After dragging a body 40 feet, would you still have the energy to climb a 70-foot ladder? Could you retrieve a brick from the bottom of a pool? How about 42 push-ups in two minutes? These are just a few of the tasks you’d have to complete to become a firefighter, lifeguard or a Navy SEAL. So, take out your gym shorts, grab a stopwatch and find out if you make the grade on these fitness tests.

• Swim 500 yards using breast and/or sidestroke in under 12 minutes and 30 seconds. (10-minute rest)

• 42 push-ups in two minutes. (two-minute rest)

• 50 sit-ups in two minutes. (two-minute rest)

• Six pull-ups. (10-minute rest)

• Run one and a half miles wearing boots and long pants in under 11 minutes and 30 seconds.

Pass Rate: 98%

Common reasons for failure: Applicants who fail the test usually can’t complete the run or the swim in time, says Lt. Taylor Clark, Assistant Public Affairs Officer with the Navy. While the pass rate to get into BUD/S may seem surprisingly high, that doesn’t mean candidates will make it through the hellish half-year training course. “This test barely scratches the surface of what it takes to become a SEAL,” says Clark. Maybe that’s why only 30% of SEAL wannabes actually complete the entire BUD/S program.

• Get attached to a cable with a tensiometer, an instrument that assesses the pounds of pressure a candidate can create by bending forward (for ab strength measurement) and backwards (for lower back). You must reach 89 pounds bending forward and 109 pounds while bending back. These tests predict the ability of an applicant to drag a 165-pound person 20 feet in 20 seconds or less.

• Squeeze a handgrip with at least 34 kilograms of pressure. This assesses the candidate’s ability to carry a stretcher with a 185-pound person on it.

• Straddle a stationary bike with handgrips for pedals. With 2.5 kilograms of resistance, turn the grips 45 times in one minute. This also predicts ability to carry a stretcher.

• Ride a stationary bike with three kilograms resistance at a rate of 70 rpm for one minute. This test judges if an applicant can sprint 100 yards in under 20 seconds.

Pass Rate: 95%

Common reasons for failure: Potential prison guards can be too big or too small. “You don’t have to be an elite athlete to pass these tests,” said Castro. “But people who are heavier have problems with the first test, which gives them more resistance because of their weight. Smaller people often have trouble with the last two tests since the resistance is the same regardless of weight.”

The Test: No one ever said it was easy being a Boy Scout. No, wait, maybe they did. Anyway, the scouts require intensive studying and at least 12 weeks of workouts to snag their Physical Fitness Badge, a compulsory accomplishment for career scouts who want to earn the Eagle badge. In addition to the physical requirements listed below, boys must also answer an assortment of questions about what personal fitness means to them, the components of a nutritious diet and even list seven signs of cancer.

• Either run or walk as far as you can in nine minutes or run/walk one mile as fast as you can.

• Construct a sit-and-reach box from specifications in the merit badge pamphlet. Record how far you can stretch.

• Note the number of sit-ups you can do in one minute.

• Record either the number of pull-ups or push-ups you can do.

• Have a parent measure your right upper arm, shoulder span, chest span and abdomen circumference at navel level.

Scouts must outline and complete a three-month physical fitness program, plus show overall improvement.

Pass Rate: The Boy Scouts do not keep records of how many boys try out for the badge. But of the more than one million eligible scouts in 2002, about 60 percent received it.

Common reasons for failure: Laziness. Some boys start the 12-week program, but never quite get around to finishing it, said Michael Ramsey, assistant director for marketing and communications at the Boy Scouts.

The Test: When San Jose Fire Captain Phil Manley took his physical fitness test 30 years ago, it had little to do with being a firefighter. “I’ve never entered a burning home and done a pull-up,” he said. Today’s tests have a lot more on-the-job applicability. Plus, applicants have to wear all the proper clothing and gear (including a 24-pound air tank) while completing the following tasks in less than 10 minutes and 40 seconds.

-Wearing a blacked out facemask, navigate a room on your hands and knees and exit the opposite end.

• Use the hydrant wrench to open and close a functional hydrant.

• Remove a 14-foot ladder from hooks on the wall, carry it around a series of cones and return it to the wall hooks.

• Drag a dummy 40 feet.

• Raise a simulated ladder to full height and lower it back to the ground.

• Pick up a hose charged with 100 pounds of pressure and advance it 100 feet.

• Carry a 40-pound hose-pack up and down four floors.

After completing those tasks, applicants must complete an un-timed aerial ladder climb while hiking up a 70-foot ladder set at 70 degrees.

Pass rate: About 90%

Common reasons for failure: Lack of endurance does a lot of potential firefighters in, said Manley. “A person will get bogged down at one of the stations and then they go to the next station and have nothing left,” he says. “They come out sweating like a pig and exhausted.”

• If under 38 years old, run 2,400 meters in 12 minutes. Those between 38-45, run 2,200 meters in the same time. Run only 2,000 meters if over 45.

• Run a 50-meter dash in nine seconds.

• Run a 200-meter dash in 40 seconds.

Pass Rate: 99%

Common reasons for failure: Moving up the ranks is such a complicated process that no one tries unless they’re positive they’d pass the physical. “Everyone passes unless they’re injured,” says Fern, who is a level 7 ref, currently going for the 6. He has already passed the physical fitness portion of the test.

• Continuously swim for 500 yards.

• Retrieve a 10-pound brick from the bottom of the pool and carry it 25 yards.

• Tread water for one minute.

After the course, the mostly teenage lifeguards-in-training have to prove their lifesaving skills in three kinds of mock rescue: an active victim on the water’s surface, a passive victim holding a brick on the bottom of the pool and a spinal injury.

Pass Rate: 80%

Common reasons for failure: Cocky jocks often imagine their skills will carry over into the pool, says Peter Beireis, instructor and trainer for the Bay Area Chapter of the Red Cross. “They think, ‘Well, I can run five miles. I can swim a 500.’ But it’s not the same. Many wash out right at the beginning.”