Quantification of daily workload, energy expenditure, and sleep of US Marine recruits throughout a 10-week boot camp.

Abstract

During periods of high-volume vigorous exercise, United States Marine Corps recruits often experience musculoskeletal injuries. While the program of instruction (POI) for basic training is a defined training volume, the total workload of boot camp, including movements around the base, is unknown. The present study aimed to quantify the daily total workload, energy expenditure, and sleep during basic recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD) San Diego. Eighty-four male recruits from MCRD San Diego wore wrist wearable physiological monitors to capture their complete workload (mileage from steps), energy expenditure, and sleep throughout the 10-week boot camp. Marine recruits traveled an average of 11.5±3.4 miles per day (M±SD), expended 4105±823 kcal per day, and slept an average of 5 : 48±1 : 06 hours and minutes per night. While the POI designates a total of 46.3 miles of running and hiking, the actual daily average miles yielded approximately 657.6±107.2 miles over the 10-week boot camp. Recruit training requires high physical demand and time under tension due to the cumulative volume of movements around base in addition to the POI planned physical training.