How to Train for the ACFT

This is a "give the people what they want" kind of episode. If you've been following us for any amount of time, you'll know we're not fans of training for the test. But so many people have foundational misunderstandings about what types of training will serve them well on the test that we thought this conversation might be helpful.

We start with a little history of how we got to the ACFT we know today, then we lay out a few policy and doctrinal references for how training is "supposed" to be done. These might come in handy if, as we encourage, you're teaching classes to soldiers on how to train more effectively. They will hopefully also clear up a bit of confusion, since people get them wrong so often.

But of course the bulk of this episode is a breakdown of the specific test events, what components of fitness they are designed to assess, and what types of training will improve those components of fitness. We routinely get questions about these topics, so now all the answers are in one place.

If you find this episode useful, please share it with other soldiers!
There are several topics in this episode that we brushed past very briefly. If you want to dive deeper on any of these, here are the episodes and resources we referred to:

How to Build Your PT Plan episode

Programming for Strength episode

ACFT development episode with Dr. DeGroot

Zone 2 training episode with Scott Johnston

Stronger by Science article about the Hinge-Squat Continuum

A throwback early MOPs & MOEs post about the "hardstyle plank"