Thread: PFT Pushup Lock Out Question

Those of you who have gone through the PFT testing, how have you best assured those watching that you have "locked-out" your elbows during the pushup event? Do you actually pause for a second or two at the top, or do you try for a fluid motion and hope they count them all. I'd guess trying a speed approach (which may help get a more reps) would decrease the amount of pushups that are counted.

Any thoughts are appreciated

lift your arm up from the mouse and hold it straight in front of you. straighten it until it is completely straight. that's how both arms should look when you're at the top of a pushup. don't worry about doing any pauses at the top, unless that floats your boat. just pump them out as fast as you feel comfortable. push up high enough and your elbow joints and all associated ligaments/tendons/muscles will open to their max extension. your arms will only be like that for a split second, then all those ligaments/tendons/muscles will want to contract and the reverb will give you a little speed on the way down. if i were you i'd focus more on going down far enough. good luck.

My preferred method is to watch the grader and go just as fast as they will allow. Some graders prefer the Ranger school method of ensuring the candidate goes to the top, locks out, pauses and then goes back down breaking the plane at the bottom before rising again. Most are not this strict and will allow you to go much faster as long as your technique is sound. Bottom line, if the grader is counting, keep knocking them out, if they aren't counting them, then modify your technique until you give them what they want.