PT 101

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Sondra Escutia
  • 49th Wing Public Affairs
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  A new class has emerged at the Domenici Fitness and Sports Center targeted for Airmen struggling with the physical fitness assessment , but open to anyone who wishes to improve their current score.

The class, PT 101, focuses on the muscle groups needed to pass the test components and is designed to help Airmen maintain the fitness level required in today's Air Force.

"It's not just about helping the member pass their PT test, it's about improving their fitness and doing it logically," said 1st Lt. Jesse Murrillo, 49th Force Support Squadron, officer in charge of the Fitness Center. "The student will be challenged week by week through nine different programs the instructors came up with, but the main reason PT 101 is important is because it gives the student hard data to assess progress [through the weekly mock PT tests]."

Plans for the fitness improvement class began after revisions to the Air Force PT program took effect July 1, 2010. The revisions included changes to the scoring, composition and frequency of the test, and also changed who administered it.

Civilian members of the Fitness Assessment Cell now oversee all testing and report the main problem areas they've witnessed to the Fitness Staff.

"The most obvious problem is the push-ups and doing them correctly. For the most part, all the members have the necessary upper body strength but with the new standards, it's breaking that 90 degrees that poses the challenge," said Lieutenant Murillo. "The second one would be running. Sixty percent of the test is running so you can be a stellar individual and have a small waist, max sit-ups and max push-ups, but if you have a horrible run, you will not do well under the new standards."

The PT 101 instructors have taken note of these problem areas and have made running an integral part of each class. They also make sure their standards for push-ups and sit-ups match the standards in the Air Force Instruction 36-2905, Fitness Program.

All of the instructors are certified PT leaders, trained in fitness fundamentals, and do not only tell the students how to do the exercise properly, but show them.

"We work out with them to show proper form and how to do exercises the way the FAC expects them to," said Staff Sgt. Joe Angeles, 49th Force Support Squadron PT 101 manager. "When they do it right for us, they know they'll do it right when it comes time for the test."

In addition to the basic elements on the PT test, the instructors use a variety of exercises to strengthen all of the muscles needed to do well using their own body weight, such as pyramid push-ups, planks, bridges, squats and lunges.

While the instructors say it is still too early to see an overall PT score improvement, they have seen the fruits of their student's labor each Friday during a mock PT test.

"A lot of people in the class have already improved their overall fitness [score]," Sergeant Angeles said. "The numbers from the mock PT test have proven that if people are committed to attending the class, they can improve their score."

All Airmen struggling, or wishing to improve their PT score, can attend the class Monday through Thursday at 6:30 a.m. and 3 p.m., with mock PT tests on Friday. Airmen should meet at the front desk of the Domenici Fitness and Sports Center and the class lasts about an hour.

For more information, contact the Fitness Center at 575-572-2529.