Army fitness tests and PT drills are extremely tough. They are designed to exert the soldiers and make them ready for every battle. While each army has its own sets of fitness tests, the majority of which are a hidden secret, there are a few drills that you can try to check your endurance. Today, we are going to talk about such a fitness test, commonly known as the Russian fitness tests that have pre-defined standards to check an individual’s fitness level.
If you are extremely keen about physical fitness and always ready to test your body physically, even you can take on this fitness test to check where you stand in the game. So, let’s quickly walk you through different drills of the Russian army fitness test so that you know what you’ll get yourself into.
The test basically includes 9 different drills that need to be performed in the same order.
- 3,000-meter run (1.8 miles)
- 100-meter run
- 10×10 meter Suicides
- Pullups
- Tricep dips
- Full hanging leg raises
- Pushups
- Bench press
- Hand-to-hand combat
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Seems difficult, doesn’t it? No doubt, these exercises are easier to perform individually, but when you combine them together, things can start to seem a bit challenging. So, let’s quickly discuss the rules of the Russian army fitness test. We’ll discuss the criteria for each exercise individually.
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3,000-meter Run
You’ll embark on this fitness test with a simple 3 KM or 1.9 miles run. If you are a regular runner, the distance will not bother you as much. However, it’s worth noting that you’ll be given a dedicated score depending on the time you take to complete the run. Here are the scoring criteria for this quick run.
- 12:00= Pass
- 11:40= Good
- 11:20= Great
- 11:00= Gold
As you can see that if your aim is to get the “Gold”, you’ll have to run at an average pace of 3 minutes 40 seconds per kilometer or 5 minutes 54.06 seconds per mile. Now, if you know anything about running, you already know that this is going to be hard. In fact, “extremely hard” if running is not a part of your daily activity.
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100-Meter Run
You’d think after a tiring 3km run, you’ll get something easier to recover. Well, you’re right because once you’re done with the first run, the next challenge would be a 100-meter sprint. While this is not a challenging task, we would like to remind you that you are going to perform it after an intense run. Here are the scoring criteria for this quick 100-meter run.
- 13.00 seconds= Pass
- 12.30 seconds= Good
- 12.0 seconds= Great
- 11.45 seconds= Gold
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10×10 Suicides
The next challenge on this list is 10 suicides of 10-meters distance (combining to make a total of 100-meters again). Basically, you’ll have to sprint back and forth (10 times) between two cones (or any objects) set apart at a distance of 10-meters from each other. The scoring criteria for these 10×10 suicides are as follows.
- 26.0 seconds= Pass
- 25.0 seconds= Good
- 24.0 seconds= Great
- 23.0 seconds= Gold
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Pullups
Now that your legs will get fully pumped up, the drill will completely change its course and you’ll have to perform regular pull ups. Again, even if you’re used to performing a number of pullups, it won’t be an easy task to execute them after 3 consecutive physical tasks. Let’s check out the scoring criteria for pullups.
- 20+= Pass
- 23+= Good
- 26+= Great
- 28+= Gold
Since there’s no time restriction here, you can take your time with pullups and only try to complete 20 reps to recover your lower body muscles.
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Tricep Dips
Tricep Dips are among the most challenging exercises to build strong triceps. You might have seen people doing almost 100 reps of tricep dips in the gym. The good news is that you won’t have to do as many dips to pass in the test. The scoring criteria for tricep dips are as follows.
- 30+= Pass
- 35+= Good
- 40+= Great
- 45+= Gold
While performing the dips, one would imagine feeling pain in the arms. However, along with your triceps, your quads will also start to become sore and by the time you complete the exercise, your entire body will be in pain.
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Full Hanging Leg Raises
Now that you’ve tested your legs and arms, it’s time to check your core strength. The next drill in this Russian army fitness test is to perform full hanging leg raises. Just go to the pull-up bar once again and start with the leg raises. The scoring criteria for this drill are as follows:
- 12+= Pass
- 15+= Good
- 18+= Great
- 20+= Gold
If you train your core regularly, performing the leg raises won’t be an extreme challenge for your body. In fact, it might even give you a few seconds to recover.
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Push-Ups
How many pushups can you do in a day? Before, answering, let me tell you that this drill only requires 60 pushups to pass the test. However, since your triceps and arms are completely exhausted, these 60 pushups will look impossible. In fact, while performing this challenge, a YouTuber could only do 40 pushups.
- 60+= Pass
- 65+= Good
- 70+= Great
- 75+= Gold
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Bench Press
So, now that you’re completely exhausted, let’s introduce weights into the challenge. Set up your bench and decide on a weight that you’re comfortable to bench press. The scoring criteria for bench press look something like this:
- 10+= Pass
- 12+= Good
- 15+= Great
- 18+= Gold
If you lift weights daily, you’ll be able to complete this exercise without any effort.
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Hand-to-Hand Combat
Finally, you’ll have to end the Russian army fitness test with a round of hand-to-hand combat. You can grab a partner to complete this round.
Conclusion
If you’ve come this far; Congratulations! Even if you failed a few of the drills, don’t panic as this Russian army fitness test is nothing but “difficult”. You can also check out other fitness tests to check your physical strength and endurance.