Looking strong is not the same thing as being fit

A couple of British bodybuilders attempted the US Army physical fitness test recently, and the results weren’t all that good. Now, to be fair, they performed a lot better than I could. Kudos, guys.

That said, you would’ve assumed just from looking at those guys that they’d be able to breeze through the test. That test, by the way, is two minutes of push ups, two minutes of sit ups, and a two mile run. Your score is just by the number of push ups you complete, the number of sit ups you complete, and your time on the run. Perfect form is required for the push ups and sit ups, and if you break form you fail.

Of the two of them, one of the bodybuilders failed the test and the other passed-barely. 

If you follow that link above you can watch the full video and see how they do in each section. They’re fine during the push ups and sit ups, although they have a harder time of it than you might think. The run, though, is devastating. 

Now, these guys appear to be in great shape. They’re muscular, at least. They’re definitely stronger than the average man. What they don’t have is stamina. They make it through the first two parts of the test, but the run is almost too much for them.

The moral of the story is this: don’t believe people when they say that strength training is all you need to be fit. Strength training makes you strong. For most of us, it’s a good thing and it’s all the exercise we need to be healthy. But if you want to be fit in every sense of the word, you probably need to add in some sprint training.