Different tests in different countries

 Different tests in different countries

Run 2km? Easy.

Forty push-ups? Nothing to fret over.

Fifty sit-ups? No sweat.

Now do all three back to back with no breaks.

Add a tough scoring system where the run accounts for 70 per cent of the total score and you have the Israeli Defence Force Fitness test.

I have regular gym workouts and occasionally jog around my HDB estate, so I thought: "This should still be a piece of cake."

How wrong I was.

The run started fine, but after three laps around the track, I wasn't so sure.

Fatigue was setting in and my legs were beginning to feel like lead.

Worse was that nagging thought: "You're not done after this, you still have two levels of hell left."

By the time I completed the run, every push-up felt like torture.

Sit-ups were more manageable, but not by much.

In the end, I passed by a mere two points, with 57/100.

It was a humbling experience.

The Israeli test took so much out of me that I suffered through the 2.4km run in the IPPT the next morning.

While I had clocked just below nine minutes in the 2km run, I took almost four minutes more to run the extra 400m in the IPPT 2.4km.

If I had gone in fresh for the IPPT, I would say that it would have been much easier.

The Israeli test pushes you to the limits of your endurance and stretches your willpower to extreme levels.

But the IPPT, with its wider test spectrum, allows for a more complete analysis of a person's strengths.

SINGAPORE (VOCATION GROUPING: COMBAT, BELOW 25 YEARS OLD)

The Singapore test consists of five stations and pass standards are based on age, vocation and operationally ready date (ORD).

To pass, servicemen have to get at least a pass in every station: Sit-ups (in 1min) : 31-34 Standing broad-jump: 216-225cm Chin-ups: 6-8 4x10m Shuttle Run: 10.6-10.4sec 2.4km Run-Walk: 11min 41sec-11min 1sec

BRITAIN (18-26 YEARS OLD)

Beep test score: Level 10.2 (about 11 shuttles over a 20m distance in 61s) Sit-ups (in 2min): 50 Push-ups (in 2min): 44 2.4km run: 14min 30sec (Timings depend on vocation) UNITED STATES (17-21 YEARS OLD) Sit-ups (in 2min): 53 Push-ups (in 2min): 42 3.2km run: 15min 54sec

AUSTRALIA (ALL AGES)

Standards differ for personnel in the army, air force and navy. Sit-ups (in 2min): 45 Push-ups (in 2min): 15 Beep test score: 7.5 (about 10 shuttles over a 20m distance in 63s)

ISRAEL (ALL AGES)

The test is usually conducted three times - at the beginning, middle and end of training It consists of: 2km run, sit-ups and push-ups Each exercise carries a certain number of points which will be added up.

The static exercises carry a maximum of 15 points each, while the run carries up to 70 points.

There is no time limit for the static exercises. Servicemen have to do as many as possible without stopping for more than two seconds.

The three exercises are performed one after another with little to no rest in between.

The run is usually the first station.

The passing score for combat soldiers is 55 points.


This article was first published on July 4, 2014.
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