Enough lollygagging: It’s presidential physical phitness time.
Qualifying standards for a 17 year old boy (the oldest for which they’re willing to publish standards, to go beyond that you need to go with military standards…which would be just silly). On the other hand, at least the army publishes standards for my age range.
| Event | 85% | 50% | |
| Curl-ups (# in one minute) | 55 | 44 | Rock. I can do this now |
| Shuttle Run (seconds) | 8.7 | 9.4 | Need a chalk eraser to do this one properly, if memory serves |
| V-Sit Reach (inches) | 7 | 3 | Whatever |
| One mile run | 6:06 | 7:04 | 7:00 achieved. That last minute may require some training |
| Pull ups | 13 | 8 | Got 8 in a row after the rest of a workout yesterday. 13 consecutive may require a bit more planning. That’s not an end-of-the-day sort of thing. |
| Push ups | 53 | 37 | Haven’t tested myself yet. |
Of course, were I to long for injury and possible death, I could try to achieve the Navy SEALs standards. Ha. Ha ha.
Another discovery: On perusing a rock climbing book, I discovered “uneven pull ups.” These are apparently “the first step on the road to one handed pull ups.” Basically, you need two bars (or grips of some sort) which are vertically offset by about 14 inches. Grab one with one hand, the other with the remaining hand. Go on. Try one. They’re wayharder than they have any right to be. Why? Your shoulders leave the equation. Ordinary pull-ups ought to be mostly back, with a little bit of arm. Uneven pull ups are all arm, all the time. Yeesh.
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