The Army acft calculator provides you a guide on how to score on the new Army combat fitness test. Are you seeking to run faster over the 2 mile? If so, welcome to RunDreamAchieve. I am glad you have made it here and hope this post will be helpful to you. I spent over 20 years on active duty recently retiring in March of 2022. So, understand the complexities of this test and running fast over 2 miles. I built a new running course called the Army ACFT Embrace the Suck 2 mile course built for athletes such as yourself.
My aim was to provide a resource that could help Soldiers and allied military forces perform better on their physical fitness test. Yes, the course is also suitable for civilians seeking to run faster from the 2 mile to the marathon. The reason being is the fundamentals I teach in this course are universal over all distances. One common mistake I saw Soldiers making was running far too aggressive in the first mile of the 2 mile on their PT tests. Improper pacing can ruin even the most motivated runners time and overall motivation.
So, the key to success is to improve the body's lactate tolerance to sustain pace longer than our competition. The only way to do this is to stress the body's energy systems sufficiently enough in order for adaptation to occur. Easy running once or twice per week during your morning PT sessions on base is not enough. You need to be running more but also at higher speeds. Recovery is also key. There is only so many times you can stress the body before diminished returns occur. I share the top training tactics and fundamentals I was taught by three of the world's top distance running coaches in this course.
How Do You Calculate Your ACFT Score?
The best way to calculate your score is to use the Army ACFT calculator located at armycombatfitnesstest.com/calculator Remember, you need a minimum of 60 points in each of the 6 events. The 2 mile run is the last event. So, you need to ensure you are doing push ups, sit-ups, strength training and anaerobic running training to be as prepared as possible.
The events prior to the start of the 2 mile run are aggressive and explosive-type activities. So, do the best you can to get through these with the least amount of stress and fatigue as you can.
The Soldiers who have trained themselves adequately are not going to have a hard time with this. Of course, the cardiovascular endurance section of the test seems to be the most challenging for most. The goal with this course is to teach the athlete what the top middle to long distance runners do to succeed. Again, we want to ensure we get your goal 2 mile run pace to feel easier and more manageable.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ARMY ACFT 2 MILE COURSEArmy ACFT 2 Mile Run Time
The Army acft calculator states that to max the 2 mile run Soldiers need to run 13:22 or faster. Of course, that may not be your goal. Perhaps you are trying to drop 1 to 3 minutes off of your time to score higher. Remember, the faster you can run for 2 miles the more competitive you are going to be at other distances. The military has a lot of great races. For example, the Army 10 miler and Marine Corps marathon are great competitions to compete in.
The faster you run over 2 miles will only help to gain even more confidence at competing in longer races. The tactics you will be learning in this course helped me to run 9:27 for 2 miles, 14:18 for 5K and 2:19:35 for the marathon. In addition, some key strategies that can help you cut significant time without even training. Yes, there is on specific strategy I teach in this course that will help you do this. Of course, you are going to want to still train and build your cardio fitness.
I highly recommend spending 3 to 4 weeks building easy aerobic mileage first. Yes, you may not have control of the workouts your team leaders, platoon sergeants and leaders have you do in the morning. That being said, you do have control of what you do during lunch and after work. I also suggest you start doing strides twice per week if you are not already doing them. Strides are short, 50 to 100-meter accelerations that will help you with your form and overall leg turnover. The trick is you will have spent several miles or kilometers at sprint paces over a 16-week training build up.
How Do I Train for ACFT 2 Miles?
Focus on a longer rather than short build up. The Army ACFT Embrace the Suck 2 mile course is comprised of 9 modules consisting of 58 lessons. In addition, the course concludes with a 16-week 2 mile training plan. It is the internet's first military running course built specifically to help Soldiers as well as military members from other branches run faster and sustain goal race pace longer. Are you a civilian seeking to either join the Army or simply aiming to run a faster 2 mile time?
If so, this course is also built for civilians seeking to run a faster 2 mile time and even up to the marathon distance. Yes, we run a lot in the Army but not enough in my opinion. Remember, to run a faster time over 2 miles you need to be training sufficiently at or far below goal 2 mile pace. You don't start doing sprints, tempo runs and faster, varied paced long runs before building your foundational easy mileage first. Also, running once or twice per week will only provide average results.
Good and great results require Soldiers and civilians to be running at least 4 days a week and preferably 5 to 6 days. The problem in the Army is most of our activities are strength based. We do ruck marches, ropes climbing, tire flipping and may even doing some fartlek training during more PT. Sure, there are ability group runs as well. That being said, the biggest problem I saw in my time in the Army is Soldiers simply weren't running enough. In addition, were being forced to run too fast before they were prepared to do so. Again, you have to make do with what you have.
Why Does the Army Run 2 Miles?
Remember, you may not have control of being able to run as much as you want in morning PT. That being said, you do have control of your lunch hour or what you do after work. The Army has us run 2 miles to test our cardiovascular fitness. We train and deploy to varying terrains and many times, mountainous terrain. So, it is important that we are not only physically but mentally fit. The majority of runners fail to pay attention to the importance of mental training.
I cover the specifics of mental rehearsal and why you need to incorporate this style of training into your training routine. The world's top middle to long distance runners know that physical as well as mental training is the key to running success. I also suggest to Soldiers to gradually extend the amount of time you are spending running at your anaerobic threshold. We are running around 86 to 88 percent of our maximum heart running at this intensity. Tempo runs, like speed workouts, will help recruit more fast twitch muscle fibers.
The more fast twitch muscle fibers you can recruit the most economical (efficient) you are going to run on your ACFT test. The only event of the Army ACFT that is not as taxing on the body is the plank. The remainder of the events prior to the 2 mile run will test you physically and mentally. So, training more often at, close to or far below your goal 2 mile time is essential. It will also help you to be more competitive at these other events. The reason being is you will have stressed the body's anaerobic energy systems sufficiently enough that you won't get tired as quickly.
Closing Thoughts
I hope this overview of the Army acft calculator has been helpful. Do you want to keep in touch? If so, make sure to subscribe to the RunDreamAchieve YouTube channel. I create new training and racing videos there each week to help warriors such as yourself make the next big leap with their training and racing. Remember, the key tactic with this course is to training smarter rather than harder.
Yes, you can run more mileage but if 95% of your mileage is spent running too slow all you will be is a superior long, slow distance runner. Our aim is to hold race pace longer and better manage higher amounts of lactic acid. Easy running will not teach you do this. Yes, you will build endurance but not stamina and speed. Again, you can find the Army acft calculator at armycombatfitnesstest.com/calculator to calculate your 2 mile. In addition, can track what time you need to run to earn 60 (minimum) or 100 (maximum) points.
So, the goal of this course is to ensure we cover every tactic from A to Z to ensure you are set up for success. I look forward to interviewing you after you finish the course and hearing about your new personal best over your 1.5 mile to 3-mile military physical fitness test distance.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ARMY ACFT 2 MILE COURSE
