Army Fitness Test (AFT) Events and Scoring Standards

The Army Fitness Test is the U.S. Army’s five-event physical fitness test of record. It includes the three-repetition maximum deadlift, hand-release push-up with arm extension, sprint-drag-carry, plank, and two-mile run. Combat specialties need 350 total points with at least 60 points in each event. Combat-enabling specialties need 300 total points. Your age affects scoring in both groups, while sex affects scoring for combat-enabling specialties.¹

Army Fitness Test Events and Standards

The U.S. Army’s official AFT page lists five events.¹ Each event tests a different physical demand, so your preparation needs to cover the full test.

3 Repetition Maximum Deadlift (MDL)

The 3 Repetition Maximum Deadlift measures your ability to lift a heavy load from the floor for three repetitions. It places a high demand on your hips, legs, back, and grip.

Your preparation should begin with consistent resistance training and sound lifting technique. Build a general strength training base before you focus on heavier test-specific work, and leave enough recovery between sessions that fatigue does not wear down your technique.

The guide to exercise and testosterone covers how resistance training relates to testosterone.

Hand Release Push-Up - Arm Extension (HRP)

The Hand Release Push-Up - Arm Extension measures upper-body muscular endurance through repeated push-ups with a defined arm-extension movement. Your chest, shoulders, triceps, and trunk must work together throughout the event.

Practice the exact movement standard while building general pushing strength. Clean repetitions are more useful than rushed repetitions that do not match the Army standard. Your shoulder position and trunk control should remain consistent as fatigue rises.

Sprint-Drag-Carry (SDC)

The Sprint-Drag-Carry measures your ability to accelerate, change direction, drag resistance, and carry weight. It combines several physical demands in one event.

Preparation should include short running efforts, changes of direction, loaded carries, and controlled dragging practice. Train each movement separately before combining them. This lets you identify whether speed, grip, leg strength, or transitions are limiting your performance.

Plank (PLK)

The Plank measures how long you can hold a stable trunk position. It depends on coordinated tension through your abdomen, back, shoulders, and hips.

Practice holding the required position with consistent alignment. Trunk training can also include movements that resist extension and rotation. The aim is to maintain position as fatigue develops, because extra movement wastes energy.

Two-Mile Run (2MR)

The Two-Mile Run measures aerobic endurance and your ability to maintain pace over the full distance. The test also includes deadlifting, sprinting and loaded carries, so you need enough conditioning to hold pace on tired legs.

Your training should include easier aerobic work and faster running efforts. Avoid treating every run like a test. A balanced running schedule gives you room to improve pace while managing the stress created by deadlifting, sprinting, and loaded carries.

Scoring for Combat and Combat-Enabling Specialties

Army Fitness Test scoring depends on whether your specialty is classified as combat or combat-enabling. Both systems account for age, including for Soldiers age 40 and older.¹

Standard	Combat Specialties	Combat-Enabling Specialties
Total score required	350 points	300 points
Minimum per event	60 points	Not stated on the AFT page
Age adjustment	Age-normed	Age-normed
Sex adjustment	Sex-neutral	Sex-normed
Additional test	Combat Field Test	None listed in the AFT source

Combat-specialty standards are sex-neutral and age-normed. You need at least 60 points in every event, so a high score in one event cannot offset a score below the event minimum.¹

Clearing 60 points confirms that you met the event minimum. It does not show whether your strength, endurance, and recovery are ready for repeated demands.

Combat-enabling standards are sex- and age-normed, with 300 total points required.¹ Your exact point conversion depends on the official scoring table for your age and sex. Use the Army Fitness Test scoring tables to confirm your current standard instead of relying on an older chart.

The AFT became the Army test of record on June 1, 2025. Combat standards took effect for active-duty Soldiers on January 1, 2026, and for Army Reserve and National Guard Soldiers on June 1, 2026.¹ Your specialty classification determines which scoring system you need to prepare for.

The AFT and ACFT Transition

The AFT replaced the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) as the Army’s test of record on June 1, 2025.² The current AFT has five events and separates scoring between combat and combat-enabling specialties.

Combat specialties use a sex-neutral, age-normed standard with a 350-point total and a 60-point minimum in each event. Combat-enabling specialties use sex- and age-normed scoring with a 300-point total.¹

Older ACFT scorecards may not reflect your current requirements. Confirm your specialty category and use the current Army Fitness Test scoring tables when setting training targets. For a broader view of how the services structure physical testing, see the military fitness test comparison.

The Combat Field Test for Combat Specialties

The Combat Field Test is a separate pass-or-fail assessment for Soldiers in combat specialties. It is age- and sex-neutral, and all seven events must be completed in 30 minutes or less.¹

The events are completed in this order:

1. One-mile run
2. 30 dead-stop push-ups
3. 100-meter sprint
4. 16 lifts of a 40-pound sandbag onto a 65-inch platform
5. 50-meter carry with two 40-pound water cans
6. 50-meter movement drill consisting of a 25-meter high crawl and a 25-meter series of 3-to-5-second rushes
7. Final one-mile run

Phased implementation began on April 17, 2026. Record testing begins on April 17, 2027.¹

Combat-specialty Soldiers need preparation that covers both the AFT and the Combat Field Test. The second assessment adds repeated running, lifting, carrying, crawling, and ground movement under a time limit. General physical readiness therefore matters more than practicing a single event in isolation.

Event-by-Event Preparation Principles

A complete Army fitness test training plan develops each event while leaving enough recovery for consistent work. The Army advises Soldiers to focus on consistent physical training instead of limiting preparation to test practice.¹

Last-minute test practice can help you learn event order and standards. Consistent training develops the five different capacities the AFT measures.

Your plan should cover these event demands:

• Deadlift strength: Build hip and leg strength with controlled resistance training. Technique should remain stable as the load rises.
• Push-up endurance: Practice the official movement while developing chest, shoulder, triceps, and trunk endurance.
• Sprint-drag-carry capacity: Train acceleration, changes of direction, loaded carries, dragging, and transitions.
• Plank control: Develop trunk endurance while maintaining the same body position required during testing.
• Running endurance: Combine sustainable aerobic work with faster efforts that prepare you to hold pace.

Training all five events at full intensity during every session can leave little room for recovery. Separate heavier strength work, faster running, and longer aerobic sessions when needed. Your current scores can show which event needs more attention, but one low result should be read alongside sleep, training volume, soreness, and recent workload.

A repeated weak event deserves a wider review. A physician can read sleep, stress, hormones, exercise, inflammation, and nutrition together as one recovery picture.

The official scoring chart should set your target. Your training plan should then work backward from that target while accounting for the event minimums that apply to your specialty.

One training plan cannot account for every combination of scores and recovery. Build the plan from your current results, then adjust it as those results change.

Preparation After Age 40

Age-normed scoring means the Army Fitness Test uses age-specific standards for Soldiers over 40.¹ Your preparation still needs to cover all five events, but recovery may require more deliberate planning as strength and running work accumulate.

Sleep belongs in that plan. In a small laboratory study of young healthy men, one week of sleep restriction to five hours per night reduced daytime testosterone levels by 10% to 15%.³ The study did not test older men or AFT performance, but it shows that one week of short sleep lowered a measured hormone.

Testosterone also tends to decline with age. The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging followed 890 men and found that testosterone declined with age independent of health factors.⁴ The incidence of hypogonadal total testosterone levels rose to about 20% in men over 60, 30% in men over 70, and 50% in men over 80.⁴

Those findings do not mean that a difficult training cycle proves you have low testosterone. Fatigue can also reflect sleep, nutrition, workload, or another health issue. Measurement gives your physician a baseline and lets related markers be interpreted together.

The 2026 testosterone screening policy for service members is covered separately in TRT in the military. If your recovery, energy, or performance changes, bring the pattern to a physician instead of drawing a conclusion from one symptom.

The Opt Take on Army Fitness Test Preparation

At Opt Health, a physician reads your labs and recovery picture behind your weakest event, builds your medical plan, and adjusts it as your numbers change. An AFT score identifies where your performance stands. Your labs and recovery history provide a wider view of the factors behind that score.

Your initial panel covers 55+ biomarkers, including hormones, inflammation, cardiovascular risk, and more. During a 1:1 consultation, your physician reviews those results along with your existing conditions and current medications, then sets a personalized plan.

The care model tracks six pillars: sleep, stress, hormones, exercise, inflammation, and nutrition. Follow-up blood panels and physician consultations repeat every three to four months, so your physician can adjust the plan based on what your numbers did over time. That process supports your preparation without treating one event score as the whole picture.

Get started: Begin with Opt Health, where a physician reads your labs, builds your plan, and adjusts it over the loop.

Frequently Asked Questions

This content is for informational purposes and does not replace evaluation, diagnosis, or treatment by a qualified medical professional.