For those who have experienced the ACFT, what are the pros and cons?

2020-03-04T12:31:48-05:00

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 4 at 2020 12:33 PM

2020-03-04T12:33:57-05:00

The bare minimums are easily attainable. I believe we need to have more TTT courses to help prevent injury. The old school mindset of lifting being evil needs to adapt to the new standard and allow subordinate leaders to incorporate legitimate weight training into PT.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 4 at 2020 10:10 PM

2020-03-04T22:10:42-05:00

Pros - for those of us who aren’t runners and are more weight lifters I found it to be pretty good. The sprint drag carry will tax even the fittest people. The bare minimums are pretty easy to hit except for the leg tuck. That one got a lot of people at DCC when I went. Including me. A lot of upper body strength and unless you’re used to doing pull ups or dips a lot then it’s totally foreign to you and will take some work.

I also noticed some of the 30 something female officers struggling with the decreased run times for them.

Other than the leg tuck I prefer the ACFT to the apft, but then again I’ve never been a fast runner and I hate sit ups.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 4 at 2020 10:41 PM

2020-03-04T22:41:29-05:00

Pros: As others have said, the minimums are fairly easy to achieve.

Cons: It takes more time to set up and execute.

It takes a lot of equipment.

For reserve component, sites are limited.

It’s not very friendly for people with the most common Army related injuries (back, shoulders, hips, knees)

The alternate events should come with a spot on the US Olympic team.

Response by 1SG Dustin Springer made Mar 6 at 2020 11:53 PM

2020-03-06T23:53:56-05:00

I have taken the ACFT twice in the last 4 months. I believe it is a better assessment of total body fitness.

Pros
- makes you push yourself
- more competitive
- better assessment
- aerobic and anaerobic is truly tested
- minimums easily attainable

Cons
- time consuming but manageable
- set up and tear down of lanes/equipment

Our unit isn’t getting the ACFT Containers until the end of May but there is tons of exercises within FM 7-22 to assist in preparation for the ACFT. I truly like the ACFT way better then the APFT. Like I stated before it is a holistic view of comprehensive fitness.

Response by PFC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 4 at 2020 11:59 AM

2020-04-04T11:59:07-04:00

Pros:
It actually tests physical fitness
-The deadlift shows if you can coordinate multiple muscular systems to legitimately move a heavy object in the field.
-The ball toss measures you explosive potential.
-The sprint/drag/carry test your ability to move quickly from point to point while executing a variety of physically demanding tasks.
-The hand release pushups ttest your ability to get off the ground when you're tired.
-The leg tuck tests your ability to simultaneously pull yourself up and engage your core.
The main point is that strength and agility are finally being considered, whereas the APFT was too favorable to light, short runners.

Cons:
-The T part of the hand-release pushups is just silly and it burns out your deltoids way before anything else in the pushing motion. I feel this was added to justify a lower repetition standard and keep females with significantly weaker triceps and pecs in the game.
-The 2-mile run is just a virtue-signal at this point. A 400 meter dash with a faster standard would be a significantly better test of combat readiness as you will never just be jogging medium speed in any combat situation. You're gonna book it as fast as you can to cover or a vehicle.