Military Fitness

There was an interesting article in the Military Times about fitness rating in the military.

Spooked by obesity trends, the U.S. military is redefining its basic fitness standards


The US armed forces are attempting to put together a standard that:

- effectively measures health and fitness

- doesn't unfairly penalize the muscular

- doesn't unfairly pass the slender but unfit

- deals with body fat vs. actual physical fitness

- doesn't weaken standards of health and fitness


This is tougher than it sounds. Most of the previous methods - such as the taping method - inaccurately rated body fat. Some common standards, like BMI, fail to deal with people on the extreme ends and don't really give useful information about those in the middle, either.

“We are taking a slightly different perspective on this, focusing on the health: What determinants can we identify that would relate to predispositions for injury or illness?” the defense official said.

So, health and predisposition to injury. Two key issues they want to be able to understand on an individual basis.

And BMI?

"'BMI is absolutely useless'"

The problem is determining what health is, what predisposition to injury and illness actual means in terms of measurements and markers, and then measuring that. This is not a small problem.

Especially interesting to me is the idea of a fitness military specialty. Expect that if that happens, you'll see a lot more military-derived fitness programs and former military fitness specialists touting that experience as the basis for their programs. It's just natural if such a specialty exists.

The article is long but well worth the read.

Dan John's 10 Things Every Lifter Should Be Able to Do - how do I measure up?

Like a lot of folks, I like seeing how I measure up.

I also really like Dan John. He's got a knack for simplifying the complex without dumbing it down.

He recently wrote an article on "10 Things Every Lifter Should Be Able to Do

I'll take a look.

1 – Bench Your Bodyweight

This I was eventually able to do, with a lot of help from John Impallomeni at DeFranco's Training in Wyckoff, NJ. I managed it despite long arms, an iffy shoulder, and not even really worrying about my bench press in particular, getting 205 for one at a bodyweight of about 190-195 at the time. I was very proud of that, but I probably won or lost 0 matches based on getting stronger in this.

I was never great at benching weight-wise, but I learned to be good at it technically.

I always had a history of shoulder issues, thanks to some very aggressive arm bars and a tendency to bounce out of the bottom of pull-ups. This caught up with me, so I can't bench bodyweight right now without risking injury. I'm on the way back, and I expect to meet or exceed this one again.

2 – Deadlift Double Your Bodyweight

I never got there. I pulled 335 on a straight bar for one, 320 on a trap bar for one, also at around 190-195.

This one I was always disappointed in. Finding out just how messed up my neck/shoulder area is explains a lot, though - I could generally break the bar off the floor and get it up smoothly, or couldn't move it at all. It wasn't grip - I pulled 335 double overhand, no problem. What finally set off my bad shoulder wasn't all the pressing and pull ups I did, but pulling a moderate deadlift load weekly for a few weeks and it finally gave up on me.

3 – Hold a Two-Minute Plank

Not a problem. It's a good test.


4 – Sleep With Only One Pillow

This tells me Dan John sleeps on his back. I used to sleep with one, on my side. A chiropractor insisted I add a second pillow, and miraculously my one-sided neck tightness dramatically decreased, as did some lingering issues I had for almost 20 years.

So this seems like an odd standard. Yes, one pillow for a back sleeper. Or one for a side-sleeper if you get one of those special thicker side-sleeper pillows at IKEA.

5 – Sit on Floor Without Using Hands, Knees, or Shins

No problem. Getting back up is tricky sometimes, especially if my hamstrings or glutes were worked hard the day before.

6 – Balance on One Foot for 10 Seconds

This one surprised me. 10 seconds? The standard I'm used to is 60 seconds, knee held up high. Advanced is eyes closed. 10 seconds? Not meaning to brag, but I had to do an exercise today where I stood on one foot for over a minute while oscillating a weight.

It seems like a low standard. If you can't do 10 seconds, it's something to work up to quickly - just take your shoes off and practice. Aim for 30 seconds per side to start.

7 – Hang for 30 Seconds, Pull-Up

No problem. I know it's a compensation pattern for me to manage this, but I can manage it. It's a great standard. The routine he plugged in to the standard is interesting, too.

8 – Long Jump Your Height

I used to be able to do this, I'm not sure if I still could. I'll have to get back to everyone on this after my trainer tells me to try it (yes, I'm a trainer but I have a trainer - experts know expertise and value it.)

9 – 30-Second Bodyweight Squat and Hold

No problem. I'm used to sitting in a squat, and "squat and hold" is a standard I've held myself to for years.

10 – Farmers Walk Your Bodyweight

Depends on the distance, but sure - 190? No problem.


I felt like reading this list that the audience is really T-Nation's, not a general one. Male, 20s and 30s, loves training. Many of those standards - especially 3, 5, and 6 - are good standards for everyone.


I have to say, though, all of these standards-type articles are just a way to detect holes in your own abilities. The actual standards don't matter. Use them as fun, as information, and to ask you about things you may or may not be able to do. Don't worry if someone else's standards don't match yours - just use them as inspiration to try new things and get you motivated to improve your skills and strength without compromising your health. That's, ultimately, what it's all about.

Easy 1-rep max calculation.

Here's a simple way to calculate your progress - convert your lifts into your one-rep max.

Let's say you did 10 x 135 pounds. Ten repetitions with an olympic bar and two 45-pound plates. How much could you do for 1 rep?

You could use a One Rep Max Calculator or carrying a poundage chart around, but sometimes you need to do it in your head.

Wikipedia has this following method as formula one in their article, but I converted it to three easy steps for us mathophobes.

One Rep Max
Step 1: Subtract 1 from the number of reps you did. Divide this number by 30. Don't worry about repeating digits past the first three, they don't matter much. Example, 10 reps would be 9/30=0.333

Step 2: Add one to that number. Example: 0.3+1 = 1.3

Step 3: Multiply the weight you've lifted by this number. Example: 1.3 x 135 = 175.5.


Once you do this a few times, you can get a feel for how to wing it.

11 reps? That's 1 and 1/3 of the weight. So one-third of 135 is 45, so 135+45=180.
10, 7 or 4 reps? 30%, 20%, and 10% more than the weight on the bar. Take 1/10 of the weight and multiply it by 3, 2, or 1. 10x135 is roughly 175, 7x135 is roughly 162.5, 4x135 is roughly 150, rounded off to numbers much easier to add to a bar!
6 reps? Tricky at around 17%, but find 1/3 and half that and add it. 6x135 is just under 160, so if you did 6 reps you might round up to 160 and with 5 round down to 155.

A calculator makes it all easier, and it's a simple method to remember. Like all of these calculators it's really approximate. You might be able to do more or less reps for a given weight than the calculator says. But it will let you compare your progress if you use the same calculator each time.

This will let you compare really disparate reps and weights. Is 9 x 125 pounds better or worse than 6 x 135? What about 12 x 20 pounds versus 15 x 15 pounds? That time you did 10 x 225 versus the time you did 2 x 275, how do they match up? Now you know how to find out easily...

If I squat X, what should I be able to deadlift?

One really common questions on forums is that of relative levels of certain lifts. What should my front squat be compared to my back squat? If I can deadlift 225 pounds, what should I be able to power clean? And so on.

There are two answers to these questions.

The simple answer: There aren't any relative levels. All of your lifts should be higher than they are now. Don't worry about it, and get lifting.

The complicated answer: There are relative levels, and they're a useful guide to seeing if you've gone a bit too overboard on some exercises while neglecting others.

There are three really good resources for this.

Simplest and best are the strength standards from Rippetoe/Kilgore. Ideally, you want your different lifts to be at the same levels of training. If your squat is "Novice" while your deadlift is closing in on "Elite", you've got a problem and you know it means more squatting. Simple enough.

Next up, and limited to the bench press, is Charles Poliquin's "Achieving Structural Balance." This article takes you through a series of tests of exercises related to bench pressing. If one or more of those exercises is lagging, it's probably holding back your bench press.


Another is "How Much Can You Lift (Wimp)?" by Brad Kaczmarski, also for T-Nation. For this one, you plug in your numbers for one of the big three lifts - deadlift, bench press, or back squat - and get an idea of where your other lifts should be.

Ultimately, remember that these are just guidelines. You might find when you play around with them that:

- you need to try more than one "base number" and which one gives you the most information.

- some weights will be way out of line. If they're high, that's not bad, if they're terribly low, that probably is.

- only some exercises make the list. You won't find a relative numbers spreadsheet with everything.

-You won't always match up across the board on some exercises, depending on your build and how you execute the exercises.


You will vary from these numbers. Everyone will to some extent. You're just looking for glaring issues.

Ultimately this kind of things is just good for a rough guideline and some fun. Enjoy these, but remember they're just telling you what to work on. It's not prescriptive!