Assessment

The first part of any fitness program is assessment.  You need to assess where you are before you can decide where you're going, how you will get there, and when you will get there.  The military makes this easy with a Physical Fitness Test (PFT).  And my initial thought was to just use the Army PFT as my standard, since I am familiar with it.  However, each branch uses a different variation of the PFT, so I wanted to look at each one and see if I should use a different PFT, or make a hybrid.  I think I am going to go with a hybrid.

The Army PFT consists of two minutes of push-ups, two minutes of sit-ups, and a two-mile run for time.  Each event is scored, based on reps or time, from 1-100.  The minimum Army standard is 50 points in each, with a total score of 150 to graduate Basic Training.  The Marines use a similar style, except they do pull-ups instead of push-ups, crunches instead of full sit-ups, and a three mile run.  I'm ignoring the Navy, Air Force, and Coast guard, as they use lower standards.  And frankly, I'm a grunt at heart, so I'm better than those glorified postal workers.

So, for my own PFT, I am going to combine the Army and Marines, as follows:

• 2 minutes of Push-ups
• Max Pull-ups
• 2 minutes of Crunches
• 2-mile run

Now, I am tempted to just jump right in and take my first PFT.  However, I have a couple of hurdles to get over before I am comfortable doing that.  I have been battling a debilitating case of Frozen Shoulders for a few months now.  They are getting better, but they still hurt when I move the wrong way, or over-extend myself.  This has also left my upper body in horrible condition.  I was barely able to squeeze out five push ups last week.  The good news is that they were with very little of the sharp pain associated with the Frozen Shoulders.  The bad news is that they showed me just how atrophied those muscles have become.

So, instead, I am going to give myself a couple of weeks to prepare; assisted push ups, stretching, etc.  I need to get the joints and muscles used to movement and stress again.  I also need to get used to running.  Right now, I'd be hard-pressed to run a half-mile without collapsing, let alone two.  For that I will defer to my wife for advice.  She has become a competitive runner, and has even done a half-marathon.

In a couple of weeks, I will take my modified PFT and post my results.  My intention is to take another PFT at regular intervals, and post those results as well.  This way, I can track my progress, and decide if maybe I need to modify my program.

Next up: Design a program.