The objective of this study was to analyse the physical fitness of the cadets enrolled in the five years duration of the Bachelor’s degree and Military Training. Our sample includes a real representation of sex percentages between groups in XXXX. The total sample participating in the study was 167 as mentioned in the Results section, but only 8.31% were women. Men and women involved in military service carry out jobs that require a high level of physical fitness despite their age, rank, or job position [4]. Additionally, the physical conditioning of the simple improves with age and the best results could be observed in that subgroup between 22–23 years.
of specificity maintains that the exercise response is specific to the mode and intensity of exercise and that the training program must stress the physiological systems that are critical for optimal performance in the given task to achieve specific training adaptations. There are a variety of fitness assessment tests available for measuring performance or changes in fitness [16]. Restricted training time dictates that certain candidates might not be able to reach or exceed physical fitness tests requirements [4] and, in the case of XXXX cadets, to pass for example the Physical Fitness subject each academic course. The challenge with group physical training is the fact that these groups are not composed of homogeneously conditioned soldiers based on their physical fitness [7].
In the case of the physical training programme developed at the XXXX and responding with the main objective of maintaining and training physical and cardiovascular fitness of cadets and preparing them to the semester physical fitness tests, this programme is organized giving relevance to different aspects of physical conditioning. The content of the programme focuses, in the first semester, in running training (three out of five days), strength power circuit (one day) and swimming (one day). In the second semester, the programme focuses on running training (three out of five days) and strength power circuit (two days), without including the specific swimming training during the second semester. There does indeed seem, therefore, to be coherence between the tests used to access physical fitness and the training programme developed, but not quite, because the larger duration test used in the current battery tests is the 1000m race and that it is supposed to access cadets’ resistance, however this test is at the limit of accessing this aspect. In other studies, the VO2max is accessed based on tests that include a minimum of 1600m [17] and being in some cases 3000m in specific physical fitness protocols [18], in few cases near the 4800m [10], and being the most adopted 2400m used for the American Navy and the British Royal Navy [3, 17]. Wilkinson et al. [19] in their study could observe a direct correlation between the 2400m race and the multistage fitness test, being this, for example, a practical mean to assess aerobic fitness when space is limited. But in the case of the tests carried out in the XXXX the largest distance test used is 1000m and no multistage fitness test is included.
Emphasis in the military has traditionally been placed on the long-distance run, which is one of the simplest and cheapest forms of training that large groups can do in almost any environmental conditions, with little or no formal knowledge or understanding of principles of physical training [7].
In other military Forces, like for example the Norwegian Navy Special Operation Forces, physical training is focused on aerobic endurance, through running and local muscular endurance training (bodyweight circuit training) [7, 18], a situation similar to that carried out in the XXXX. This type of training, as more generally reflected in different public health guidelines, is characterized by prolonged periods of continuous exercise at a moderate- intensity pace [7]. Nowadays, the Norwegian Navy Special Operation Forces is conducting a new approach to fit with new demands and organizational modifications because it has been observed that a combination of mixed endurance-based training, exclusive of any individualization, does probably not provide the optimal stimulus to improve other capacities such as strength and power [18, 20]. The reason for developing a new anaerobic work capacity test for the Norwegian Navy Special Operation Forces was due to the lack of a valid, specific, and easily implemented anaerobic work capacity test for it force operators in the literature. The test simulates the scenario where an operator must run a distance and evacuate a person by dragging him out of the “danger zone.” This scenario was chosen because it could be easily replicated, and the movement-pattern, external load, and muscles included are similar to many critical “anaerobic” combat situations [20].
Interval training could be adapted to fit a reality where cadets present different levels of physical fitness and ensure all members of a given unit benefit equally from quality training time that is designed to prepare them for the demands of their missions [7]. In the case of the XXXX physical training programme, it includes, both in the first and in the second semester, one day of interval training, what involves reduced training volume and time as compared with traditional endurance training, as mentioned by Gibala et al. [7], but other approaches are also used, because physical tests evaluate different aspects.
The Army Soldiers in Basic Combat Training and operational units of USA Army participated in the study by Dada et al. [1] and the authors observed an average measure for 2min Push ups of 34.9 ± 14.8 repetitions for the men age group 17–21 and 36.3 ± 14.8 for the men age group 22–26. In our study, age groups for the analysis were different from those in the study by Dada et al. [1], but independently, higher values have been observed, with average values of 42.82 ± 10.76 and 42.47 ± 11.99 for the age groups 18–19 and 20–21, respectively, and 42.61 ± 11.10 and 42.69 ± 10.69 for the age groups 22–23 and > 24, respectively, but in our case analysis by age group included men and women. In that study, as the APFT has been used to access Physical fitness of sample, a 2 min Sit Ups and a 2-mile (3218.69m) run were included in the measurements. The 2 min Sit Ups are not included in the XXXX fitness tests, as well as the 2-mile run, because the largest run included in the XXXX tests include a 1000m race, and performance on those different running lengths could be remarkably different because they involve different patterns of energy production.
Cuddy et al. [4] in their study conclude that candidates to enter some Special Operations Forces in USA who are completing 30 min per day or more of physical activity have a higher likelihood of passing the Physical Fitness Tests, or at least the run portion. Because the run portion is more difficult to pass compared with the calisthenics, candidates should accumulate 30 min per day of vigorous activity if they wish to have a greater chance of passing the Physical Fitness test. This follows with exercise recommendations put forth by the American College of Sports Medicine to improve health [4].
In the study by Groeller et al. [8] carried out with a simple of 51 Australian soldiers during the basic military training and initial employment training from 5 different specialities (infantry, armoured, combat engineers, artillery and transport trades), physical aspects have been assessed including 2 min Push Ups and Vertical Jump. In the case of Vertical Jump measurement, it has been done using a portable force platform and the force applied has been measured in N, different from the methodology employed in the current work and making data comparison impossible. However, measurement on 2 min Push Ups repetitions reached similar values to ours in the first assessment 41.1cm (37.5–44.7), but values observed after the basic military training 49.7cm (47.0–52.4) and after initial employment training 57.5cm (54.4–60.6) were superior than those observed for our sample (42.65 ± 11.82), a fact that could be explained by a more specific training on this specific ability.
Even considering military naval forces, we have not succeeded in finding bibliography evidence on other physical fitness protocols including swimming in their tests. It is important to stress that we do not consider that, in the case of the XXXX, they consider the physical performance in swimming as a tipping point because there physical training protocol only includes swimming once a week in the first semester and their 50m swimming test has a cut off time to pass over 50s and the average times achieved by the cadets are over 35s.