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Army Fitness Test (AFT) Limited Equipment Training Plan

Army Fitness Test (AFT) Limited Equipment Training Plan

Original price was: $29.00.Current price is: $0.00.

  • 5-week plan, 5 days/week
  • Deploys sandbag training and other limited equipment training methods to train athletes for the AFT
  • The plan is individually scaled so it can be reused before every AFT and always meet your fitness level.
  • This training plan is one of the 450+ Plans included with an Athlete’s Subscription.

Description

The Limited Equipment AFT Training Plan is a 5-week training plan designed to train specifically for the new ARMY FITNESS TEST (AFT), but with limited equipment.

This training plan is designed to be completed the 5 weeks directly before your scheduled AFT.

The AFT is a 5-event fitness assessment. Below are the following events:

  1. 3RM Dead Lift (3 Repetition Maximum)
  2. Max Hand Release Push Ups in 2 Minutes
  3. Sprint-Drag-Carry for Time
  4. Max Plank for Time
  5. 2 Mile Run for Time

This training plan deploys sandbag training and other limited equipment training methods to train athletes for the AFT. The official assessment deploys a trap bar deadlift and up to 420 pounds of rubber plates, kettlebells, pull-up bar, and a dragging sled.

Please click HERE for an official US Army AFT Website describing the AFT and it’s events.

This is Version 4 of the Plan, Updated April, 2025.

REQUIRED EQUIPMENT

The major equipment savings in this training plan is the use of sandbag training to train for the Trap Bar deadlift.  Below is the required equipment for this training plan:

  • Stopwatch with a repeating countdown timer (Timex Ironman or smartphone will work)
  • Running area (track or other) with known 800m and 1-mile distances.
  • 80 Pound Sandbag (Can be purchased or handmade from a duffle bag)
  • 8-Foot piece of Rope
  • 25m of turf or grass

This training program deploys a modified Limited Equipment AFT on Monday of Weeks 1, 4 and 5, and uses your latest AFT event results for the follow-on progressions. In this way, the program automatically “scales” to the incoming fitness of each individual athlete, and ensures that each athlete is pushed throughout the program.

Below is how this training program trains the specific events in the AFT:

AFT Event How This Plan Trains for It
3RM Dead Lift 80# Sandbag Back Squats and 80# Sandbag Cleans using max rep assessments and MTI’s Density progression.
Hand Release Push Ups This plan deploys our Density progression for bodyweight exercises to train your Hand Release Push Ups.
Sprint-Drag-Carry This plan deploys a modified, Limited Equipment Sprint-Drag-Carry event using an 80# sandbag, and uses the entire event, and a shortened version to train for the official AFT Sprint-Drag-Carry
2 Mile Run for Time 800m and 1-mile interval repeats based on your most recent AFT 2-Mile Run Time.
Plank Assessment-based, Density progression

WEEKLY SCHEDULE

  • Monday: Weeks 1, 4,: Limited Equipment AFT; Weeks 2-3 and 5: Sandbag Back Squats, Sandbag Cleans, Hand Release Push Ups, Plank
  • Tuesday: Weeks 1, 4: Recovery Run; Weeks 2, 3, & 5:  Sprint-Drag-Carry, 800m Interval Repeats
  • Wednesday: Sandbag Back Squats, Sandbag Cleans, Hand Release Push Ups, Plank
  • Thursday: Sprint-Drag-Carry, 1Mile Interval Repeats
  • Friday: Sandbag Back Squats, Sandbag Cleans, Hand Release Push Ups, Plank

COMMON QUESTIONS

Required Equipment?

  • Stopwatch with a repeating countdown timer (Timex Ironman or smart phone will work)
  • Running area (track or other) with known 800m and 1 mile distances.
  • 80 Pound Sandbag (Can be purchased or handmade from a duffle bag)
  • 8-foot piece of Rope 25m of turf or grass

What if I can’t do the whole session?
If you don’t have enough time to complete the whole session, you can split the session into two.

What if I miss a day?
Begin where you left off when you return to training. This program is progressed – each session builds upon the prior session – so don’t skip a session or skip around. Follow the training sessions in order, regardless.

Where do I find unfamiliar exercises?
See our Exercise Library HERE. The Run/Ruck Calculator is listed as an exercise.

What about nutrition?
See our Nutritional Guidelines HERE.

More Questions?
Email: coach@mtntactical.com

Good Luck!

Rob Shaul
Mountain Tactical Institute
Jackson, WY

Required Equipment


  • Stopwatch with a repeating countdown timer (Timex Ironman or smart phone will work)

  • Running area (track or other) with known 800m and 1 mile distances.

  • 80 Pound Sandbag (Can be purchased or handmade from a duffle bag)

  • 8-foot piece of Rope 25m of turf or grass

Sample Training

SESSION 1 - MONDAY

OBJ: Assessment - Limited Equipment AFT No. 1

Warm Up

4 Rounds

  • 10x Squat

  • 4x Hand Release Arms Extended Push-ups

  • 5x Sandbag Back Squat - @ 80#

  • 50m Shuttle - Down 25m, Back 25m

  • Instep Stretch

  • Lat + Pec Stretch

Training

Max Reps Sandbag Back Squat in 90 Seconds

  • Sandbag Back Squat - 80# Sandbag

Athlete lifts the Sandbag and positions it behind his/her neck, across the shoulders. On “Go” Athlete performs as many sandbag back squats as possible in 90 seconds. Range of motion is from thighs parallel to the ground at the bottom, to full hip extension at standing. Athlete can rest in the standing position, but cannot put the sandbag down. Only full range of motion reps count. RECORD MAX REP SCORE

30/10/30 Max Rep Sandbag Clean @ 80#

  • Sandbag Clean - 80#

Sandbag begins laying on the ground, with the athlete straddling it. On Go, Athlete cleans the sandbag to his/her right shoulder and full hip extension, as many times as possible in 30 seconds. After 30 seconds, athlete has 10 seconds to rest, with the bag on the ground, and then on Go the athlete cleans the sandbag to his/her left shoulder and full hip extension, as many times as possible in 30 seconds. A clean to each shoulder counts as 1 rep. So, 20 cleans to the right shoulder and 22 cleans to the left shoulder would make a total rep score of 42 reps. RECORD TOTAL REP SCORE

Max Hand Release Arms Extended Push ups in 2 Minutes

  • Arms Extended Hand Release Push Ups

Athletes may only rest in the up, Front Leaning Rest position as needed. RECORD MAX REPS

AFT Limited Equipment Sprint-Drag-Carry for Time

  • AFT Limited Equipment Sprint-Drag-Carry

Start from Prone … Then – Sprint down 25m and sprint back to start – Drag 80# Sandbag down 25m, and drag back to start – Lateral Shuttle down 25m, Sprint 25m to start – Clean 80# Sandbag to Right shoulder, and sprint 25m, Drop Sandbag, Clean to Left Shoulder, and sprint back 25 to start. – Sprint 25m, and back 25m to start. RECORD FINISH TIME

Max Plank for Time

  • AFT Plank
    RECORD TIME

2 Mile Run

  • Run 2 Miles for Time
    RECORD FINISH TIME

SESSION 2 - TUESDAY

OBJ: Recovery Run

Warm Up

(not specified)

Training

Recovery Run

  • Run 30 Minutes, Easy Pace

“Easy” = you can speak in full sentences while moving. This is Zone 2 training.

2 Rounds

  • Instep +

  • Foam Roll Legs, Low Back

SESSION 3 – WEDNESDAY

OBJ: Sandbag Back Squat, Hand Release Push Up, Sandbag Clean, Plank Work

Warm Up

4 Rounds

  • 10x Squat

  • 4x Hand Release Arms Extended Push-ups

  • 5x Sandbag Back Squat – @ 80#

  • 50m Shuttle – Down 25m, Back 25m

  • Instep Stretch

  • Lat + Pec Stretch

Training

6 Rounds, every 90 seconds

  • 30% Max Rep Sandbag Back Squats – @ 80# from SESSION 1’s AFT

    • Set a repeating countdown timer to 90 seconds. On “go” complete your prescribed reps as fast as possible. The faster you finish, the more rest you get between rounds. You can set the back down while resting.

6 Rounds, every 90 seconds

  • 30% Max Rep Hand Release Arms Extended Push Ups – from SESSION 1’s AFT

6 Rounds, every 90 seconds

  • 30% Sandbag Clean – @ 80# from SESSION 1’s AFT.

    • Split the prescribed reps evenly between your right and left shoulders.

6 Rounds

  • 30% Max Plank Time – from SESSION 1’s AFT

  • Rest 30 Seconds Between Efforts

2 Rounds

  • Hip Flexor Stretch

  • Lat + Pec Stretch

SESSION 4 – THURSDAY

OBJ: Sprint-Drag-Carry, 2-Mile Run Work

Warm Up

4 Rounds

  • 5x Squat Jump

  • 50m Shuttle – Down 25m, Back 25m

  • Instep Stretch

  • Lat + Pec Stretch

Training

3 Rounds

  • 50m Shuttle dragging 80# Sandbag – Down 25m, back 25m

  • 50m Lateral Shuttle

  • 50m Shuttle Carrying 80# Sandbag – Switch Shoulders at 25m

  • Rest 2 Minutes Between Efforts

Sprint as fast as possible through the sandbag drag, lateral shuttle, and sandbag carry, then rest for 2 full minutes.

2 Rounds

  • Run 1 Mile – at your 1 Mile Interval Pace using your SESSION 1 AFT

  • 2-Mile Run Time and the MTI Running Calculator

  • Rest 12 Minutes Between Efforts

2 Rounds

  • Hug – Hip Mobility Drill

SESSION 5 – FRIDAY

OBJ: Sandbag Back Squat, Hand Release Push Up, Sandbag Clean, Plank Work

Warm Up

4 Rounds

  • 10x Squat

  • 4x Hand Release Arms Extended Push-ups

  • 5x Sandbag Back Squat – @ 80#

  • 50m Shuttle – Down 25m, Back 25m

  • Instep Stretch

  • Lat + Pec Stretch

Training

6 Rounds, every 90 seconds

  • 35% Max Rep Sandbag Back Squats – @ 80# from SESSION 1’s AFT

    • Set a repeating countdown timer to 90 seconds. On “go” complete your prescribed reps as fast as possible. The faster you finish, the more rest you get between rounds. You can set the back down while resting.

6 Rounds, every 90 seconds

  • 35% Max Rep Hand Release Arms Extended Push Ups – from SESSION 1’s AFT

6 Rounds, every 90 seconds

  • 35% Sandbag Clean – @ 80# from SESSION 1’s AFT.

    • Split the prescribed reps evenly between your right and left shoulders.

6 Rounds

  • 35% Max Plank Time – from SESSION 1’s AFT

  • Rest 30 Seconds Between Efforts

2 Rounds

  • Hip Flexor Stretch

  • Lat + Pec Stretch

1)  Mission Direct

Gym numbers mean nothing. All that matters is mission performance. 

To this end, MTI’s fitness solutions and programming are not boxed in by convention, tradition, orthodoxy, public opinion or any other artificial constraint driven by inside or outside forces.

We begin with the raw fitness demands of the mission and build a fitness solution which directly prepares the athlete for those demands.

 

2) Fitness Solutions Built from the Ground Up

MTI’s programming is not “re-tread” bodybuilding, football, CrossFit, kettlebell, strength or general fitness programming. We’ve built our fitness programming for mountain and tactical athletes from the ground up.

The Fluid Periodization methodology we deploy to concurrently train multiple fitness attributes is completely original and has continued to evolve and improve over the years.

Our mid-section training methodology, Chassis Integrity, is also original, as is our endurance programming, 7 strength training progressions, tactical agility, and work capacity programming.

Our mountain sports pre-season training plans, tactical PFT, selection, school, course, and fitness improvement training plans across military, LE and Fire Rescue are MTI-developed, tested and athlete-proven.

Over the years hundreds of athletes and coaches have taken our advanced programming and unit fitness leader programming courses and MTI is widely recognized within the mountain and tactical professions and fitness media as a thought leader in fitness programming for military and tactical athletes.

 

3) The MTI Method

→ Research: MTI begins program design with extensive research of the fitness demands of the mission, sport or event, identifies the exercises and progressions which sport-specifically meet those demands, chose end-of-cycle goals, and program backward to design the training plan.

→ Deploy & Assess: We deploy the training plan “Lab Rats” at our Wyoming facility. Training session and cycle issues are identified and fixed as we work through the training plan. Post cycle we assess the programming’s effectiveness and efficiency. We keep the stuff that works, and fix or toss the stuff that doesn’t.

→ Publish & Assess Again: Plan is published for purchase as an individual training plan and made available to our subscribers. Feedback/results are assessed.

→ Iterate: We take what we learn from lab rats and athletes, re-visit, update and improve already published training plans. Several of our individual training plans are on their 4th or 5th version.

 

4) Mission-Direct Research

MTI exists to “Improve Mountain and Tactical Athletes mission performance and keep them safe.” To that end, we have developed a unique research methodology aimed at identifying real world areas of improvement and identifying immediately deployable mission-direct solutions. Click HERE to learn more about MTI’s Mission-Direct Research methodology, and Here to read about just few of our research efforts.

 

5) Field Proven

Our stuff works. Weekly we receive unsolicited reviews of our programming and testimonials to its effectiveness.

 

6) Programming Breadth

MTI’s library of 200+ sport-specific fitness plans for mountain and tactical athletes is unmatched. Resources range from specific programming for tactical special forces selections, to specific plans for climbing Rainier and Denali, to general fitness solutions such as running improvement, to post-rehab from injury.

Over the past decade, MTI has partnered with hundreds of athletes throughout their individual mountain and tactical careers, and provided fitness solutions as they face new mountain objectives, tactical schools, selections, PFTs and deployments, and came back from injury.

 

7) Worldwide Influence

Our work is not limited to US Athletes.

We’ve developed selection-specific training plans for Canadian, UK, Australian and German Special Forces Selections and worked with individual military personnel from Scandinavia, South, and Central America.

Canadian, Australian, UK and western European law enforcement and fire/rescue athletes have used MTI programming for mission-direct fitness.

On the mountain side, Alpinists from Japan to Slovakia have consulted with MTI and used MTI’s programming to prepare for mountain objectives.

 

8) Mission Performance beyond Fitness

MTI’s exists is to improve Mission Performance for mountain and tactical athletes and keep them safe. 

This focus on “mission direct” solutions, enhancements and improvements drives our work and research and extends beyond fitness solutions to include training, leadership, gear, team culture, and safety. 

Fitness is just one area of our work.

Our non-fitness research has included tactical cultures, combat uniforms, and gore-tex performance, and effect of stress on marksmanship.

Our work on defining what it means to be a Quiet Professional has had penetrating influence and driven healthy conversations with both mountain and tactical professionals.

 

9) Direct, Honest, Clear Answers

Since 2007 we’ve taken and answered dozens of questions weekly from mountain and tactical athletes. We’ve saved these individual Q&A’s and now thousands are archived on our site.

We’re not salesmen, and our answers are noted for their directness, honesty, and clarity. Our stuff isn’t for everyone. If we can help, we’ll let you know. If we can’t, we’ll let you know that, too.

– Rob Shaul, Founder

 

All of the Above is Backed Up By Our Promise: Our Stuff Works. Guaranteed.

Our Stuff Works. Guaranteed.

By Rob Shaul

I received notes frequently from athletes hesitant to purchase a subscription or training plans asking me to sell them on why they should make the purchase.

While I understand the question, I’m not a salesman – so I can’t put a hard sale on anyone for our programming.

I can tell them the process we go through to design our programming.

We begin with extensive research on the fitness demands of the event, identify the exercises and progressions which sport specifically meet those demands, chose end-of-cycle goals, and program backward to design the plan.

Then we test the cycle on ourselves and our lab rats here in Wyoming. We document, note what works and doesn’t work, re-assess, and make changes and modifications.

Then we publish the programming in the form of one of our plans or as part of our subscription daily training sessions for tactical and mountain athletes.
We don’t stop there – our daily programming is the “tip of the spear” for our programming evolution. We use these sessions to learn and make continuous improvement.

As we learn more and improve, we go back, and update the sport-specific training plans on the website. For example, we’re currently on Version 5 of our Ruck Based Selection Training Plan and Version 3 of our Dryland Ski Training Plan and Version 4 of our Big Game Back Country Hunting Training Plan.

We understand our programing isn’t cheap, but we believe it’s a great value. The $79 for the Ruck Based Selection Training Plan, and $39 for the Dryland Ski Training Plan reflect the, research, work, innovative theory, iteration, testing and feedback we’ve put in and received to make these plans effective.

All that matters for us is outside performance, and we feel strongly that Our Stuff Works in the real world.

Here’s our guarantee:

1) Individual Training Plan Purchase:
If you purchase an individual training plan, follow it as prescribed before your season/event/pft/selection, and if you don’t feel you were physically ready for your season/event/pft/selection, and/or didn’t see dramatic improvements in your early season performance, we’ll refund your money, no questions asked.

2) Athlete’s Subscription
If you purchase an Athletes’ Subscription, follow the training sessions as prescribed, and are not satisfied with the quality of the programming, notify us within 30 days of purchase, and we’ll refund your money, no questions asked.

Questions?
Email: rob@mtntactical.com

COMMON QUESTIONS:

Do you have any reviews or testimonials from athletes who have used your Athlete’s Subscription
Yes. Click HERE.

Is it true you guarantee your stuff works?
Yes. If you purchase an Athletes’ Subscription, follow the training sessions as prescribed, and are not satisfied with the quality of the programming, notify us within 30 days of purchase, and we’ll refund your money, no questions asked.

How is MTI programming different than CrossFit?
This is a common question. Read our answer HERE.

You have a lot of competitors. Why should I choose MTI?
MTI is driven to improve mountain and tactical athletes’ mission performance and keep them safe. This emphasis and focus on mission performance sets us apart. Read about more that sets us apart HERE.

If I purchase a plan or subscription, how do I access the programming?
All of our plans are online, accessible via username and password.
You can log in through our →Website  or Mobile App →IOS and Android.

Do you have downloadable .pdf’s of the training plans?
No. But you can print the programming, by week, from your browser. You access individual training plans online via a username and password.

Do you have a mobile app?
Yes, we do. Available for IOS and Android.

What is the difference between purchasing an individual training plan, packet of plans or an Athlete’s Subscription?

  • Plan – Like purchasing the DVD of the first Star Wars movie. You own it forever, including any updates we make to the plan.
  • Packet – Like purchasing the DVD’s of all the Star Wars movies. You own them forever, including any updates we make to the plans.
  • Athlete’s Subscription – Like subscribing to Netflix. You get access to all 200+ plan in our library, but lose access if you unsubscribe.

If I purchase an Athletes Subscription Can I cancel on my own, anytime?
Yes.

Do I have to contact MTI to cancel or can I do it myself?
You can do it yourself. Instructions HERE.

If I purchase a subscription and have questions about where to start or what plans(s) to use for my goals, will you help?
Yes. We answer dozens of training questions from athletes weekly. Email coach@mtntactical.com.

If you add new plans or update existing plans after I subscribe will I have access to them?
Yes. We are continuously adding training plans and packets (2-5/month) and updating plans. With your subscription you’ll have access to all new plans, new courses and plan updates.

What Equipment is Required?
Click the “Required Equipment” tab to find out what equipment is required for the specific plan you are interested in.

Where do I find unfamiliar exercises?
See our Exercise Library HERE. The Run and Ruck Calculators are listed as exercises.

What about nutrition?
See our Nutritional Guidelines HERE.

Can I see sample training?
Click the “Sample Training” tab to see the entire first week of programming. You are encouraged to do it before purchasing.

What if I have more questions?
Email rob@mtntactical.com

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