Validation and Practical Applications of Performance in a 6-Min Rowing Test in the Danish Armed Forces.

Oliver Funch,Henriette A Hasselstrøm,Thomas P Gunnarsson

doi:10.3390/ijerph18041395

Abstract

Personnel of the Danish Armed Forces must complete a yearly basic physical fitness test consisting of a Cooper’s 12-min run test (CRT) and four strength-related bodyweight exercises. However, there is no validated alternative to the CRT allowing injured or sailing personnel to conduct the yearly basic physical fitness test. Therefore, the aim of this study was to validate performance in a 6-min rowing ergometer test (6MRT) against CRT performance. Thirty-one individuals (M/F: 20/11, age: 34 ± 12 years) employed at the Danish Armed Forces completed testing on two independent days; (I) the CRT on an outdoor track and (II) a 6MRT with pulmonary measurements of breath-by-breath oxygen uptake. In addition, 5 participants (M/F: 4/1, age: 40 ± 10 years) completed re-testing of the 6MRT. No difference was observed between VO2max estimated from the CRT and measured during the 6MRT. Absolute VO2max correlated strongly (r = 0.95; p < 0.001) to performance in the 6MRT, and moderately (r = 0.80; p < 0.001) to performance in the CRT. Bodyweight (BW) and fat free mass (FFM) correlated stronger to performance in the 6MRT compared to the CRT. 6MRT re-testing yielded similar performance results. The 6MRT is a valid and reliable alternative to the CRT, allowing injured or sailing personnel of the Danish Armed Forces to complete the basic physical fitness test as required, albeit 6MRT performance demands must be made relative to bodyweight.

Highlights

In Denmark, military personnel must successfully complete a yearly basic physical fitness test to fulfil the demands of employment at the Danish Armed Forces
Maximal and mean HR were higher (p < 0.001) and RPE was lower (p < 0.05) during the Cooper’s 12-min run test (CRT) compared to the 6-min rowing ergometer test (6MRT) (Table 3)
The present study shows that VO2max values measured during the 6MRT are comparable to those estimated from the CRT in personnel of the Danish Armed Forces

Summary

Introduction

To ensure the capability of the soldiers to meet these demands and solve their military tasks, the different nation’s armed forces have various kinds of physical fitness tests and protocols that soldiers must pass [4]. In Denmark, military personnel must successfully complete a yearly basic physical fitness test to fulfil the demands of employment at the Danish Armed Forces. In running and rowing alike, performance is highly dependent on individual VO2max [6,7,8,9]. In both disciplines, athletes have high relative (up to 85 mL·kg−1 ·min−1 in elite long distance runners [7]) and absolute (>6 L·min−1 in elite male heavyweight rowers [8]) VO2max values. A high bodyweight is less detrimental to exercise performance compared to running [8,9,10,11,12,13], but rather correlate positively with performance [8,9], as bodyweight correlates positively with absolute VO2max in rowers [10]

Methods

Results

Conclusion