Latest news with #ArmyFitnessTest
Cosmopolitan
16-07-2025
- Health
- Cosmopolitan
Improve Your Holistic Health and Fitness the Army Way
Your socials are full of tips, tricks, and hacks for achieving health and wellness, but with so many self-proclaimed experts out there it can be really difficult to understand what's effective and how to formulate a plan you can stick to. Improving yourself is a holistic endeavor, so you need a strategy that supports your overall wellbeing versus piecemeal pointers. This is why the U.S. Army officially launched its Holistic Health and Fitness (H2F) system in 2020. Composed of five readiness domains—physical, nutritional, sleep, mental, and spiritual—and implemented in more than 50 (and counting) brigades across the force, it has become the standard for developing well-rounded, well-adjusted, well-equipped soldiers. "H2F is about looking at the whole soldier, not just the physical aspect. It's a comprehensive approach to readiness," says Capt. Emily Rice of the 81st Readiness Division at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. "We're shifting the culture from just passing the Army Fitness Test (AFT) test to truly taking care of soldiers in all aspects of their health and performance." We have teamed up with Rice and Sgt. Melina Wilkinson, a command team administrator and noncommissioned officer at the 16th Combat Aviation Brigade at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, in Washington, to highlight five core principles from each H2F domain that soldiers rely on to stay mission-ready and resilient—along with ways that you can incorporate them into your own life to become your best self. (Srsly!) The goal of the H2F physical readiness domain isn't to create specialists—it's to build versatile, durable athletes. "Working on cardio and endurance is just as important as strength training; we don't just focus on one or the other," says Wilkinson. "When we're fully geared up, we're carrying 50 pounds or more on our bodies over extended periods, and that puts a lot of stress on the muscles and skeletal structure." To meet that demand, soldiers train year-round with H2F performance teams, including strength coaches and physical therapists. They run, ruck, and lift weights. They do yoga and obstacle courses. Some soldiers do triathlons; others compete in martial arts. Yes, it's a lot, but "being a hybrid athlete is key to longevity in the Army," Wilkinson says. Soldiers don't do advanced lifts or carry heavy packs for long distances right out of the gate, and neither should any of us. "We start small and progress gradually," Wilkinson says. "That's especially beneficial for newer soldiers who aren't physically or mentally ready to do, say, a 12-miler. This 'crawl, walk, run' approach allows us to ruck those long distances without injuries." If you were expecting a rigid, calorie-counting meal plan from the Army, you're in for a treat: The H2F approach to nutrition is surprisingly flexible. "One of the most important things is to keep it simple," says Rice, who is also a registered dietitian, a certified strength-and-conditioning coach, and a certified specialist in sports dietetics. "Our diet culture tends to make nutrition really complicated, but it doesn't need to be. Focus on whole foods, and understand the three macronutrients (protein, fat, carbohydrates)—what they do for our bodies and where to find them in food." And while many nutritionists focus on protein, Rice also leans into carbs. "People are often afraid of carbohydrates, because they've been told they're bad," she says. "We all know protein is important for being strong, but carbohydrates are the foundation that provide your body the fuel it needs to perform." If you've got a long day or workout ahead, throw some carb-rich snacks in your bag beforehand. Rice recommends nutrient-dense whole grains and starchy vegetables, but otherwise she's not too picky. "You still have room for fun foods in the diet," she says. "And yes, a cookie is a carbohydrate that can serve a purpose at times, like on a long ruck. If you need quick energy for a sustained distance, a cookie or some gummy bears can be your best friend." Quality sleep fuels performance as much as, if not more than, nutrition. Need proof? Pull an all-nighter before a full workday and then work out. On second thought, don't. "Lack of sleep significantly impairs both mental and physical performance," Rice says. "Mentally, it slows reaction time, affects memory and decision-making, and increases stress and irritability. Physically, it reduces coordination and strength and slows recovery time." H2F encourages soldiers to get the quality sleep they need whenever and wherever they can, including those times when eight-hour overnight bouts aren't a thing due to deployments or unconventional schedules. "Naps are our best friend in the Army because of how demanding our lives are," Wilkinson says. "Take lunch, get a 20-minute nap, and you can knock out the rest of the day without any issues." Nighttime is still the best bet for quality sleep for us civilians, but late-day caffeine and scrolling right up to bedtime can seriously interfere. "Electronic-device usage, TV time, and caffeine intake at the end of the day can disrupt the sleep cycle, particularly deep sleep," Wilkinson says. Rice recommends cutting off coffee and energy drinks in the early afternoon, and avoiding screens for at least two hours before bed. Painful—but worth it, trust us. No matter what you do, your mental game ultimately decides the outcome. "If your mind is strong, your body is strong—the two are interchangeable, because without mental resilience you can't push yourself physically," says Wilkinson, who learned this lesson up close and personal while recovering from a broken tibia and fibula (two bones located in the lower leg) endured while participating in a military softball tournament in 2022. In H2F, mental resilience isn't about gritting your teeth and shoving through; it's about using tools that help you stay calm and think clearly in high-stress situations. One of Wilkinson's favorites is controlled breathing, "because the body's natural reaction during stressful moments is to have an elevated heart rate and shallow or heavy breathing," she says, adding that breath work helped her fight through pain and discomfort during her rehab sessions. "Taking a deep breath will help you remain even-keeled, so you can fully assess the situation without making any emotional and rash decisions." Wilkinson offers a simple breathing protocol when stress hits: Inhale deeply through your nose, hold your breath for two to three seconds, then exhale through your mouth until you're relaxed. "You do that five times," she says, "and it'll help regulate your nervous system and bring your heart rate down." While the other H2F pillars focus on strategies and tools, the spiritual domain is focused on the individual: It's not so much about what you do, but rather what you draw from—your values, your purpose. "This isn't necessarily religious," Rice says. "It's more about a sense of meaning in what you're doing and feeling, connected to something bigger than yourself." "Spirituality is your base," Wilkinson agrees. "It's what keeps you going long-term. When things get really hard and you're questioning your faith and reason, relying on your base is the foundation that helps you keep moving forward." "We have something called a 'why wall' that soldiers use to write down their purpose or motivation," Rice says. "It could be their family, their kids, their goals, or just wanting to be the best version of themselves. That helps them stay grounded." The rest of us can do this too, using words, photos, or other reminders of what's most important to us. "I try to always come back to why I'm doing something," Wilkinson says. "Why I joined, why I'm here, why I want to be better. It helps on those days when it's hard to get up and go."
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Army bringing in tech executives as lieutenant colonels
Four senior executives of tech giants like Meta and Palantir are being sworn into the Army Reserve as direct-commissioned officers at the unusually high rank of lieutenant colonel as part of a new program to recruit private-sector experts to speed up tech adoption. The Army calls the program to recruit Silicon Valley executives Detachment 201: The Army's Executive Innovation Corps. The program is aimed at bringing in part-time advisors from the private sector to help the service adopt and scale commercial technology like drones and robots into its formations. The Reserve's new Lt. Cols. are Shyam Sankar, chief technology officer for Palantir; Andrew Bosworth, chief technology officer of Meta; Kevin Weil, chief product officer of OpenAI; and Bob McGrew, an advisor at Thinking Machines Lab and former chief research officer for OpenAI. They are being sworn into the Reserve on Friday. Army officials told Task & Purpose that the four executives will all attend the Army's six-week Direct Commissioning Course at Fort Benning, Georgia and will complete the Army Fitness Test and marksmanship training. All four have spent decades at some of Silicon Valley's leading tech giants and fast-growing start-ups, roles that have made them each multi-millionaires several times over. Each now work at firms that have expressed interest in developing business with the Pentagon. The idea of incorporating private-sector expertise is a lesson the Army says it learned from Ukraine as soldiers there who are engineers or computer scientists in their day jobs are MacGyvering makeshift drones or 3D printing parts to use on the front lines against Russia. All four of the executives now work at companies investing heavily in emerging fields like AI and machine learning, two subjects that the Army is looking to fold into future weapon systems. Palantir and OpenAI have been contractors for the Department of Defense, with Meta has announced a partnership with Anduril for troop augmented and virtual reality devices. 'I have accepted this commission in a personal capacity because I am deeply invested in helping advance American technological innovation,' Bosworth wrote in a post on X, adding that their primary role will be as technical experts for Army modernization efforts. Bosworth is one of four of the most senior executives at Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, who report directly to CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg. Hired at the company in 2006, he is known as the engineer who developed the Facebook News Feed. According to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Bosworth's salary in 2023 was just under $1 million but — like most Meta executives — he received close to $20 million in Meta stock. Sankar, the chief technology officer for Palantir was, according to his bio with the company, the firm's thirteenth employee. He sold Palantir shares worth $367 million in 2024. McGrew, who advises Thinking Machines Lab, is an alumni of Palantir and OpenAI. According to his LinkedIn, while working as a chief research officer at OpenAI, he led efforts to 'build the world's most powerful AI models and then let the world use them through ChatGPT and the API.' Weil's resume includes work at several major tech companies like Microsoft, Twitter, Instagram, Meta, Strava, Planet Labs, and Cisco. According to SEC filings, he cashed out shares in Twitter and PlanetLabs worth at least $15 million in 2014 and 2015, and his current role at OpenAI includes stock options in the company that, should it turn public, could be worth several hundred million dollars. The program follows Army Chief of Staff Gen. George's announcement of the Army Transformation Initiative and his Transforming in Contact effort which has smaller prototype units testing new tactics and tech like unmanned aerial systems and electronic warfare jammers in realistic combat training scenarios. For instance, the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team is testing new platoons that specialize in specific threats like anti-tank systems, first-person viewer attack, FPV, drones or sensing enemy drones. 'Their swearing-in is just the start of a bigger mission to inspire more tech pros to serve without leaving their careers, showing the next generation how to make a difference in uniform,' the Army said in a release. A Marine Corps reply-all email apocalypse has an incredible real-life ending Army shuts down its sole active-duty information operations command Army plans to close more than 20 base museums in major reduction Former Green Beret nominated to top Pentagon position to oversee special ops The Navy's new recruiting commercial puts the 'dirt wars' in the past
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Could You Pass the Army's New Fitness Test? Here's What It Takes
There's arguably no greater test of physical and mental toughness than serving in the military. While the demands vary across branches, one thing is certain: the men and women who serve push their minds and bodies to the absolute limit. From running hundreds of miles and operating on just a few hours of sleep to enduring 20-hour training days, the mental resilience required is something most civilians will never experience. Today, countless fitness challenges aim to replicate just a fraction of that intensity. One well-known example is The Murph Challenge, a grueling CrossFit workout performed in honor of fallen Navy SEAL Lt. Michael P. Murphy. It mirrors elements of the physical tests service members face during training. In line with evolving fitness standards, the U.S. Army recently announced it will replace the current Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) with the new Army Fitness Test (AFT)—a redesigned assessment to better measure soldiers' readiness and combat effectiveness. 'The AFT is designed to improve soldier readiness and ensure physical standards [and] prepare soldiers for the demands of modern warfare,' Sgt. Maj. Christopher Mullinax, senior enlisted leader, deputy chief of staff for Operations, Army Headquarters, said in a statement. 'It emphasizes holistic fitness over event-specific training and is grounded in performance.' According to the Army's website, the AFT will include the following five events: Three-repetition maximum deadlift Hand-release push-up Sprint-drag-carry Plank Two-mile run Although the tests are similar in structure, the standing power throw event is no longer a requirement, something that Nick Barringer, Ph.D., a tactical nutritional physiologist, says was a smart logistical move. However, he does think the addition of moves that test critical short-burst explosive output will be crucial. "Hopefully, we'll see something like the standing broad jump make a return," he says. "It's simple, low-equipment, and highly correlated with lower-body power and combat performance. If we're serious about building warfighters—not just passing scores—we need to keep explosive power in the equation. The speed that comes from lower body power is most indicative of surviving small arms fire."Barringer, who served in the 75th Ranger Regiment as a member of the Ranger Athlete Warrior (RAW) program, says that no tests will fully capture the physical demands of modern combat. "If what we're seeing out of Ukraine is any indication, the next warfighter may need less focus on brute force and more on agility—dodging drones, moving under surveillance, sprinting to cover in urban terrain," he says. However, he does state that the new test measures movement, strength, and work capacity better. "Until we see a test that includes evasive movement or decision-making under pressure, we're still just approximating," he adds. "That said, agility may become the next battlefield currency—and we're not training it nearly enough." The Army claims that the AFT is just one part of a broader holistic health and fitness initiative (H2F) that aims to build a culture of lifelong fitness and well-being for fighters. But according to Barringer, this shift is nothing new. "The shift has been happening—it's just been uneven," he says. "Special Operations started embracing holistic performance over a decade ago, and even before that, there were pockets of forward-thinking units running their own performance-based programs." Barringer points to standout units that are already embracing this holistic approach—and seeing real results. One example: the Bastogne Brigade H2F team at the 101st Airborne Division, which he says is "absolutely crushing it." But for that kind of success to scale, it has to start from the top. "World-class professionals, integrated care, and leadership that's all-in," he says. "That's the key—the science and infrastructure are there, but without leader buy-in, the program stalls. If we want to weaponize the potential of H2F, we need more units following the Bastogne model and treating soldier performance like the strategic asset it is." Could You Pass the Army's New Fitness Test? Here's What It Takes first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 2, 2025
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Could you pass the Army's new physical fitness test?
The U.S. Army is rolling out a new fitness test from June 1 that will adopt new standards for all soldiers in combat roles. In a significant shift, the new fitness standards will be the same for men and women, said Army officials. The Army Fitness test is 'sex-neutral and age-normed,' and is 'designed to enhance soldier fitness, improve warfighting readiness, and increase the lethality of the force,' according to a news release. In a Frequently Asked Questions section about the new test, the Army said it is moving to a sex-neutral scoring standard for combat military occupational specialties because 'higher fitness standards are strictly aligned with the unique physical demands of specific roles, maintaining readiness, and mission effectiveness.' It noted that 'no administrative action will be taken regarding the AFT [Army Fitness Test] until January 1, 2026.' The Army FAQ also refers to President Donald Trump's executive order that states the federal government will only recognize two sexes — male and female — which campaigners say discriminates against transgender and non-binary people. It comes as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has vowed to eliminate 'wokeness' from the Pentagon. 'No More Trans @ DoD,' Hegseth wrote in a post on X earlier this month. The Supreme Court has cleared the path for the Trump administration to enforce a ban on transgender people from serving in the military. Transgender active service members can 'separate voluntarily' until June 6 and could be eligible for voluntary separation pay. The deadline is July 7 for reserve members. Some transgender service members are challenging the policy in the courts by arguing that the new policy is a violation of their constitutional rights and is discriminatory. Dr. Jason Perry, a Florida primary care sports medicine physician with Baptist Health Orthopedic Care, told Fox News that the challenge is 'not impossible for the average person with a basic fitness foundation.' 'Generally speaking, the AFT is challenging,' he said. 'But [it's] not impossible for the average person with a basic fitness foundation. It's designed to test full-body strength, muscular endurance, speed, agility and cardiovascular stamina — all elements essential for combat readiness, but also relevant to functional fitness for civilians.' There are five exercises in the test: Three-repetition maximum deadlifts, hand-release push-ups with arm extensions, a sprint-drag-carry exercise, holding the plank position, and finally, a two-mile run. In the first exercise, soldiers are required to deadlift the maximum weight possible three times, using a 60-pound hex bar and plates. Then, they must complete as many hand-release push-ups as possible in two minutes, completely lowering the body to the ground and extending the arms to the side before starting the next push-up. For the sprint-drag-carry exercise, they must perform 5 x 50-meter shuttles as quickly as possible with a 2 x 40-pound kettlebell and a 90-pound sled. Soldiers must then hold the plank position for as long as possible to assess muscular endurance, before finishing off with a two-mile run on a 'generally flat outdoor course.'
The Independent
23-05-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Could you pass the Army's new physical fitness test?
In a significant shift, the new fitness standards will be the same for men and women, said Army officials. The Army Fitness test is 'sex-neutral and age-normed,' and is 'designed to enhance soldier fitness, improve warfighting readiness, and increase the lethality of the force,' according to a news release. In a Frequently Asked Questions section about the new test, the Army said it is moving to a sex-neutral scoring standard for combat military occupational specialties because 'higher fitness standards are strictly aligned with the unique physical demands of specific roles, maintaining readiness, and mission effectiveness.' It noted that 'no administrative action will be taken regarding the AFT [Army Fitness Test] until January 1, 2026.' The Army FAQ also refers to President Donald Trump 's executive order that states the federal government will only recognize two sexes — male and female — which campaigners say discriminates against transgender and non-binary people. It comes as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has vowed to eliminate 'wokeness' from the Pentagon. 'No More Trans @ DoD,' Hegseth wrote in a post on X earlier this month. The Supreme Court has cleared the path for the Trump administration to enforce a ban on transgender people from serving in the military. Transgender active service members can 'separate voluntarily' until June 6 and could be eligible for voluntary separation pay. The deadline is July 7 for reserve members. Some transgender service members are challenging the policy in the courts by arguing that the new policy is a violation of their constitutional rights and is discriminatory. What's in the new Army Fitness Test? Dr. Jason Perry, a Florida primary care sports medicine physician with Baptist Health Orthopedic Care, told Fox News that the challenge is 'not impossible for the average person with a basic fitness foundation.' 'Generally speaking, the AFT is challenging,' he said. 'But [it's] not impossible for the average person with a basic fitness foundation. It's designed to test full-body strength, muscular endurance, speed, agility and cardiovascular stamina — all elements essential for combat readiness, but also relevant to functional fitness for civilians.' There are five exercises in the test: Three-repetition maximum deadlifts, hand-release push-ups with arm extensions, a sprint-drag-carry exercise, holding the plank position, and finally, a two-mile run. In the first exercise, soldiers are required to deadlift the maximum weight possible three times, using a 60-pound hex bar and plates. Then, they must complete as many hand-release push-ups as possible in two minutes, completely lowering the body to the ground and extending the arms to the side before starting the next push-up. For the sprint-drag-carry exercise, they must perform 5 x 50-meter shuttles as quickly as possible with a 2 x 40-pound kettlebell and a 90-pound sled. Soldiers must then hold the plank position for as long as possible to assess muscular endurance, before finishing off with a two-mile run on a 'generally flat outdoor course.'
