AFT Plank Test Standards 2026
You’re standing in the front leaning rest position, elbows locked under your shoulders, and your grader just started the clock. Somewhere around the ninety second mark, your core starts shaking and you have no idea if that’s enough time to pass. I get this question a lot from soldiers who assume the plank is the easy event on test day, right up until they’re actually holding it. This guide breaks down the real AFT Plank Test standards, the scoring rules, and what actually ends your test early, so you walk in knowing exactly what’s required.
AFT Plank Test Overview
The Plank (PLK) replaced the old ACFT’s Leg Tuck as the Army’s core strength event when the AFT rolled out on June 1, 2025. It’s a static hold, not a rep based movement, so your score depends entirely on how long you can maintain correct form. You rest on your forearms and toes, keep your elbows under your shoulders, and hold a straight line from your head to your heels.
There’s no counting reps here, and there’s no partial credit for a hold that breaks form halfway through. The clock only counts time spent in the correct position. Once your hips sag, rise too high, or your knees touch the ground, the event is over.
Starting Position and Form Rules
Your forearms need to stay flat on the ground with elbows lined up directly under your shoulders. Hands can be open or closed, but they need to stay close together, and your legs can be spread up to boot width apart. Your eyes stay down, your core stays braced, and your body forms one straight line from head to heels the entire time.
Graders watch for a few specific breaks in form. Hips that drop too low or rise too high both count as a fault, and so does letting your knees touch the ground. You get one verbal warning to correct your position. Break form a second time, or fail to correct it after the warning, and your test ends right there with your time recorded.
AFT Plank Test Standards by Age
Passing the plank requires a 60-point minimum. Unlike every other AFT event, the time requirements here are fully sex-neutral (identical for men and women across all age groups).
|
Age bracket |
60 pts (pass) |
100 pts (max) |
|---|---|---|
|
17–21 |
1 min 30 sec |
3 min 40 sec |
|
22–26 |
1 min 25 sec |
3 min 35 sec |
|
27–31 |
1 min 20 sec |
3 min 30 sec |
|
32–36 |
1 min 15 sec |
3 min 25 sec |
|
37+ |
1 min 10 sec |
3 min 20 sec |
Why the Plank Stays Sex-Neutral
Every other AFT event splits General standard scoring by gender, using separate “M/C” and “F” columns. The plank is the one exception across the entire test. Age still changes your required time, but gender never does, whether you’re testing under Combat MOS or General standards.
This matters because it’s easy to assume every event works the same way once you’ve studied one scoring table. If you’re checking your projected score by hand, don’t apply a gender adjustment to your plank time the way you would for the run or the push-up. The Army built it this way because core stability doesn’t show the same physiological gap between men and women that raw strength or aerobic capacity events tend to show.
Plank in Your Overall AFT Score
A strong plank time helps your total, but it can’t carry a weak scorecard on its own. You still need 60 points minimum on every other event, deadlift, push-up, sprint-drag-carry, and the run, plus an overall total of 350 for Combat MOS or 300 for General standard. A soldier who maxes the plank at 100 points but drops below 60 anywhere else still fails the entire test.
The plank also builds directly into performance on other events, which is part of why the Army weighs it so heavily. Core stability affects how well you brace during the deadlift, how efficiently you move during the sprint-drag-carry, and how well your form holds up in the final stretch of the two-mile run. Training this event in isolation misses half the point.
Deadlift (MDL)
60 pts minimum
Hand-Release Push-up (HRP)
60 pts minimum
Sprint-Drag-Carry (SDC)
60 pts minimum
Plank (PLK)
60 pts minimum
Two-Mile Run (2MR)
60 pts minimum
Overall total
350 (Combat MOS) · 300 (General)
Common Plank Test Mistakes
Graders keep a close eye on form. A single warning is issued before a second break in form ends your event.
Raising the Hips (Piking):
Lifting your hips upward to relieve pressure on your core. This is the most common reason for a first warning.
Sagging the Hips:
Allowing your hips to drop below a straight line near failure when fatigue sets in.
Knees Touching the Ground:
Letting your knees drop to the mat, which immediately terminates the hold.
Incorrect Starting Setup:
Placing forearms too far apart or spreading legs wider than boot width before the timer starts.
Medical Profile Accommodations
Soldiers with an approved medical profile that prevents standard plank positioning should confirm with their unit which accommodations apply, since profile-based adjustments are handled case by case rather than through a standard substitute event like the run has. Unlike the Two-Mile Run, the plank doesn’t have a published Go/No-Go alternate event tied to it directly. Your unit’s cadre and medical provider are the right point of contact if a physical limitation affects this specific event.
Plank vs the Push-Up Event
Both the Plank and the Hand-Release Push-Up test muscular endurance, but they measure completely different things. The push-up rewards repeated movement under fatigue, while the plank rewards your ability to hold a fixed position without breaking down. Soldiers who are strong on one don’t automatically score well on the other, since the muscle recruitment pattern barely overlaps.
This is worth knowing if you’re building a training split, because treating both events the same way in your workouts usually shortchanges one of them. A soldier who only trains high-rep push-up sets often has weak static core endurance, and a soldier who only holds long planks often struggles with explosive upper body reps. Programming both separately, even briefly, tends to produce better scores across the board than folding one into the other.
Plank Training Plan
Improving your plank time comes down to consistency more than intensity. Short, frequent holds close to your current max, done a few times a week, tend to build more real endurance than one long grinding session that wrecks your form by the last thirty seconds. Controlled breathing matters more than people expect, since holding your breath under fatigue burns through your core strength faster than steady exhales do.
Pair static holds with anti-rotation and anti-extension core work, since the plank tests your ability to resist movement, not create it. For a full week by week breakdown built specifically around this event, our plank training guide walks through a structured progression soldiers can follow before a record test.
Frequently Asked Questions
Conclusion
The Plank looks simple until you’re actually holding it under a grader’s stopwatch. Know your age bracket’s required time, lock down your starting position before the clock starts, and train the hold the same way it’s graded instead of a generic core routine. Get this event dialed in, and it stops being the surprise that tanks an otherwise strong AFT score.
For the complete official scoring tables across all five events, check our AFT score chart, or see the full breakdown on the Army’s own AFT page.