Should Forces Testing Standards Be Age Related?
People of all ages are involved in the armed forces in many parts of the world, and are often required to undergo regular fitness testing. In many cases there are different standards depending on age.
Critics of this say that as everyone is required to work under the same conditions they should be required to reach the same minimum fitness levels. On the other hand, due to the general decline in fitness with age, it makes sense that the standards are set accordingly.
See also this discussion about Fitness Testing in the Forces, and also a similar poll about whether the forces women testing standards should be the same.
When the poll was closed in 2025, the majority of voters thought that forces testing should be age related.
the results when the poll was archived in 2025Disclaimer: These polls are not scientific, and only reflect the opinion of visitors to this website who have chosen to participate.
Related Pages
- More fitness testing polls, and all sport and fitness polls.
- Forces Fitness Testing
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.
Old Comments
Commenting is closed on this page, though you can read some previous comments below which may answer some of your questions.
- No, you're doing the same thing and therefore you require the same level of fitness (from Tess, Nov 2012)
- Strange results in those polls: same standards for men and women, but differences for the older soldiers ? I got the feeling that old soldiers answered this poll ;-) (from Eric, May 2011)
- What's the difference between age related testing and the very controversial women's standards testing? As stated so very many times, women should not be held to "easier" testing, then what makes this any different. The job is not going to change because you had a few birthday's. I find the answer percentages of these two questions surprisingly related. Old boys club sounds about right (April 2011).
