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 (only for females)
• 40-yard shuttle run 
• Modified sit-ups 
• Push-ups 
• 1-mile run 

Your CFA score contributes 10% to your USMA candidacy evaluation.

Schedule Your CFA

You are responsible for arranging for a qualified person to conduct your examination while another person videos the pull-up component. The following 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)
• Military Science professors 
• 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.

The following videos provide instructions for five of the six components. There is no instruction for the one-mile run. There is no stated time limit, but the maximum scores for men and women are 5:20 minutes and 6 minutes, respectively.