About the Candidate Fitness Assessment

The Candidate Fitness Assessment (CFA) is a physical test of strength, agility, power, balance, speed, and endurance. It is one of the requirements for admission to the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point. It includes six timed components:

• Basketball throw
• Cadence pull-ups or flexed-arm hang (women only)
• 40-yard shuttle run
• Modified sit-ups
• Push-ups
• 1-mile run 

Your CFA score is 10% of your USMA application.

Schedule Your CFA

You are responsible for arranging for a qualified person to conduct your examination. The following people can administer the CFA: 

• Physical education (PE) teachers
• Military Academy Liaison Officers (MALOs)
• Field Force representative
• U.S. military officers or non-commissioned officers (all branches)
• JROTC or ROTC instructors

Your test administrator cannot be a relative or coach. If you need help finding someone qualified to administer your CFA, contact your field force representative or admissions regional commander.

You will enter the contact information for your test administrator online via your candidate portal. The administrator will receive an email with a link to the site where he/she will record your performance. 

Practice Your CFA Components

Practice is vital to help you do your best on the CFA. Running, general conditioning exercises, and competitive sports will also strengthen your abilities.

Once you have become proficient in each component, practice them in consecutive order with specified start and end times. There are time limits for each component, as well as rest times between them. There is no stated time limit for the one-mile run, but the maximum scores for men and women are 5:20 minutes and 6 minutes, respectively.

Take Your CFA

You should wear clothing and shoes for physical training, such as shorts, T-shirts, socks, and running shoes (tennis/basketball shoes are not recommended). 

You will need the following:

• 1 sit-up mat
• 1 100-foot tape measure
• 2 stopwatches (minutes, seconds, tenths)
• 1 regulation men's basketball
• 1 pull-up bar
• 1-mile flat running surface

First, you will enter your test administrator's contact information online via your candidate portal. Your tester will receive an email with a link to the site where your activity results will be recorded. Remember that the activities will be completed consecutively with specified start, finish, and rest times. 

Submit Your CFA Results

First, you will enter your test administrator's contact information online via your candidate portal. Your tester will receive an email with a link to the site where your activity results will be recorded. Remember that the activities will be completed consecutively with specified start, finish, and rest times.