British Army Role Fitness Test (Entry)

The British Army's entry test has three events, taken in any order at assessment: a mid-thigh pull, where you heave on a fixed bar for five seconds and a dynamometer records your peak force over two attempts; a seated throw of a 4kg medicine ball against a wall, best of three; and a 2km run on a flat course after an 800m warm-up. Standards are set by role rather than published in age or sex bands. The 2km target is 10 minutes 15 seconds for infantry soldiers and guardsmen and the Royal Armoured Corps, and 8 minutes 25 seconds for paratroopers, so check the page for your chosen job. The mid-thigh pull is hard to practise without the machine; heavy deadlifts and rack pulls are the nearest gym substitute.