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It appears that the Army has finally settled on the Arm Extension version of the Hand Release Push-Up test. I don’t foresee them changing it back to the original version, but then again it is the Army so I guess I wouldn’t be shocked. The good news is though if you can get strong at the Arm Extension version you’ll be fine if they switch it back to the version of just lifting your hands. Plus all of you have had some good practice over the years doing “push-ups” in the APFT so this should be easy right? Haha. NOPE.
I put push-ups in “…” because let’s be honest, what was considered a push-up by Army standards is ridiculous. I used to hear some outlandish numbers for what people could do. Most people would say that I’m fit, and I’d like to believe them, but 100 push-ups in 120 seconds seemed impossible to me. But once I saw what would be green-lit as a push-up on the APFT I realized it was much more attainable. Granted, I never saw a single soldier get their chest to the ground, so it makes sense that with a limited range of motion (ROM) some numbers could be inflated. The Army brass had enough of those push-ups though and people like me making fun of them. Good on them for upping the ante with the Hand Release.
Looking over the ACFT website, in the “How to train for this event?” section they have 4 movements. Supine Chest Press, 8-Count T Push-Up, Incline Bench & Quadraplex as their top 4. Firstly, the Quadraplex is a Bird Dog. It’s been called that forever. I will never understand why the Army renames some stuff that already has a name but won’t rename the atrocity that they call a lunge. My knees are hurting just thinking about it. The 8-Count T Push-Up is a slow-motion Hand Release T Burpee. Am I right? That’s what it appears to be to me. So if you’ve ever done a CrossFit WOD you’ve probably done one or 600 of them. And the Supine Chest Press is a Floor Press and Incline Bench Press is, well it’s an Incline Bench Press. I didn’t watch the video they posted so I can’t confirm if it is in-fact one haha.
Now I am a big fan of the Incline Bench Press, Bench Press & Close Grip Bench Press, nothing bad to say about them, they’re all applicable to the test and I would include all 3 in any of the training I’d give someone if they had access to a bench and bar. The Floor Press, I meant Supine Chest Press, isn’t bad and is often used when people don’t have access to a bench and/or have shoulder problems. Which I am sure some of you do. Floor Pressing is a good option to lighten the load on the shoulders and with the limited ROM, it puts more of an emphasis on the lockout portion of the press. So your triceps will get more isolation work as the primary mover. I think the Supine Press is a good accessory movement, but shouldn’t be the main focus, or included in your training if you’re crunched for time, but if you’re in a pinch and all the benches are taken, it’ll do. My only recommendation is using a neutral grip. Palms facing one another.
With the 8-Count thingamajig, the pacing of it I don’t believe will do anything to help you on the test unless you are extremely unfit. If the goal of it is to take 8 seconds to do 1 full rep, which it appears it is, then over 120 seconds (time allotted for the test) you’d only be able to complete 15 reps. Which would only count as a passing grade for the Moderate MOS group. So I’d stay away from this one if I was training for the ACFT. And lastly the Quadraplex, this movement sounds like a 4 screen movie theater. At least a Bird Dog gets in a position that closely resembles the Bird Dog exercise. I like the Bird Dog. Always have. It’s a movement I have used for over a decade as a prehab movement as well as a core exercise. It is very versatile of a movement and I am a big fan of it, but I think this should be something you put at the beginning of a training session as a warm-up movement, not something that will improve your HRP. I’d be surprised if someone did these and said, “OMG, I doubled my push-ups. Thanks, Quadraplex.” 99.9% positive that won’t happen.
For this test, one of the glaring problems that I have seen is a soldier’s inability to stay in a straight line from their ankles to their shoulders. After one or two reps it looks like a seal is taking the test. Close your eyes and picture a seal, not a Navy SEAL, but a ball on the nose seal trying to do push-ups. Or any water-based animal. See Andy Reid below (the Walrus). They more or less would just be worming there way up and down every rep. 50% of the Army looks like that pushing up off the floor. Though that is not an accurate number, I’d bet all the money in my bank account it’s pretty damn close.
Below you’ll find some movement substitutes that I’d utilize instead of the ones the ARMY is saying are the best 4 for you. Ditch the Quadraplex, throw out the Floor Press and recycle the 8-Point blah blah blah. For the HRP you have 120 seconds to accumulate as many reps as possible and if you’re hunting for 100% you need to get one done every 2 seconds. It’s doable, but you’ll need to be cookin’. For that matter alone I am not a fan of the 3 above-listed movements. But I got 3 that will help you way more and a 4th that is interchangeable because they are all the same thing in principle.
How to Actually Train for the ACFT Hand Release Push-Up...
Planks:
Front, side, elbows, hands. There are many variations but if you can’t hold a Front Plank on your elbows for 120 seconds, you’ll have a hard time being able to work for 2 minutes straight to get up to 60 reps. So goal #1 should be to smash some planks. Planks require no equipment and can be performed anywhere, except in a pool. I like planks from your elbows/forearms and/or your hands to replicate the top of a push-up. Planks can get sloppy fast. It’s imperative that when you get in the upright position you are squeezing everything, front abs, side abs, back abs, taint abs, legs, upper back, shoulders you name, you squeeze it. This type of whole-body contraction pays huge dividends for you. It’s super tough to squeeze everything like that for 2 minutes but if you can get to that point you’ll be in phenomenal shape for the test. Watch the video below to see how to do them properly, and here are a few more variations (3-Point Plank, Front Plank with KB Pull-Thru, Plank Walk-Ups over on my YouTube page for you to mix in as well to increase the challenge and the demands on your core, coordination, and balance. Start with doing Front Planks 1-2x per week for 3 sets of 0:15-0:25 seconds working to add a few seconds each week.
Tricep Push-Ups:
I don’t mean Diamond Push-Ups, though they are great too. The difference between a Tricep Push-Up (TPU) and a Diamond Push-Up (DPU) in my book is for the DPU your thumbs and index fingers will be touching directly underneath you forming a diamond. Think DDP from WWF/WCW back in the late 90’s early 00’s. For a TPU your hands will be underneath your shoulders. This hand placement is the same as the hand placement that is required on the test. So what better way to get good at it than to do it? One of the common mistakes that I see is soldiers, especially females, tend to flare their elbows out to the sides. For the test, you can do that, but I don’t suggest it. I think it is a waste of energy and puts your shoulders in a shitty spot once you’re fatigued. Plus I notice the people that do it are the ones that sag and worm their way through. Performing the TPU by keeping your elbows tight to your body, think inside of our biceps sliding down along your ribcage tight, you’ll be able to move more efficiently, and stay tighter through your upper back and core, which will lead to more reps. It’ll be new, but trust me it’s for the best. There are a million and one ways to train for push-ups, but now you need to be even stricter with yourself. I force all of my athletes to not let their thighs touch the ground. Try it. It’s hard, but it’s doable. If your thighs touch, it means you lost tension and are slack. Let me say that differently, your upper thighs may touch, but your lower thighs, right above your knees, should never touch the ground. So if they do, now you have to waste energy to get back into a position to push up. Much easier to just stay in position and hammer away at them. So squeeze your butt, hammies and quads.. Start with doing Tricep Push-Ups 1-2x per week for 3 timed sets of 0:15-0:25 seconds working to add a little time each week.
Ring Rows/Inverted Rows:
Hear me out on this one. Years and years of push-ups have strengthened your anterior muscles far beyond your posterior ones. It’s the nature of the beast. Let’s be honest, how much posterior work have you done? Let’s say you’ve done 10000 pushups in your Army career. Have you done 10000 ring rows to pair with them? Of course not. Most strength and conditioning professionals will say they like to keep a 2 to 1 split between back and chest exercises. Meaning for every 1 chest/pressing exercise you’d do 2 back/pulling exercises. So seeing as you’ll be hammering away at those show muscles, might as well make you train your go muscles. Plus, by strengthening and improving the conditioning of your upper back muscles, you’ll be able to resist any unwanted movement when doing the test. No one likes a sagger. You’ve all seen it; heck you might even be a sagger. So strengthen that upper back to help make a more stable core for you to push off of. The easiest way to think about it is by picking up dead weight. We’ve all heard the analogy. It’s awkward, it’s hard and you expend so much unnecessary energy. The same goes for you doing pushups with a weak upper back and core. You’ll burn out much faster and lose a ton of reps. So strengthen that back and core and HRP’s won’t stand a chance. Start with doing Ring Rows 1-2x per week for 3 timed sets of 0:15-0:25 seconds working to add some time each week.
Bench Press/Close Grip Bench/Incline Bench/Dumbell Bench:
I love all of these. But for this test, I would lean more toward Close Grip Bench Press having more of a carry-over though. So that one would have my priority in programming for someone to take the ACFT. There isn’t much to say about these except unlike the others, I would want you to get as strong as possible with these, ie push as much weight as possible. The easiest place to start is with 5 sets of 5 reps all at the same weight and look to add 2.5 lbs per week.
A test like this is going to smoke a few specific muscles so you must do everything you can to not make them work harder than necessary. Like the old push-up test, this is all about localized muscular endurance and the only way to get better is to increase the endurance of the specific muscles that will be working. So yeah, you’ll have to do a bunch of push-ups, but if you supplement in the other movement’s I mentioned you’ll be well on your way to crushing it. Plus you won’t be bored just doing push-ups all the time.
Like I’ve always said, you can’t cram for a test like this. So start training for it now.
If you want to take all the guesswork out of your daily training regiment, or if you’re looking for an ACFT Train-Up plan to follow, the easiest and smartest thing you can do is join one of our Online Training Teams for less than a $1 a day or buy access to our 12-Week ACFT Train-Up Plan. Learn more at the link below.
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I hope this can help some of you out there. If you have questions let me know geoff@gpshumanperformance.com
Geoffrey Steinbacher is a former Strength & Conditioning Coach within the THOR3 (Tactical Human Optimization Rapid Rehabilitation & Reconditioning) Program at Ft. Bragg. He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) from the National Strength and Conditioning Association, as well as a Certified Athletic Trainer (ATC) from the National Athletic Trainers Association. He is also an Advanced Sports Performance Coach (USAW-L2) and Head Club Coach with USA-Weightlifting, and a Catalyst Athletics Certified Weightlifting Coach (CACWC-L1). Furthermore, Geoff has a BS in Athletic Training from SUNY Cortland and an MS in Exercise Science from Syracuse University.
ACFT Handbook Description/Standards Below:
Hand-Release Push-up (HRP) – the HRP is a two-minute timed event that measures upper body muscular endurance, and represents repetitive and sustained pushing used in combat tasks. The HRP tests a Soldier’s ability to push an opponent away during man-to-man contact, push a disabled vehicle, and push up from the ground during evasion and maneuver. It also engages upper back muscles used when reaching out from the prone position when shooting, taking cover, or low crawling.
Starting position:
On the command of “GET SET,” one Soldier in each lane will assume the prone position facing the start line with hands flat on the ground and index fingers inside the outer edges of the shoulders. The chest and front of the hips and thighs will be on the ground. Toes will touch the ground with feet together or up to a boot’s width apart. The ankles will be flexed. The head does not have to be on the ground. Feet will remain generally together, no more than a boot’s width apart, throughout the HRP. Soldiers may adjust their feet during the test event as long as they do not lift a foot off the ground.
Movement 1:
On the command “GO,” a Soldier will push their whole body up from the ground as a single unit to the up position by fully extending the elbows (front leaning rest).
- The Soldier will maintain a generally straight body alignment from the top of the head to the ankles. This generally straight position will be maintained for the duration of the HRP.
- Failing to maintain a generally straight alignment during a repetition will cause that repetition to not count.
- The front leaning rest is the only authorized rest position. Bending or flexing the knees, hips, trunk, or neck while in the rest position is not authorized.
Movement 2:
After the elbows are fully extended and the Soldier has reached the up position, the Soldier will bend their elbows to lower the body back to the ground. The chest, hips and thighs should touch down at the same time. The head or face do not have to contact the ground.
Movement 3:
Arm Extension HRP – immediately move both arms out to the side straightening the elbows into the T position. After reaching this position, the elbows bend to move the hands back under the shoulder.
Movement 4:
Regardless of the HRP protocol, Soldiers must ensure their hands are flat on the ground with the index fingers inside the outer edges of the shoulders (returning to the starting position). This completes one repetition. The Soldier will make an immediate movement to place their hands back on the ground to return to the starting position.
Graders Tips:
A repetition will not count if the:
- Index finger is outside the outer edge of the shoulder.
- Feet are more than a boot’s width apart.
- Soldier fails to simultaneously raise the shoulders and hips (the whole-body) off the ground in a generally straight body alignment from the top of the head to the ankles.
- Soldier bends or sags at the shoulders, hips, knees while in the front leaning rest position
After a warning, the test event will be terminated if the Soldier:
- Lifts a foot off the ground.
- Lifts a hand off the ground while in the front leaning rest position.
- Rests on the ground or in any position other than the front leaning rest position.
Important to Know: The Soldier must make a continuous effort to push up and cannot rest on the ground. While the exercise cadence may vary during the two-minute test event, the grader will ensure the Soldier is not resting on the ground. The grader will exercise their judgment, but a Soldier will generally be considered “at rest” if their efforts to perform a repetition stop for longer than 5 seconds. The HRP event is terminated if the Soldier rests in any position other than the front leaning rest position, fails to exhibit continuous effort, lifts a foot off the ground, or places a knee on the ground. The number of successfully completed repetitions in two minutes will be recorded as the raw score.
