Functional physical training improves women’s military occupational performance

Abstract

The U.S. Armed Forces have recently approved full integration of women into combat roles. Physical fitness demands for executing Military Occupational Specialties (MOS) are substantial; thus lifting and load carriage capability improvements are desirable. ObjectivesTo determine if a specially-designed physical conditioning program could lessen the gap between the performance of male and female Soldiers in lifting and load carriage and thereby enable women to meet the requirements of most, if not all, Army MOSs. MethodsForty women participated in a 24-week physical training program, which included resistance training, long-distance running, backpacking, and specialized drills. Pre- and post-tests of occupational and physical performance measures were conducted before and after training. Repeated measures analysis of variance were used to determine statistically significant differences among the pre-, mid- and posttests. ResultsWomen increased maximal occupational lifting strength 12–20 kg, added 9–34 repetitions in lifting endurance, increased 0.23 m in jumping performance, added 46 repetitions in local muscular endurance, and decreased load carriage for time by 3.7–8.6 min. Women scored within 82–94% of untrained male scores for aerobic capacity and muscular endurance after training. ConclusionWomen’s ability to perform physically-demanding military occupational tasks was significantly improved following 6 months of concurrent training, with emphasis on load carriage and lifting. The percentage of women that qualified for current “heavy” and “very heavy” MOSs was initially 24%, but increased to 78% after training. A resistance training program of 6+ months can adequately prepare women for “heavy” to “very heavy” MOS’s.