The United States Marine Corps requires that all Marines perform a Physical Fitness Test (PFT) and a Combat Fitness Test (CFT) once each calendar year. The PFT is conducted between January 1 and June 30, and the CFT is conducted between July 1 and December 31. The same standards apply for reservists .
20-640: The PFT is a collective measure of general fitness Marine Corps-wide, and consists of three events: On October 1, 2008, the Marine Corps introduced the additional pass/fail CFT to the fitness requirements. The CFT is designed to measure abilities demanded of Marines in a war zone. For this test, Marines choose to either perform pull-ups or push-ups. However, the maximum score is only attainable if pull-ups are chosen. The pull-ups may be done with either an overhand (pronated) grip or an underhand (supinated) " chin-up " grip. Changes in grip are allowed as long as
40-458: A chin-up —neutral, or rotating hand position. Pull-ups are used by some organizations as a component of fitness tests, and as a conditioning activity for some sports. Beginning by hanging from the bar, the body is pulled up vertically. From the top position, the participant lowers their body until the arms and shoulders are fully extended. The end range of motion at the top end may be chin over bar or higher, such as chest to bar. Pull-ups are
60-424: A closed-chain , compound movement involving flexion at the elbow and adduction or extension of the shoulder joint . The trapezius , infraspinatus , and brachialis muscles are most active at the beginning of the pull-up; the latissimus dorsi , teres major , and biceps brachii reach peak activity during the middle of the movement, and the triceps brachii and subscapularis experienced maximum activity at
80-476: A Marine's sex and age group in all events, except for planking where all sexes and ages use the same scoring scale. The minimum combined score required to pass the PFT is 150. The maximum possible score is 300. Event scoring is designed so meeting the minimum score in each event is not enough to pass the PFT; additional points must be scored in at least one event to meet the passing threshold overall. Failure to meet
100-433: A conditioning activity for many sports, especially those that require pulling strength, including rock climbing , gymnastics , rope climbing , rowing , and swimming . They are also used by police and military to increase muscular strength among their members. Some organizations allow women to use a flexed arm hang as a substitute for a pull up in fitness tests after discovering that few female recruits could complete
120-462: A duration 3:45 to for a maximum score. The three-mile run event is a timed event where the Marine runs exactly three miles on reasonably flat ground, not on a treadmill, either indoors or outdoors, as quickly as possible. Marines satisfying any of the following requirements can, instead of running, opt to row 5000 meters on a rowing ergometer: The scoring for each event in the test is dependent upon
140-404: A pull-up. According to a 2003 study in college-age women, one third of participants were able to complete a pull-up after a twelve-week full-body strength training program. The Guinness World Record for the most consecutive pull-ups was set by Japan Coast Guard diver Kenta Adachi in 2022 with 651 pull-ups, taking 87 minutes. The Guinness World Record for the maximum amount of weight added to
160-477: A timed event where the Marine must perform as many crunches as possible in two minutes. The plank event consists of maintaining a proper plank position for as long as possible or until the max time to earn 100 points. The planking form prescribed is that forearms, toes, and fists or palms in contact with the floor at all times. The body must remain flat and parallel to the deck. The Marine must hold this position as long as possible with no pauses. Marines must achieve
180-457: A weighted pull-up was set by David Marchante of Spain in 2016, with 104.55 kilograms (230.5 lb). Closed-chain Closed kinetic chain exercises or closed chain exercises (CKC) are physical exercises performed where the hand (for arm movement) or foot (for leg movement) is fixed in space and cannot move. The extremity remains in constant contact with the immobile surface, usually
200-504: Is a closed-chain movement where the body is suspended by the hands, gripping a bar or other implement at a distance typically wider than shoulder-width, and pulled up. As this happens, the elbows flex and the shoulders adduct and extend to bring the elbows to the torso. Pull-ups build up several muscles of the upper body, including the latissimus dorsi , trapezius , and biceps brachii . A pull-up may be performed with overhand (pronated), underhand (supinated)—sometimes referred to as
220-416: Is more efficient due to muscle and tendon stretch-shortening rebound. Overhead movements such as pull-ups reduce the subacromial space and create a risk of shoulder impingement . According to one study, the pronated grip pull-up with hands at shoulder width apart led to less risk of impingement than other variations studied. Pull-ups can be done with a supinated , neutral, or pronated grip; devices allow
SECTION 10
#1732794562389240-399: The PFT. However, when more than half of female recruits were unable to meet this standard, the change was delayed. In 2017, the flexed-arm hang event was eliminated, and both male and female Marines were given the choice to do either push-ups or pull-ups for this event. Before the PFT, Marines will indicate if they will attempt the plank or the abdominal crunch. The abdominal crunch event is
260-451: The feet do not touch the ground and only the hands come in contact with the pull-up bar. The pull-up begins at the "dead-hang" with arms extended and the body hanging motionless. A successful pull-up is performed without excess motion, the body rising until the chin is above the bar, and body lowered back to the "dead-hang" position. There is no time limit. Until 2017, male Marines were required to perform pull-ups, and female Marines performed
280-421: The flexed hang instead of the pull-up. The flexed hang was started with the chin above the pull-up bar. The timer was started and did not stop until the arms became fully extended. The feet could not touch the ground or any part of the pull-up bar at any time. The Marine Corps had originally indicated that, as of January 1, 2014, female Marines would be required to perform a minimum of three pull-ups in order to pass
300-565: The former to more utilitarian and athletic activities. These exercises are typically weight bearing exercises, where an exerciser uses one's own body weight and/ or external weight. Push-ups and their derivatives (including handstand), pull-ups (or chin-ups ), Supine row and dips, concentrate on a co-contraction of the triceps , biceps , deltoids , pectorals , lats , abdominals and lower back for stabilization in various ratios depending upon angle and leverage. Squats , deadlifts , lunges , power cleans : these concentrate on
320-435: The grip to rotate during the pull-up. The pull-up performed with a supinated grip is sometimes called a chin-up. A pull-up may be completed using different widths of hand position; studies have found that participants freely choose a grip that is between 20 and 50 percent wider than shoulder width. A grip that is too wide could increase the injury risk or reduce the number of repetitions able to be completed due to lengthening
340-475: The ground or the base of a machine. The opposite of CKC exercises are open kinetic chain exercises (OKC). Closed chain exercises are often compound movements, that generally incur compressive forces, while open-chain exercises are often isolation movements that promote more shearing forces. CKC exercises involve more than one muscle group and joint simultaneously rather than concentrating solely on one, as many OKC exercises do (single-joint movements), lending
360-465: The lever arm. Pull-ups are commonly performed using a bar; doorway mounted bars are sold for use in home gyms . They can also be completed by grasping towels, rotating handles or gymnastics rings . Pull-ups are a common way to measure upper body strength, endurance, and strength-to-weight ratio. The strength to do a pull-up is correlated with job-related tasks in some careers such as firefighting , police, and military. Pull-ups are used as
380-508: The minimum requirement in any one event results in the failure of the entire test, regardless of the overall score. Marines who pass the test are classified into classes based on performance: [REDACTED] This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps . Pull-up (exercise) A pull-up is an upper-body strength exercise . The pull-up
400-438: The top of the movement. There is similarity to the pull-down in terms of the muscle activation. A 2017 study found that pronated grip activated the middle trapezius more than the neutral grip, but that overall the muscle activation of different grip variants was similar. Muscle activation is significantly different depending on whether the pull-up is completed individually or in a set without resting between repetitions, which
#388611