French Foreign Legion Fitness Requirements & Tests

Reviewed September 2026

Physical fitness is one of the first things the French Foreign Legion will check when you arrive. During selection, you will be tested on pull-ups and the Luc Léger beep test, and you should also be able to swim. But there is an important difference between the official sports tests and what can happen when you first walk into a recruitment centre. I will explain both, using the current official requirements and my own experience of selection.

The “welcome to the French Foreign Legion” pull-up test

Experience

I arrived at the recruitment centre in Paris on 15 July 2012. Before I did anything else, I was told to do a quick pull-up test. This was not the official sports test that came later during selection. It was an initial check right at the entrance.

At that time, anyone who could not do at least four pull-ups was sent home immediately. They had not started any other part of the process yet. In most cases, they received a temporary suspension of around two to six months before they could try again.

In my case, the caporal-chef asked me to continue past four. I did six, and when I started my seventh repetition he stopped me. Four was enough to get through that first check when I joined, but you should not prepare with four as your target.

This quick check is not necessarily done in exactly the same way every day. From what I know today, it still depends a lot on who is working at the entrance. Some candidates are asked to do pull-ups immediately, while others are not. The important point is simple: you should be ready to perform as soon as you arrive.

The formal pull-up test during selection

Official Information

The French Foreign Legion uses pull-ups as one of the official sports tests. You start from a full dead hang with your arms straight, pull yourself up until your chin is above the bar, then go back down before the next pull-up. The official website explains how to do the exercise, but it does not give a minimum number of pull-ups.

Experience

When I did the selection, the repetitions were counted strictly. Your chin had to go clearly above the bar and the movement had to be controlled. Butterfly pull-ups, swinging or incomplete repetitions did not count.

I did 12 clean pull-ups during my selection. I also saw candidates lose repetitions, especially when they were tired and could not complete their last pull-up correctly.

There was no clearly announced official minimum when I went through selection. In practice, four pull-ups was usually the line between continuing and going home. I have heard stories of candidates being accepted with only three, but I never saw that happen myself.

My advice is to arrive able to do at least eight clean pull-ups. Do not train just to reach the lowest number you think might be accepted. Eight gives you some margin if you are tired, stressed or if one of your repetitions is refused.

The Luc Léger test

Official Information

The Luc Léger test, also called the beep test, is the official running test used during selection. You run back and forth between two lines 20 metres apart. You have to reach the line before the next beep. The beeps become faster as the test continues, so you have to run faster at each level. The current official minimum is level 5, but the goal is to reach the highest level you can.

Experience

I reached level 10 during my selection, and I was completely destroyed at the end. The Luc Léger is not only a physical test. There is also a strong mental part. I reached a better level than some candidates who had been stronger than me during the Cooper test because I managed to keep going when the test became painful.

In my group, level 8 was around the average. During the test, the distance was exactly 20 metres and we had to put at least one foot behind the line. The way the test is supervised can change a little depending on the people in charge. Sometimes they can be stricter about the line or the movement, but the same rules are applied to everyone in the group.

If you are slightly late, you are not always stopped immediately. During my selection, you could be around two metres behind and try to catch up during the next 20 metres. If you could not recover the distance, your test was over.

We did the test outside on a concrete surface. About ten minutes later, we went directly to the pull-up test. I did not know that the pull-ups were coming next, so I had used almost everything I had during the Luc Léger. The exact schedule can change from one week to another. During selection, you normally do not know exactly what will happen next. You live almost hour by hour.

The official minimum is level 5, but I would not prepare with level 5 as your goal. I recommend being able to reach around level 8 or 9 before you go. This gives you a much better margin if you are tired, stressed or if the conditions are different from your training at home.

What about the Cooper test?

Official Information

The Cooper test is not listed as a current French Foreign Legion selection test. Today, the official running test is the Luc Léger test.

Experience

When I joined in 2012, the Cooper test was still part of the selection in Aubagne. We ran for 12 minutes on an athletics track and had to cover as much distance as possible.

I ran 2,600 metres and I was the worst candidate who was still allowed to continue. Everyone else who passed was above me, while the candidates with lower results were sent away. In my group, around 25 to 30% of the candidates were eliminated after the Cooper test.

The better candidates were running around 2,900 metres or more. My problem was simple: I had not trained enough for this type of running before joining.

I was motivated, but I had not prepared properly. I came very close to failing selection because of it. That experience stayed with me, and it later became one of the main reasons why I created LegionStories and the Legion Training app. I wanted future candidates to know what to expect and arrive better prepared than I was.

If your result was considered too low, there was no second chance that day. Candidates who failed were sent away almost immediately after the test.

This is why you can still find old articles, videos and forum posts talking about the Cooper test. They are not necessarily wrong. They may simply describe an older version of the selection process.

You can also read my detailed experience in Aubagne.

Do you need to know how to swim?

Official Information

The French Foreign Legion strongly recommends that you can swim at least 25 metres without any help. The official recruitment website does not list swimming in the same way as the pull-up and Luc Léger tests, but it clearly tells candidates to be able to swim before they arrive.

Experience

When I joined in 2012, there was no swimming test during selection. The first time I had to swim was during basic training in Castelnaudary.

This has changed since then. From what I know about the current selection process, candidates are now checked over 25 metres. A candidate who cannot swim the distance can be eliminated. This practical rule is stronger than the wording currently published on the official recruitment website.

During my basic training, there were still guys who could not swim at all. By the end of basic training, everyone had to be able to swim at least 100 metres.

If you can only swim 25 metres with difficulty, that is not a good plan. You may pass the first check, but you are making basic training more difficult than it needs to be. Learn to swim properly before you join.

How fit should you be before joining?

Experience

The official minimums are not good training goals. You should arrive with enough margin to perform when you are tired, stressed or when the schedule changes without warning.

Before joining, I recommend being able to do at least 8 clean pull-ups, reach around level 8 or 9 on the Luc Léger test, swim 100 metres comfortably and run 8 km in around 40 minutes.

You should also think about your body weight. In the French Army, there is an informal expression, chat maigre, for the ideal military body type. It means someone who is not exceptional in one area, but good at everything. Not too heavy, not too skinny, strong enough, able to run, climb, carry weight and keep going for a long time.

This is why I often use a BMI around 25 as a practical indication, not as an official rule. The official accepted BMI range is wider. The point is simply that being too heavy can make long-distance running and repeated training harder, while being too skinny can also become a problem when you have to carry weight and recover every day.

For example, someone who weighs 95 kg at 183 cm may be very strong, but long runs will put much more stress on the body. During training, you will not only do short fitness tests. There are also middle and long-distance runs, marches and days where you have to perform again even if you are already tired.

Do not prepare only to pass one test. Prepare to be good everywhere.

My advice before you go

Do not prepare only to reach the minimum. Selection is competitive, and you will not always know what comes next or how much time you will have to recover.

Arrive able to do at least 8 clean pull-ups, reach level 8 or 9 on the Luc Léger test, swim 100 metres comfortably and run 8 km in around 40 minutes. You do not need to be exceptional at one thing. You need to be good enough everywhere.

Once you join, the tests change. Serving legionnaires complete the annual CCPM, which includes running, swimming, push-ups and the operational CCPS test.

I almost failed selection because I was motivated but not properly prepared. That experience is one of the reasons I created LegionStories and later the Legion Training app. If this website can help you avoid the same mistake, then it is doing its job.