Josh Cornelius knows what it takes to serve. The commercial producer for The Spot South Florida 39 is also a former Army sergeant, and he put that experience to work by walking me through a military fitness test firsthand.
Cornelius served six years in the Army as a sergeant. He said soldiers regularly completed a fitness test made up of three events.
"I was a sergeant in the Army and I did six years. And one thing we did all the time was the T test. It consisted of two minutes of push-ups, two minutes of sit ups and then a two mile timed run," Cornelius said.
The push-ups came first. Two minutes, as many as possible. Then came the sit-ups, hands interlaced behind the head, feet held down, going as fast as possible for another two minutes straight.
"You're slamming your back down on the ground. You're going as fast as you can, and you just got to keep pushing. It's not about the pain," Cornelius said.
After the push-ups and sit-ups, we headed outside for the two-mile timed run, with a target pace of around 12 minutes and 50 seconds.
But the fitness test was only part of the picture. Cornelius also introduced the ruck march, a 12-mile walk carrying a weighted pack, with a goal of finishing in under three hours, roughly a 13-minute-mile pace.
"So you want to do about a 13-minute mile," Cornelius said.
He explained that the ruck march is not just a physical challenge, it directly mirrors what soldiers face in the field.
"We're light infantry. A lot of all that we need to carry is on our backs. So, everything that can keep us alive for weeks will be on our backs. And we have become accustomed to carrying 40 plus pounds, so the minimum is 40, but normally we'll carry up to 80," Cornelius said.
Cornelius said the shared struggle of the ruck march builds something beyond physical endurance.
"It does get intense, but it brings everybody together. You're all sucking together. All in pain together," Cornelius said.
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