The 26-Week Plan If You Start Under the PST Minimums

What the Minimums Are

The PST has five events, each with a minimum qualifying score. Meeting every minimum qualifies a candidate to enter the NSW pipeline; starting below one of them is exactly why the guide has entry brackets. The numbers below are the same ones the app grades every logged PST against.

Full detail in the PST standards entry.

Push-Ups and Sit-Ups Under 40

A max set under 40 push-ups or sit-ups sits below the 50-rep minimum, and the guide answers with volume spread over many short sets: 5-6 sets of 10-15 reps, 50-90 total reps, 4-5 days a week, resting 1-2 minutes between sets. Six sets of ten is a full workout at this level, and every rep is slow and controlled. The bracket's whole job is building a base before the speed work starts.

Pull-Ups Under 6

A max set under 6 strict pull-ups is the most common starting point for candidates without a climbing or gymnastics background, and it is not a barrier. The guide prescribes 5-6 sets of 2-3 reps, 10-18 total reps, 4-5 days a week, every rep from a dead hang to chin over the bar with no kipping. Each set stops well before failure so the reps stay strict, and the weekly total of quality reps adds up fast.

The Swim and Run Below the Minimums

For the 500-yard swim and the 1.5-mile run, starting below the minimum means starting at the slow end of the pace charts, not out of them. The swim interval pace chart and the run interval pace chart each run sixteen brackets from 8:00 to 16:00, so a candidate whose swim is slower than 12:30 sits in the 12:30-13:00 bracket or lower, and the same for the run. The interval paces come from the chart; the volume comes from the plan, which starts at 4 repeats in week 1 whether the bracket is fast or slow. The guide's note for a candidate with a swim slower than 10:35 who runs well is to weight training toward the water, and the slow bracket is where that extra pool time goes.

How the App Adapts When You Log a New PST

Every interval pace in the 26-week plan is read from your most recent PST. Log a new PST and the app re-reads the charts: the swim and run move to the row your tested time earns, and the push-up, sit-up, and pull-up maxes move you between progression brackets. Go from 35 to 45 push-ups and the daily target climbs out of the under-40 bracket toward the 40-to-60 one; shave 30 seconds off the swim and every 100-yard repeat gets faster. You never recalculate the plan yourself, and you never stay in a bracket you have outgrown. The weekly numbers on the plan pages show the volume; your PST sets the pace.

Who This Is For

For a candidate whose first PST is under one or more of the minimums and wants the guide's prescribed starting point instead of a guess. Not for a candidate who already meets every minimum: the plan pages and the competitive line in the PST standards are the better place to start.