PART OF YOUR FOOT THAT MUST STAY IN CONTACT WITH THE GROUND. YOUR FINGERS MUST BE INTERLOCKED BEHIND YOUR HEAD AND THE BACKS OF YOUR HANDS MUST TOUCH THE GROUND. YOUR ARMS AND ELBOWS NEED NOT TOUCH THE GROUND. ON THE COMMAND “GO”, BEGIN RAISING YOUR UPPER BODY FORWARD TO, OR BEYOND, THE VERTICAL POSITION. THE VERTICAL POSITION MEANS THAT THE BASE OF YOUR NECK IS ABOVE THE BASE OF YOUR SPINE. AFTER YOU HAVE REACHED OR SURPASSED THE VERTICAL POSITION, LOWER YOUR BODY UNTIL THE BOTTOM OF YOUR SHOULDER BLADES TOUCH THE GROUND. YOUR HEAD, HANDS, ARMS, OR ELBOWS DO NOT HAVE TO TOUCH THE GROUND. AT THE END OF EACH REPETITION, THE SCORER WILL STATE THE NUMBER OF SIT-UPS YOU HAVE CORRECTLY COMPLETED. A REPETITION WILL NOT COUNT IF YOU FAIL TO REACH THE VERTICAL POSITION, FAIL TO KEEP YOUR FINGERS INTERLOCKED BEHIND YOUR HEAD, ARCH OR BOW YOUR BACK AND RAISE YOUR BUTTOCKS OFF THE GROUND TO RAISE YOUR UPPER BODY, OR LET YOUR KNEES EXCEED A 90-DEGREE ANGLE. IF A REPETITION DOES NOT COUNT, THE SCORER WILL REPEAT THE NUMBER OF YOUR LAST CORRECTLY PERFORMED SIT-UP. THE UP POSITION IS THE ONLY AUTHORIZED REST POSITION. IF YOU STOP AND REST IN THE DOWN (STARTING) POSITION, THE EVENT WILL BE TERMINATED. AS LONG AS YOU MAKE A CONTINUOUS PHYSICAL EFFORT TO SIT UP, THE EVENT WILL NOT BE TERMINATED. YOU MAY NOT USE YOUR HANDS OR ANY OTHER MEANS TO PULL OR PUSH YOURSELF UP TO THE UP (RESTING) POSITION OR TO HOLD YOURSELF IN THE REST POSITION. IF YOU DO SO, YOUR PERFORMANCE IN THE EVENT WILL BE TERMINATED. CORRECT PERFORMANCE IS IMPORTANT. YOU WILL HAVE TWO MINUTES TO PERFORM AS MANY SIT-UPS AS YOU CAN. WATCH THIS DEMONSTRATION.” “WHAT ARE YOUR QUESTIONS?”

“THE TWO-MILE RUN IS USED TO ASSESS YOUR AEROBIC FITNESS AND YOUR LEG MUSCLES’ ENDURANCE. YOU MUST COMPLETE THE RUN WITHOUT ANY PHYSICAL HELP. AT THE START, ALL PAX WILL LINE UP BEHIND THE STARTING LINE. ON THE COMMAND ‘GO,’ THE CLOCK WILL START. YOU WILL BEGIN RUNNING AT YOUR OWN PACE. TO RUN THE REQUIRED TWO MILES, YOU MUST COMPLETE (describe the number of laps, start and finish points, and course layout – see map below). YOU ARE BEING TESTED ON YOUR ABILITY TO COMPLETE THE 2-MILE COURSE IN THE SHORTEST TIME POSSIBLE. ALTHOUGH WALKING IS AUTHORIZED, IT IS STRONGLY DISCOURAGED. IF YOU ARE PHYSICALLY HELPED IN ANY WAY (FOR EXAMPLE, PULLED, PUSHED, PICKED UP, AND/OR CARRIED) OR LEAVE THE DESIGNATED RUNNING COURSE FOR ANY REASON, YOU WILL BE DISQUALIFIED. WHAT ARE YOUR QUESTIONS ON THIS EVENT?”

YHC had a deck of cards with exercises for the speedy PAX who finished first, but we didn’t start the run until 0600 and were already against time when the first guys finished. 

YHC collected exercise counts and run times on a score sheet. Those have been entered in the F3 Memphis APFT Scores Google Sheet. This will be our region’s source of record going forward. One tab contains test date and scores; the other tab contains the points that correspond to the scores. The points factor in your age group. Personally, I will be using the Total Score to evaluate my progress on future tests. 

MARY:
There was no Mary.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
20 PAX, including Grounded (FNG) and YHC (proctor).

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
YHC encouraged the PAX to also consider their spiritual growth/progress. We tend to coast if we’re not intentional with our spiritual walk. Pick a topic or some belief and explore it. Hopefully you can look back on the year and identify a few things you’ve learned because you decided to focus on them. 

Prayers for Sleep Number’s dad.

MOLESKIN:
T-CLAPS to the Levee crew for being the guinea pigs for this first APFT. We ran over time, but all 19 finished. YHC came away with some lessons learned to shorten time and run things more smoothly. Big thank you to Grounded (Arkansas National Guard), Harry Caray (Army vet), and Billy Blanks (civilian, fitness journeyman) for helping demonstrate. T-CLAPS to Moneyball for completing the run!