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U.S. Navy veteran and fitness influencer Austen Alexander frequently uses his YouTube channel to demonstrate exactly what kind of personal fitness and activity level is required for active service in different military institutions, inviting athletes and fellow YouTubers to “try out” for the Air Force, Navy SEALs, Marines and Special Operations Command. In his latest challenge video, Alexander takes on the U.S. Coast Guard Physical Fitness Assessment, designed to measure three key factors in a member’s fitness: aerobic capacity, muscular strength and muscular endurance.
The first event in the PFA is a 1.5 mile run, which must be completed in a time of 13:36 or under. While the Guardsman administering the test acknowledges that running on gravel with a partial incline is less than ideal (this event would usually be performed on an indoor track), Alexander still completes all six quarter-mile laps in 11:28.
“I feel like my legs are lead,” he says.
After a rest period of no more than 15 minutes, Alexander moves onto the second round: 1 minute of pushups, during which he must complete a minimum of 24 reps to meet the basic requirement for his age group. He churns out 34, calling the minute-long workout “just enough for a chest pump.”
The third event is situps, and here Alexander must execute 35 reps to good form in 1 minute. Again, he passes the entry requirement with 39 reps.
While the basic Coast Guard PFA would usually then include a 12-minute swim and a sit-and-reach test (both important when training for water rescue), these are substituted in the video by 5 dead hang pullups and 5 dead hang chinups. The dead hang element of the moves makes them more difficult, as it eradicates momentum from the equation, forcint Alexander to start each rep from scratch—but he completes them all with a smile on his face, prompting the Guardsman to remark that he “crushed” the PFA.
Philip Ellis is a freelance writer and journalist from the United Kingdom covering pop culture, relationships and LGBTQ+ issues. His work has appeared in GQ, Teen Vogue, Man Repeller and MTV.
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