Hello and welcome back to Becoming Badass. So today I am continuing to harp on about striving for the bare minimum fitness nd it and thinking that it's enough to get you by. So if you've been around here a while you will know that that is the opposite of the mindset that we have here at TBG towards training for the military in place. So training for your PFA or just the minimum standards in your please fitness test is quite simply not enough to get you by.
It's actually not even close. So we see the PFA as a job criteria. So you know, so there's like 10 job criteria you need to meet and this could be for any job it could be like you need this, you need degree, you need this many years experience in the job, you need to be an Australian citizen, you need to have this, you need to have that, you need to have a PFA pass. So it's simply just going through the job criteria and going tick, tick, tick, tick.
So that's all your PFA is. It's a tick and once you have that tick you can get a certificate and get on the bus. That's all it is. It is a ticket on the bus.
It does not mean that you are going to be fit enough to get through basic training and beyond. And so we work really hard here to change the mindset that's been ingrained into applicants and to change the conditioning of the applicant mindset where from the get-go since you put in your applications, you'll believe that that is the fittest that you want to be when it's actually quite the opposite. So the way that we need to look at it is will the PFA be enough to get you through basic training or the academy? Or is it just going to be that you'll become another number in a system that never gets to wear a uniform because all you did was train to PFA standards and then you got to the academy or basic training and you weren't fit enough.
And so there was a lot of marking around trying to get you to pass fitness tests, pass different sorts of tests and do remedial training and they get to a point where they're like, you know what? You're out. Is that really what you want? I'm pretty sure it's not right.
So you're continually trying to teach applicants how to get well about that minimum ADF and please fitness standards. So the PFA, right, it's a standard that the Defence Force has put in place is a benchmark minimum standard that everyone needs to achieve in order to go onto basic training, right? So the P in PFA is preliminary fitness assessments. That's like before.
It's before you actually get into service. It's what you do before you continue to move on. It's not even the basic fitness standard. That's once you get in, you start meeting the BFA or PFT or whatever.
It's lower than the least level of fitness that you ever want to have and that's what I need you guys to remember is the word minimum. So I'll tell you right now, if you're only just getting yourself to a pass mark on the PFA, you are going to struggle when you get to basic training. You are going to struggle. You will find yourself in a world of hurt when you get there.
And that's not just us saying that as coaches trying to convince you that, oh, you should probably train with us. That comes from the mouth of previous applicants who have done just that and have said, yeah, I struggled. Or yeah, I went down to Fit Prep getting the bare minimums and I couldn't get through Fit Prep. I was down there for months trying to do beat tests every single day and couldn't get through Fit Prep and so I ended up getting discharged.
Or I wasn't fit enough and I got injured when I got to Kapuka. Or I got down there and I struggled and everyone had to carry my pack and I couldn't carry a radio and I couldn't do this and it's not a nice feeling to be that person. So we really need to remember that it is the lowest level of fitness within the Defence Force and when it comes to policing, obviously you guys don't have continuous fitness tests unless they're specialist roles. But your app's at or equivalent fitness test for state policing is the least fit you ever want to be.
Are you going to be able to apprehend somebody in a DV situation? Are you going to be able to chase someone down Queen Street Mall? Are you going to be able to, you know, like, I don't know if you're working at a festival, you'll be able to chase someone down who's, you know, causing a rocker. It's like, I should have actually come up with some scenarios before I got here but I always just wing it.
So put simply, it is the least fit you ever want to be. It is not a benchmark fitness that means that you are super fit. It just means it's a benchmark that allows you to get that tick beside the job criteria and progress forward in your application to getting a certificate and then progress forward there into getting a ticket on the bus, right? So you need to be striving for the PFA as your first goal.
Okay. So you're now application down into smaller achievable goals, okay, when we call these our small wins. So your PFA needs to be essentially one of your first small wins. Prior to that, your very first small win could just be getting your first pushup, getting your first 400 meter into without stopping, right?
So the wins are really broken down into smaller, smaller wins. But the first goal and the first win that you want to have is being able to pass the PFA as your first goal. And then beyond that, we're going to strive to get well up above and beyond those minimum standards. So you want to be able to stand it's sorry to literally handle anything that they throw at you when you get to basic training.
So once you get beyond basic training, it's likely you'll never really do a beat test ever again. You may and PT or there might be some specialist role you're going for where they use the beat test as a unit of measure, but you'll move on to middle distance runs after that being a 2.4. So when you get down to basic training and you need to do a BFA, you'll actually need to do more pushups than the minimum and more sit ups than in your PFA and you'll need to do a 2.4 and not a beat test. So if you're going down as an example, if you're a young male applicant, you're expected to do around the 40 pushup mark.
So if you're going down after doing 15 pushups in your BFA, your PFA and you're like, yep, sweet, I'm good. You're not. You're not. You've got so many more pushups you need to add to that mix.
So if you are barely getting to 15, like as in, your pushups are very average and you are barely punching out those last couple, then do you really think you're going to be able to pass the BFA when you get there? And sure, you don't have to pass the BFA before you leave the PFA. You used to. You used to get it's kept back and have to stay at DJ James Platoon and continue to do your remedial training until you passed a BFA before you were allowed to move on to IITs.
And in my opinion, which doesn't reflect the opinions of the fans, but in my personal opinion, it should still be the case because you're getting to units without having passed a BFA and not only does it kind of not really look very good, it causes a training burden on the unit when they've already got enough going on, they've already got so much that they're trying to take care of and now all of a sudden they need to account for the fact that you need further remedial training to pass a BFA to get your AI or your own compliance so you're fully deployable. That's pretty annoying, right? So keep in mind and for women, it's around like if you're a young female, it's around 21 pushups, I believe it could be more than that, but 21, I need to confirm that. So if you're getting six or four or two or whatever, you know, whether you're going combat non-combat or fit prep, you just need to double triple quadruple more, you know, that amount in order to get you to that BFA standard.
So really keep that in mind when you're training. If you're going to recruiting to enlist and get your certificate on four pushups, please know that you still need to meet the same standard as everybody else despite being combat on combat. BFA is only gender and age specific, it's not core specific. Okay, so whether you're going infantry or you're going in as a musician, you still have to meet the same benchmark as everybody else who's your age and gender.
All right, so keep that in mind. Basic training is also made up of a lot of components, right? So there's the need for strength so you can carry a stretcher and conduct activities like battle PT and hold your own weight by doing rope climbs and climbing cargo nets and doing all sorts of, you know, stuff that requires that strength and there is also the requirement to have a strong core, strong upper body so that you manage to carry heavy loads like a pack, a radio, first aid equipment, rations, water, ammunition, the list goes on. You need to be able to run so you can pass your fitness assessments but also to ensure you're fit enough for just general PT.
Like who wouldn't want to be fit enough for general PT? Who would want to be the person dragging us and lagging behind? No body. So there's more to the defence force than physical training for the PFA.
So if you're getting yourself to the PFA and then stopping your training, thinking, yep, sweet, got it done, don't indicate training, you are going to struggle through basic training in a spectacular way. You're going to struggle at ITs and you're going to struggle once you post it to you and if you would be happy living your career out in a constant struggle, fine. But I know for myself, I want to enjoy my time and I want to be able to provide effective capability and I want to be able to make sure that I can do whatever is asked of me, not constantly be in a state of struggle because I just didn't prioritise my fitness prior to getting in, you know. So how are we going to get around it?
Well, I've got five or six tips that I want to share that you guys are going to need to take on board. I'll also put a link in the show notes for these tips that are written down in case you happen to be listening to this while driving because I want you to write. You are driving. So tip number one, start training early and in fact, start training yesterday.
So start training for that PFA before you even put in your application. Like the second that you decided, I want to join the military, I want to join the police, you should have started training yesterday. So that way you can get yourself PFA ready, breeze through that and continue to progress, your training will be on that standard. If you're starting training close, I'll just start training closer to the time, closer to the time of what?
The imaginary timeframe that you don't even know when it's going to be. Like nobody knows when their PFA is going to come, nobody knows when their assessment day is going to come, nobody knows if they're going to get through assessment day or not. If you do and they offer your PFA the next week, so you have a rapid application, are you ready for it? No, you might be, but if you're not, you'll regret that you didn't start training sooner.
We want to get to that PFA early. All right, number two, understand that the PFA is the least fit you ever want to be. So it's like adjusting the mindset of, yes, pass a PFA, I'm like the most badass thing to ever live in this world. No, congratulations for meeting the minimum standard and getting a ticket on the bus.
Oh, wow, good job. Okay, and I'm not trying to be condescending and I'm not trying to downplay the achievement. It's just that you should, yes, of course, be happy, be proud of yourself for getting to that point, but have your trajectory of your vision, pushing forward into okay, I now need to focus on making myself BFA fit or combat ready or kapukafit or RMC fit or academy fit or whatever it is. Like, yeah, cool.
Pass PFA really happy with myself. I trained, you know, hard and I trained properly and I, you know, signed up with TMG and got myself sorted. Yep, got it done, but let's keep moving forward. Okay, it's not all West driving for West driving for more than that.
So number three, all that mindset as well. Remember you are representing Australia on a world stage. So you need to strive for more than the bare minimum, remembering that you are going to be serving your country and your community. And it is so important to take pride in that responsibility, accepting the bare minimum standard doesn't keep your country safe while my family sleeps at night.
It doesn't keep the community safe while your family sleeps at night. Okay, you are a representative of your country and your community, your state, your organization, you wear a uniform. When you are seen in that uniform, people know who you work for. So it's about more than just you and it's about more than just your little, you know, world around you.
It's a bigger picture situation and we need to take that seriously. So I get number four, I'm applying for the Navy. I don't even need push-ups. Wrong.
Okay, just because you don't need push-ups for your fitness test doesn't mean you are not going to need push-ups at all. All this means is that there is no measure of strength in the preliminary fitness assessment. But it doesn't mean that you are not going to need push-ups. And I'm telling you now, so many of our Navy applicants come back to us and say, you know, I'm so glad I have upper body strength.
I'm so glad I'm able to hold up my own body weight. I'm so glad that I was able to do pack marching and load coverage and all these different things because when they're in the ships and subs and they're having to climb up ladders, they're able to hold their own body weight. When they're having to carry firefighting equipment through a sub or on a ship, it feels like load coverage. So they're conditioned to it already and it's comfortable enough that they can, you know, get through it.
They're doing PT where push-ups and upper body strength is required. So don't just think that because you don't need push-ups in your RAF or Navy PFA that you don't need push-ups, you do. You really do. Okay, and my last tip and tip number five is to conduct training that is relevant.
So it's really common for applicants to be training and training and training and training and just not even getting to that minimum standard because their training isn't relevant. So I've been doing F45 and I've been doing cross-feared and I've been doing running and I do gardening and I was, you know, run around with my kids and I got on an exercise bike. Yeah, great. All good fitness and good for keeping your body moving, keeping your mind, you know, as in like helping with your mindset and mental health, but is it relevant training that is training the same energy systems and the same muscle groups that you need in order to get through basic training, BFA, PFA, PESA, Kapuka, I want to you, Cerberus, RMC, OTS, NIOK, RMC, DUNTRA, FRA, like is the academy, is that relevant?
Maybe F45 doesn't run. Cross-fidders do have some running in their wards, but they all fucking hate running. You know, you really need to make sure the training you're doing is relevant. If you think that by doing the training that you're doing, you are improving, that's fine.
But if you need to be doing training, sorry, let me rephrase that. If the training that you're doing is not getting you anywhere, you need to reassess whether that is the most appropriate, relevant training for you. You've got to make sure that your training will actually be effective towards improving your ability to serve in the military in place. So in conclusion, really, really want you guys to ensure you take pride in your standard of fitness and you want to make sure you're working hard to get beyond that basic standard because at the end of the day, you want your peers to know that they can rely on you when it's required and I want to know that I can rely on you to keep me and my family safe.
Aim-high, work hard, get yourself well beyond the minimum standard of fitness and if you would like some more advice, guidance or to chat to us about getting yourself beyond that minimum standard of fitness, then please feel free to get in touch with us. I'll leave a link in the show notes. You can hit us up on Instagram, you can send me an email team at theBarexroom.com.au or you can jump on our website, www.barexroom.com.au and check out the training and programs that we have on offer. Thanks for listening, I hope this has landed with some of you and I'll catch you guys next time.