U.S. Customs & Border Protection

Border Patrol Fitness Calculator

BPA Pre-Employment Fitness Test · one universal standard for all applicants

Sit-ups
Proper form in 60 seconds · the official count stops at 25
Push-ups
Proper form in 60 seconds · sternum to foam block (4″ under 5′9″, 5″ if 5′9″ or taller) · the official count stops at 20
5-Minute Step Test
14-inch step · 120 beats per minute, up-up-down-down · 5 minutes without stopping
The step test is five minutes of nonstop stepping at a fixed cadence. Stop if you feel chest pain, dizziness, or unusual shortness of breath.
How to Perform It

Three Events, in Order

Sit-ups, push-ups, then a 5-minute step test, with a 3-minute interval between events. The images below show the positions that decide whether a repetition counts, and one fault in each event that costs you.

The Test Day

The three events run in this order.

  1. Sit-ups

    25 in 60 seconds · the count stops at 25

    Sit up until your elbows touch your knees or break the plane of your knees, then lower until your shoulder blades touch the mat.

  2. 3-minute interval to rest or practice the next event

  3. Push-ups

    20 in 60 seconds · rest only in the up position

    Keep your body straight, lower until your sternum touches the foam block, then push up until your elbows are straight.

    Use the 4-inch block if you are under 5′9″, or the 5-inch block if you are 5′9″ or taller.

  4. 3-minute interval to rest or practice the next event

  5. 5-Minute Step Test

    14-inch step · 120 beats per minute · 5 minutes

    Step up-up-down-down in time with the metronome for the full five minutes without stopping.

    Each beat is one step, so one up-up-down-down sequence takes four beats: 30 sequences a minute, or 150 in the full test.

To pass: meet the standard in all three events. The standard is the same for every applicant, regardless of age or sex.

Sit-Ups

Knees bent to 90 degrees, feet flat, and a partner holding your feet or ankles. The sequence is shown from the side.

Back view illustration of the hand position for the Border Patrol Agent fitness test sit-up: a man sits upright, seen from behind, with both hands flat against the back of his head at ear level. The fingers of each hand point toward the other hand and stop with a small gap between them, so the fingers are not interlocked. His elbows point out to either side. Beyond him, a kneeling partner faces him and reaches down to hold his feet. CBP requires the hands behind the head without interlocking the fingers, with the thumbs by the ears.
Hand position · Back view

Hands Behind the Head, Fingers Apart

Place your hands behind your head with your thumbs by your ears and your elbows out to the sides, without interlocking your fingers, and don’t use them to pull yourself up. Other tests use different positions: the ATF laces the fingers behind the neck, and the DEA crosses the arms over the chest.

Side view illustration of the start position for the Border Patrol Agent fitness test sit-up: a man lies flat on his back with his shoulder blades down and his hands behind his head. His knees are bent and his feet are flat on the floor, and a kneeling partner holds his ankles in place.
1 · Start

Start Flat

Lie back with your shoulder blades on the mat, hands behind your head, and feet flat. Your partner holds your feet or ankles.

Side view illustration of the top of a completed Border Patrol Agent fitness test sit-up: the same man has sat up until both elbows touch the tops of his knees. His hands stay behind his head with his thumbs by his ears, his buttocks stay on the floor, and his partner still holds his ankles.
2 · Top

Elbows to Knees

Sit up until your elbows touch your knees or break the plane of your knees, then lower until your shoulder blades touch. That is one repetition.

Side view illustration of a sit-up that does not count in the Border Patrol Agent fitness test: the man has stopped about halfway up, with his torso leaning back at about 45 degrees and his elbows well short of his knees. His hands stay behind his head and his partner still holds his ankles. CBP requires the elbows to touch the knees or break the plane of the knees for a sit-up to count.
Doesn’t count

Stopping Short

A half sit-up, with your elbows short of your knees, doesn’t count.

Push-Ups

Hands shoulder-width apart with your thumbs in line with the crease of your shoulders, and the foam block under your sternum. Shown from the side.

Side view illustration of the up position of a Border Patrol Agent fitness test push-up: a woman holds her body in a straight line from head to heels, with her elbows fully straight and her hands flat on the floor below her shoulders. A light blue foam block sits on the floor directly beneath her chest.
1 · Up

Up, Elbows Straight

Start with your elbows straight and your body in one line from head to heels. This is the only position you may rest in.

Side view illustration of the down position of a Border Patrol Agent fitness test push-up: the woman has lowered her body in a straight line from head to heels until her chest touches the top of the light blue foam block. Her elbows are bent and point back toward her feet.
2 · Down

Sternum to the Block

Lower until your sternum touches the block, then push back up until your elbows are straight. That is one repetition.

Side view illustration of a push-up that does not count in the Border Patrol Agent fitness test: the woman holds straight arms with her shoulders above her hands, but her hips are raised well above the line from her shoulders to her heels, so her body is no longer straight. CBP does not count a push-up when the buttocks are raised in the air.
Doesn’t count

Hips Raised

Raising your buttocks breaks the straight line from head to heels, so the repetition doesn’t count.

Step Test

A 14-inch step and a metronome at 120 beats per minute. Shown from the side.

Side view illustration of the first step of the Border Patrol Agent fitness test step test: a man stands upright beside a plain gray box and places his lead foot fully on top of it, while his other foot stays flat on the floor behind. His elbows are bent in a relaxed arm swing, and his hands are clear of his legs.
1 · First foot up

Whole Foot on the Step

Step up with either foot, placing your whole foot on the step so your heel doesn’t hang off the back.

Side view illustration of the top of the Border Patrol Agent fitness test step test: the man stands upright on top of the gray box with both feet flat on its surface, his legs straight and his arms hanging relaxed at his sides.
2 · Both feet up

Stand Tall on Top

Bring your other foot up, then step down with your lead foot and down with the other. Up, up, down, down is one sequence.

Side view illustration of a fault that ends the Border Patrol Agent fitness test step test: the man steps onto the gray box with his torso leaning forward and both hands pressed on the front of his lead thigh, pushing down to help himself up. CBP fails a candidate who uses the hands on the thighs to assist with the step.
Ends the test

Hands on Your Thighs

Pushing on your legs with your hands to help you step up ends the test.

Based on CBP’s Border Patrol Agent fitness test page and its Pre-Employment Fitness Test-1 Physical Readiness Program. Some requirements can’t be shown in a still image: the sit-up and push-up counts stop once you reach 25 and 20; staying in the down position of a sit-up for 3 seconds or more ends that test; a knee touching the ground ends the push-up test, and your feet must stay no more than 12 inches apart; on the step test you may switch your lead foot at any time without breaking cadence, but being off cadence for three sequences in a row or six in total, or stopping, ends the test.

Video Demonstration

The Fitness Test, from CBP

U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s own hiring-process video on the fitness test.

Video is external and not produced by Amatal. For CBP’s exact wording behind each rule, see the “How to Perform It” guide above — follow the written rules where the two differ.

Disclaimer

This tool checks your results against the U.S. Border Patrol Agent Pre-Employment Fitness Test (PFT), the fitness test CBP requires during Border Patrol Agent hiring, and tells you whether you meet the standard, which is the same for everyone. It is a training and self-assessment aid only: not affiliated with CBP, not an official result, and not medical or training advice. The PFT combines one-minute sit-up and push-up tests with five minutes of nonstop stepping on a 14-inch step, which is demanding. Warm up, use sound form, and stop if you feel chest pain, dizziness, or joint pain. If you have a heart condition, a recent injury, or any condition aggravated by intense exertion, or if you are at all unsure, check with a healthcare provider before testing.

How This Calculator Works

This calculator checks your results against the U.S. Border Patrol Agent Pre-Employment Fitness Test (PFT), the fitness test CBP requires during Border Patrol Agent hiring. You enter your sit-ups, your push-ups, and your step test result, and the tool tells you whether each one meets the standard.

There is one standard for every applicant. CBP states that because job requirements are the same for all Border Patrol Agents, the tests and their standards are the same for all applicants and are not based on race, age, or sex. The test is scored as a multiple hurdleCBP’s term for a scoring method that is pass/fail on each test. There are no points to add up.: you must meet every minimum, and a strong result in one event cannot make up for a miss in another.

The Three Events & Protocol

The events run in this order. CBP’s published protocol allows a 3-minute interval between tests, which you may use to rest or practice the next one.

  • Sit-ups: 25 in 60 seconds. Start on your back with your knees bent at 90 degrees, feet flat and held down by a partner, and hands behind your head without interlocking your fingers, thumbs by your ears and elbows out to the sides. Sit up until your elbows touch your knees or break the plane of your knees, then return until your shoulder blades touch the mat. A rep does not count if your buttocks lift off the mat, you use your hands to pull yourself up, your elbows don’t reach your knees, or your shoulder blades don’t touch down. You may rest only in the up position; staying down for 3 seconds or more ends the test.
  • Push-ups: 20 in 60 seconds. Start with your elbows straight, hands shoulder-width apart with your thumbs in line with the crease of your shoulders, and a foam blockA 4-inch block if you are under 5'9", or a 5-inch block if you are 5'9" or taller. directly under your sternum. Lower until your sternum touches the block, then push up until your elbows are straight. Keep your body in a straight line with your feet no more than 12 inches apart. A rep does not count if your back sags, your buttocks rise, your feet spread wider than 12 inches, or you don’t reach the block or straighten your elbows. You may rest only in the up position; a knee touching the ground ends the test.
  • 5-Minute Step Test. Step up and down on a 14-inch step for five minutes to a cadence of 120 beats per minute, in an up-up-down-down sequence (30 full cycles per minute). You may switch your lead foot at any time, as long as you don’t break cadence or stop moving. You fail if you are off cadence for three consecutive sequences or six sequences in total, push on your legs with your hands, or stop.

How You Pass

BPA PFT pass rule: meet the standard on all three events. Pass/fail on each, with no points and no partial credit.

In the official test, the sit-up and push-up counts stop once you reach 25 and 20, and the step test is either completed or not. So the PFT has no score above passing: clearing all three events is the whole result.

Why One Standard for Everyone

Many fitness tests grade applicants by age, sex, or both. CBP’s stated reason for not doing so here is that the job requirements are the same for every Border Patrol Agent, so the test and its standards are too. That is why this calculator has no age or sex fields.

Reading Your Margins

The breakdown shows how far you cleared or missed each bar: "+8 over min" on a rep event, or a red "short" figure when you fall below. For the step test it shows "full 5:00", or, if you entered the time you stopped, how far short of five minutes you were. Because the official count stops at the minimum, reps above 25 or 20 are a training buffer, useful for knowing you can pass on a bad day, not an official score.

How to Read the Standards Table

The standards table lists each of the three events, the standard you must hit, your entered result, and whether you met it (green) or fell below (red). There are no age or sex columns because there is only one standard to show.

What Happened to the Sprint and the 1.5-Mile Run

Older guides and many websites list a 220-yard sprint and a 1.5-mile run as part of the Border Patrol test. Those events came from the PFT-2, a second test CBP used in the hiring process. CBP’s 2015 Physical Readiness Program lists the PFT-2 as 25 sit-ups and 20 push-ups in one minute each, a 220-yard run in 46 seconds, and a 1.5-mile run in 15 minutes. A 2017 CBP page scheduled the PFT-2 no more than 30 days before entry on duty and stated that applicants to announcements 17-3 and later only had to take part in it, not pass it. CBP’s current Border Patrol Agent fitness test page lists only the three events above, so the sprint and the run are not part of this calculator.

Two other sets of numbers are often mistaken for this test. A 2014 CBP fact sheet lists 17 push-ups, a 50-second 220-yard run, and a 17:15 1.5-mile run for the CBP Officer PFT-2, which is a different job. And 32 sit-ups, 22 push-ups, a 47.73-second 220-yard sprint, and a 14:25 1.5-mile run are the standard for ICE Homeland Security Investigations special agents, which is a different agency.

A Note on Data Accuracy

Confirm the current requirements. The events and minimums here match CBP’s current Border Patrol Agent fitness test page. The detailed protocol comes from CBP’s Physical Readiness Program, last edited in December 2015. CBP can change its procedures, so confirm the details with CBP before you test.

Why These Fitness Qualities Matter

CBP describes its law enforcement fitness standards as job-related and designed to predict an applicant’s ability to meet academy physical requirements and minimum physical job requirements. The three events cover complementary capacities: sit-ups test core muscular endurance, push-ups test upper-body muscular endurance, and the step test checks whether you can sustain steady aerobic work for five minutes at a fixed pace.

The strength of this kind of test is a clear, equal pass line. Its limit is that it is a general fitness screen, not a simulation of the job: passing shows a baseline, not job readiness by itself.

Data Sources and Methodology

  • CBP Careers, BPA Physical Fitness Test (careers.cbp.gov). The current events and minimums (25 sit-ups and 20 push-ups in one minute each; a 14-inch step test at 120 steps per minute for five minutes) and the statement that the standards are the same for all applicants and not based on race, age, or sex.
  • CBP, Border Patrol Agent Pre-Employment Fitness Test-1 Physical Readiness Program (cbp.gov, last edited December 2015). The sit-up, push-up, and step test protocols, the foam-block rule, the 3-minute intervals, the definition of multiple-hurdle scoring, and the PFT-2 figures.
  • CBP, Border Patrol Agent Physical Fitness Test 2 (cbp.gov, 2017). PFT-2 timing and the change to participation-only for announcements 17-3 and later.
  • CBP, CBP Officer Candidate Pre-employment Fitness Test 2 fact sheet (cbp.gov, 2014). The CBP Officer figures.
  • ICE, HSI Physical Fitness Test (ice.gov). The HSI special agent figures.

A note on methodology: the tool runs a simple meet-or-exceed check on each event against a single standard and reports your margin. No demographic adjustment is applied, because CBP applies none.

Limitations and Important Caveats

  • Not an official result. Only a CBP-administered PFT counts. This tool is for self-assessment and planning.
  • Confirm the requirements. Standards and procedures can change; check with CBP before you test.
  • All-or-nothing. Missing any one event fails the test, so train to clear every standard with margin.
  • Practice like the real thing. A step exactly 14 inches high, a metronome set to 120 beats per minute, and the correct foam block are what make a home result comparable.
  • Sequence matters. The events are done back to back with short intervals, so fresh, separate attempts can overstate your result.

Disclaimer:
This calculator provides an estimate based on the publicly available U.S. Border Patrol Agent Pre-Employment Fitness Test standards and is intended for general informational and training-reference purposes only. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or an official tool of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and it does not produce an official result. The PFT involves maximal-effort sit-ups and push-ups and five minutes of continuous stepping; stop immediately if you experience chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, or joint pain. This tool is not medical, fitness, or training advice. Consult a healthcare provider before beginning a new exercise or testing program, especially if you have a heart condition, a recent injury, or any condition aggravated by intense exertion.