Fitness, Performance, and Risk of Injury in British Army Officer Cadets

432 Fitness, Perfonnance. and Risk of InjulY
Gender
Male
Male
Female
Female
TABLE ill
5-MILE RUN TIMES BY GENDER AND INJURY
Injury
No
Yes
No
Yes
Mean Run Time
(seconds)
558
568
676
730
SD
12.5
10.9
20.7
16.9
tionship between 1.5-mile run time and injury, with the men
and women who sustained injuries having slower run times
than those who did not (p < 0.05). The results are shown in
Table III. No interactive effects of gender were found in this
relationship.
Discussion
In e,'aluating our primary objective of investigating the effectiveness
of the CC to develop and maintain standards of individual
fitness, it must be recognized that fitness represents only
one aspect of the objectives of the CC and only part of the JYr
obj ecti"es , The overall objective of the CC is to develop the
qualities of leadership, character, and intellect demanded of a
British Army officer. The implementation of any changes to the
CC based on the findings of this study need to bear in mind the
broader context and wider objectives of the CC,
The effectiveness of the JYr program is ostensibly confirmed by
the finding that 91 % of OCdts who completed the CC achieved
their formal JYr objectives at the first attempt and all OCdts
passed on subsequent attempts. These JYr objectives include the
combat fitness test (an 8-mile loaded march), the commandant's
individual fitness test (a 3.2-mile loaded march plus assault
course), the basic fitness test (1.5-mile run, pull-ups, and situps),
plus additional physical skills such as swimming, indoor
assault course, and agility.
However, the high pass rate does not in itself mean that the
CC was effective in improving fitness, nor does it demonstrate
that these OCdts were fit to perform the variety of physical tasks
demanded of their jobs, This study found that although the CC
as a whole produced training-related gains in all components of
fitness that are known to be related to military performance,
there were variations in the magnitude and direction of change
and in the rates of progression during the three terms and
between genders, Although it might be argued that the magnitude
of improvement and the rates of progression in fitness are
of little importance given that the training objectives were
achieved, this argument is flawed for several reasons,
First, both fmancial and human resources are limited during
the CC, as they are in all armed forces in NATO countries, and
there is a drive toward efficiency and optimization of training
regimens, An optimal training program will involve progressive
changes in fitness to the point at which the fitness objectives
have been achieved. A maintenance fitness program should be
used to maintain desired fitness levels and to prevent a decline, 1
Second, a smooth, progressive fitness gain achieved through
appropriate activities and an appropriate volume of training is
associated with lower rates of injury ,17.18 Despite the reductions
brought about under the British government's Options for
Military Medicine. Vol. 164. June 1999
Change. 19 the Blitish Army faced a shortfall in manpower. At
tlition through injury must be minimized to protect the Army's
most valuable asset.
Third. the training objectives of the CC may not reflect the
depth or breadth of the true demands of soldieling or of fulfilling
the duties required of an officer. Meeting the CC's fYr objectives,
therefore, may not be the most appropliate clitelion against
which to judge the physical training program.
Analysis of the changes in the different components of fitness
throughout the CC reveals the lack of smooth progression of
fitness and the failure to maintain standards of fitness, thereby
providing an insight into when and where modifications to the
program (both in the fYr and other aspects of the program) might
be sought.
Aerobic fitness improved by approximately 10% duling the
cr. Most of this gain occurred in term 1. when the majolity of
the running endurance training occurred. and fe\v changes occurred
thereafter, when the number of fYr peliods was reduced
and running endurance training was largely replaced by progressive
marching endurance training. It appears that there was
barely sufficient aerobic training stimulus to maintain aerobic
fitness duling subsequent terms.
The improvements in aerobic fitness in term 1 are largely
comparable with those improvements seen duling basic military
training in several NATO countlies1.20 and with those seen during
OCdt training in the United States!8 The greater initial
gains in aerobic fitness in female OCdts relative to their male
colleagues in this study and the studies of Daniels et al.? probably
reflect both a lower initial level of fitness and a greater loss
in body fat (see below). The decline in fitness levels of female
OCdts in the later stages of training also mirror the findings of
Daniels et al.,8 suggesting that the stimulus for increasing aerobic
fitness early duling longer military training courses is not
sustained and that greater attention needs to be paid to maintaining
aerobic fitness levels, especially in females.
Strength gains were modest and equivocal. improving by between
0 and 9% duling the CC, with most of the improvement
occurling in terms 2 and 3, perhaps as a result of the cumulative
effects of battle fYr. which included some strength-related
activities such as rope and wall climbing. The modest increases
are not unexpected given the lack of emphasis afforded to
strength training in the Blitish Army in general4.6 and in the CC
fYr program in particular. However, this lack of emphasis is
surplising in light of the importance of strength-related material
handling activities reported for the U.S. Army,21.22 the Canadian
Forces,23 and more recently the British Army. IS
No strength data are available for comparisons with other
OCdt populations. The improvements observed in this study do
not compare favorably with strength gains achieved duling
much shorter basic military training courses in other NATO
countries,l in which improvements were typically 5 to 15%.
However, they are in broad agreement with improvements documented
during British Army basic training, in which mean
changes were 7%20 and 2%.6
Muscular endurance as measured by abdominal curls improved
by 18% in male OCdts and 44% in female OCdts during
the cr. Pull-ups, the other test of "endurance," was more a test
of strength in the female OCdts, in that few of them could
achieve more than one or two repetitions. The percentage im-