Physical Fitness and Infantry Operations

Abstract

Male infantry soldiers (N=34) were studied before, during, and after a 5 day simulated combat exercise. During the exercise, subjects were rated on their field performance by senior infantry non-commissioned officers. Prior to the exercise, direct measures of body composition and maximal oxygen uptake were obtained. Before and after the exercise the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) and various measures of anaerobic capacity (Wingate and Thorstensson tests) and muscular strength (isometric and isokinetic) were obtained. Results showed no significant decrement in field performance during the exercise. Upper body anaerobic capacity and strength declined following the exercise although the results for upper body strength were not consistent on all measures. Field performance was significantly correlated with measures of upper body anaerobic capacity and strength. Upper body strength and anaerobic capacity appear to be important for infantry operations and subject to declines during combat operations.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1987
Accession Number
ADA206320

Entities

People

  • Frederick Drews
  • Joseph J Knapik
  • Michelle Murphy
  • Patricia Fitzgerald
  • William Daniels

Organizations

  • United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Body Composition
  • Combat Operations
  • Data Analysis
  • Data Science
  • Factor Analysis
  • Information Science
  • Measurement
  • Military Research
  • Peak Power
  • Physical Fitness
  • Regression Analysis
  • Terrain
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Training
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Exercise and Sports Science.
  • Military Training and Readiness Simulation