The Soldier Conditioning Review (SCR) is a comprehensive assessment that’s designed to evaluate the physical fitness of UK soldiers without any discrimination based on gender or age. The goal of SCR is to ensure that all soldiers meet the physical standards required for military tasks and operations.
In this article, we will cover everything you need to know about Soldier Conditioning Review to get you ready.
What is the Soldier Conditioning Review (SCR)?
The Soldier Conditioning Review (SCR) is a strength and conditioning diagnostic tool used by the British Army. It is based on a simple idea – there are no gender and age biases. This gym-based assessment evaluates the individual's physical conditioning across all fitness components. The results of SCR will highlight your strengths and weaknesses in each area. Therefore, it allows Physical Training (PT) staff to tailor conditioning programs for both individuals and units.
Since the 1st of April, 2019, all eligible Army personnel (Regular and Reserve members) are mandated to participate in the SCR.
The SCR consists of a series of exercises that are designed to evaluate various aspects of physical fitness.
These include:
1. Broad Jump to test lower limb explosive power.
2. Seated Med ball throw is explosive upper body strength.
3. Hex Bar Deadlift for lower limb strength.
4. 100m shuttles Lower body explosive power and anaerobic capacity.
5. Pull-ups to assess upper body strength.
6. A 2-km Run to test aerobic capacity.
Together, these exercises give us a general view of an individual's physical capabilities and make it easier to improve weaknesses during fitness programs.
The SCR is designed to efficiently assess a large group of personnel within a relatively short timeframe. This is important since all Army personnel must under go SCR. Therefore, it’s vital to make it time-efficient. For example, a group of 50 individuals can complete the assessment in about 90 minutes.
Of course, this is just an estimation. The real assessment may take longer or shorter based on an array of factors. However, SCR focuses on time efficiency while ensuring that all tests are conducted thoroughly.
The scoring system of SCR is based on a 90-point score. There are 6 exercises, each is scored from 1 to 15.
The broad jump exercise evaluates the explosive strength of your lower limbs. You'll start from a standing position, squat, and then leap as far as possible. Participants get a practice attempt, if the first practice attempt is unsuccessful you will be given a second practice attempt before undertaking the scored element which consists of two scored jumps – the best score will be recorded. The jump distances are measured in centimetres. There are specific benchmarks for passing.
This exercise assesses the explosive strength of your upper body. You'll throw a 4kg medicine ball forward with full arm extension while sitting upright with your back against a solid surface. After a test throw, two attempts are made and measured in centimetres.
The hex bar deadlift focuses on the maximal strength of your lower limbs and back. You'll perform 3 to 10 repetitions. Each time, more weight is used to challenge your muscles. The scoring is based on an estimated one-rep max chart.
This agility test consists of five 20-metre sprints that test your anaerobic capacity and agility. The assessment starts in the prone position behind a starting line, required to do alternating leg turns or make sure you look at the same direction every time you turn meaning you will switch the legs you take off from after initiating the turn. Practice attempt will be less distance but should be done at a high intensity and not a jog to prepare you for the assessment. The total time to complete the 100 metres provides a measure of the participant's speed and agility.
Pull-ups test upper body strength, with one simple rule – You need to lift your chin above the bar from a hanging position. The pull ups are done under the timings of a metronome with 2 second spacings. The number of completed pull-ups performed to failure is noted. Half reps can be counted towards the score so 1.5 etc. You can only score a half rep after the completion of 1 full rep, you can't score 0.5 for example. There is no specific passing score since the ability to perform pull-ups varies greatly between individuals.
The final test of SCR is the 2 km run, which evaluates aerobic capacity. It consists of a warm-up phase that’s followed by a timed best-effort run.
The evaluation criteria for the SCR are simple. Each exercise within the SCR is marked on a scale from 1 to 15. After the completion of all exercises, individuals receive an overall score, which is categorized within an amber/green/red system.
This scoring system facilitates the interpretation of your results:
This method of scoring provides clear feedback to personnel, with an accurate evaluation of strengths and weaknesses. The exercises of SCR allows the testers to assess aerobic and anaerobic capacities, as well as other physical properties (e.g., speed, agility, resistance).
As of its current review period, the SCR does not incorporate a traditional pass/fail system. This approach makes sense. You see, the SCR's main goal during its review phase is to gather data and insights into the physical conditioning of Army personnel without the pressure of immediate pass/fail.
It also allows for an evaluation environment that’s focused on understanding the effectiveness of physical training programs. This non-binary evaluation method takes the Army one step closer to the modernization of physical training practices within the Army.
If you fail in any part of the SCR, that doesn’t necessarily mean disqualification. Once again, the SCR’s goal is to gather data. Therefore, testers may offer you a retest between 48 hours to 7 days. Keep in mind that repeated failures will lead to a medical check up from the medical officer and therefore directed into the correct stream of PT dependent on any issues that may have been found.
Finally, the SCR's standards and scoring might evolve as more data is collected.
The SCR is a relatively new physical evaluation that pinpoints strengths and weaknesses in Army personnel. Although there is some vagueness regarding its pass/fail status, things might change when more data is collected and analyzed by the testers.
We hope that this article managed to highlight what you need to know about the soldier conditioning review and how it evaluates Army personnel. If you have any questions about the SCR or other Army tests, feel free to get in contact with me. I am always happy to help!