Again, you seem very defensive for some reason. Ok so you have
different experiences to me. My times seem more realistic though
taking into account the extra effort needed to run an additional
800m.
I do not tend to bother with situps, pushups etc because I think
they are not too difficult to train for. There is also very little
comparison between pushups and pullups - like apples and
oranges! Let's face it, the most difficult aspect of IPPT for
the majority of people will be the aerobic component.
As well, the 4 stations are hardly taxing. I would class that as
warmup. :) Anyway, even taking that into account, our standards are
still imo low compared to other armies. Not that I am surprised. We
are a conscript army after all and have to take everyone regardless
of ability.
The point is we do not have a BMT standard (because we have to
take everyone!). You can pass BMT without passing IPPT. 12:20 is
the standard for the army as a whole.
I sound bias. Maybe. BUt that is because I, having looked at the
figures, feel strongly that our fitness standards fall short of
other armies. That is lamentable but there is not much that can be
done about it.
Nah, if you think 4km is any easier than 3.2km. I believe my
timing for 3.2km would be constant at that point in time too.
Well, it seems that you would think chin ups are easier to train
than 2.4km too?
And I have seen people (more than 1) during army who can run
gold in 2.4km yet fail sit ups. The same goes for chin ups; there
are people who can run very well, yet struggle to do more than 2
chin ups. Easy to train? Again, I guess you would say your personal
experiences count again. Also take note of the number of people who
failed standing broad jump, yet have the ability to pass 2.4km.
"the most difficult aspect of IPPT for the majority of people
will be the aerobic component" is hardly accurate. Each of the
stations train a different thing. I agree that pushups and sit ups
are easy to train for. Yet trained correctly, even short distances
like 2.4km/3.2km are not too difficult to train for too. It is just
whether you have the knowledge and motivation to do so.
You would classify 4 stations as warm up, but to others which I
have seen in army, it's not warm up to them. Personal experiences
again?
Our 4 stations tests anaerobic fitness on different muscle
groups
SBJ - legs and hip flexors
Sit ups - hip flexors
Chin ups - lats, abs and biceps
Shuttle run - agility in turning, legs
With respect to this, do you think push ups and sit ups alone
test more than these? I would go further to say that training for
chin ups beats training for push ups any day; the back is
ultimately a more important muscle group with regards to fitness.
Hence, chin ups are a better (and harder) test of physical
fitness.
I agree with the point that we are a conscript army and that we
can pass BMT without passing IPPT though. Our fitness standards may
not be up to par, I wouldn't know, but the IPPT is definitely not
too low of a standard too.
