flickr photo / alpoma

From an ancient tome passed down for generations, these rules for men to live by are ageless. Here is an excerpt:

Rule 3: Keep yourself among the fit - It is a man’s duty to keep himself fit so that he may live a life full of vitality. You needn’t be prepared to run a marathon or compete in strength competitions, but you should be able to lift heavy boxes or make it through a weekend 5K without embarrassing yourself. If you have good genetics and a clean diet, it may take little work to achieve this. However, for those that take more work to stay in serviceable condition, it is your duty to put in that work. A healthy man is a happy man. Being fit enough to live a full and active life is achievable for all.

Notes
I’ve found that a good measure of overall fitness doesn’t have to be put up against the ability to run miles upon miles or to have the strength to lift a small vehicle. Having that amount of stamina or strength is desirable for some, but not needed by all. There are physical fitness standards available. One such resource is the Army Physical Fitness Test. There are different scoring standards for both men and women of different age groups. But a good median example is as follows: Be able to complete roughly 40 pushups in a minute, complete roughly 45 situps in a minute, and be able to run two miles in about 14 or 15 minutes. It should be noted that a top fit soldier could complete 75 pushups, 80 situps and run those two miles in about 13 minutes.

To read more about the Army PFT, click here.

To use an APFT calculator, to see if you’d cut muster as a soldier, click here.
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The Man Rulebook photo by alpoma / http://www.flickr.com/photos/alpoma/ / CC BY-NC 2.0