why bother?

[steve-o]

The CF fitness requirements are an embarrassment! Who can't do 19 pushups? The standards have been lowered to such a degree that below average people can qualify for the military. Why even bother talking about fitness and what eveyone's secret training methods are when anyone ( excluding *********) can do the minimum anyways? Get over it!

Mod edit- show some compassion. Name removed.

 

[P-Free]

How is someone below average if they meet the requirements?  ???

 

[Korus]

Steve-O, maybe some people don't see the minimum as a boundary that they settle at, and want to push themselves as far past as possible?

 

[Island Ryhno]

Also, the standards are there to allow a wide range of people into the forces, a cook or postal clerk for example need not be as fit as an Infantry soldier. The standards are then raised as one progresses through their trade, going infantry? expect alot of PT, going to be an RMS clerk? not so much. Secondly there are many good people in the forces right now who just barely made the minimums on the pt test. Soldiering is more than physical fitness.

 

[ab136]

Why even bother talking about fitness and what eveyone's secret training methods are when anyone ( excluding *********) can do the minimum anyways?

Very bad remark!!IMHO

 

[Armageddon]

I don't think I have ever met anyone that had a goal of getting C- in school.  Everyone wants to do better than the bare minimum.  Yes it s true that there are always those who want to skim the bottom, but they tend to stay there in all aspects of the job.  I think the minimums are there to make sure that somebody has an understanding of "basic" fitness and after that people will tend to try and do better than the minimum as it reflects poorly on themselves.

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Quote from Steve-O,
The CF fitness requirements are an embarrassment! Who can't do 19 pushups?

....maybe the guy/girl who took some shrapnel at Medak/Kabul/etc or wrecked their shoulder night jumping.

I'd be more concerned with posting standards if I were you.   Just in case you didn't catch it, that was a very strong hint........

 

[DogOfWar]

I dont care if a person cant meet the mins right before they apply. If they buckle down and develop a program that allows them the improvement. I think thats indicative of an attitude that should be sought after in the military, "Adapt and overcome" Id rather that than deal with people who look down on everyone else "Steve-o"

 

[Forgotten_Hero]

Erm, Steve... are you in the CF? If so, did you start BMQ yet? Do you realise that the CF isnt trying to recruit the best of the best... the CF is trying to recruit anyone in decent enough shape and turn them INTO the best of the best. You're not asked to do more than 19 pushups when applying... but during training, you're not gonna get by with 19 pushups.

 

[steve-o]

This forum is teaming with people ready to jump on someone they don't agree with! I was just questioning the slack requirements the CF asks of new recruits, that's all. No need to get your knickers in a twist girls! Since when did CF members become such politically corect sissies? I'd expect that sort of reaction on a university campus!

 

[CrimsonTwilight]

You can question the fitness requirements in a respectful and mature way rather than bit*hing about it.

 

[steve-o]

You can question the fitness requirements in a respectful and mature way rather than bit*hing about it.

oh, thank you very much for your permission! I suppose you will let me know what is mature and respectful Crimson? I sometimes wonder if this really is Soviet Canuckistan!

 

[Canadian Sig]

NASA has rocket scientists and garbage men working there. Since they both work for the same organisation does that mean the garbage man has to have a degree in rocket science? Think it's sorta the same thing between say infanteers and RMS clerks. Just my humble opinion.  

 

[winchable]

This forum is teaming with people ready to jump on someone they don't agree with!

If you have an opinion, people are going to disagree with it at some point.
In this particular instance, a number of people disagreed with you and voiced their reason why.

I'm not sure if you would like your opinion to be different and protected from disagreeing voices.
Until you can come up with a reason as to why you're special, return an argument with the same not a childish attack.
Did you post and not expect any replies at all?

I'm not sure what your problem is and I'm not sure where you get off calling anyone politically correct sissies but you need to develop a thicker skin to disagreements.
No one personally attacked you, yet you felt the need to return a disagreeing viewpoint with knee jerk insults do it again and you'll find your comments less and less welcome.

 

[McInnes]

The minimum requirements are there simply to ensure that the member is fit enough to do the basic physical activities on BMQ without dieing, or that some one will be fit enough to perform their duties. It is not an indicator of how fit the CF wants an individual to be. The combat arms have different standards for the most part, as you'll realise on your trades course and at at the unit level (hopefully).

 

[Dirt Digger]

Personally, I've never been impressed with the current CF Express test. 

Maybe you've seen different in the past, maybe it's just me.  But I seem to notice the crowd will magically split into the doing the bare minimum to either get the pass or get the exempt.  How many people do you see stop the shuttle run at the 6 mark?  The only people that continue are the under 30s that have to continue or the people going for exempt.  (Or the SAR Techs!)

From there, the PSP staff will often tell you *exactly* how many pushups/situps you need to achieve in order to get your exempt...and most of the people I've seen will go no further than required.  I guess to a certain extent, this is the nature of the beast that we've created.  But I think the system has gone too far towards, "meet the minimum standard" rather than to "challenge yourself and see how good you can do".  :-\

 

[McInnes]

Perhaps a CF wide mandatory fitness program? You could have several groups and levels of program. For example if you meet 19 pushups, etc you go on the lvl 1, make 30 lvl 2, make 40 lvl 3, above 50, exempt. Something similar to that. That way people would have something to strive towards. If they surpass the minumum they get an easier fitness program throughout the year. People are generally quite lazy so will strive to do the least amount of work possible.  Or so I've seen.

 

[Ennasa]

Ok.... loll
Here's me... a 24 year old single mother of 2, who, for the past 3 years has been working as a hotel receptionist sitting on her *** all day.  First of all, babies change a womans body, and sitting around has turned me into a blob.  With my busy schedule of raising my kids by myself and working 40+ hours a week, often the night shift, havent helped my physical condition at all.
Do you think everyone, men and women, are made alike and can do 20 push ups with ease???  I think not! I CAN NOT.... I repeat... CAN NOTTTT do the minimum of I believe its 9 pushups for women.  I cant even do ONE!!!!!!  I have to work with the minimum and then surpass it.  I have a goal to work towards if I ever want to get in.  The minimum exists for people like me.

Anyways, my opinion.

 

[armyrules]

Steve-O,
  I think the reason why the CF made the minimums so low is that in everyone there is always a chance for improvement. So they put these minimums to make candidates think "If I can do 19 pushups now maybe I can do 30 by the end of the month". It puts  a sense of determination into people's bodies. Personally I can surpass the minimums myself but I don't come on the boards and whine about it.

 

[Dirt Digger]

I remember doing the "PT 400" test back in Wainwright in 98. 

As I remember it, 4 components: run, chin ups, push ups and sit ups.  Each component was scored from 0 to 100.  The minimum to pass a single component was scored as 50 points, so for example 7 chin ups was 50 points, 8 was 55...up to 18 or something which was 100 points.  The kicker was that to pass you had to have a *combined* score of over 250...meaning that you couldn't scrape the bare minimum across all 4 components...

We did a PT 400 at the start and finish of JLC to see our improvement.  Most people saw an improvement of their scores from about 30 to 50 points.  We even had an individual score a perfect 400.  (I went from a 270-something to 220-something)

However, I think I heard something a few years ago about people that were RTU'd off courses for failing the test...how it wasn't an official test to replace the Express, etc.  (No one from our course was RTU'd)  Not sure if it was the PT 400 they were talking about, but I thought it was a much better attempt at making a test to get people to try their best, rather than try for a pass.