Assessing Readiness in Military Women The Relationship of Body, Composition, Nutrition, and Health (1998) / Chapter Skim
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3 Physical Fitness Policies and Programs
3 Physical Fitness Policies and Programs
Pages 61-86
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From page 61... ...
The purpose for instituting this requirement for physical fitness was to ensure an optimum body composition (within body fat standards) and appearance for all military personnel.
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From page 62... ...
, and there is a level of fitness required for the optimum performance of one's chosen lifestyle, including occupation arid recreational activities. The civilian literature provides a large body of information supporting the importance of physical activity in overall health and contains a variety of recommendations for amount and .
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From page 63... ...
There is a consensus, however, that regular physical activity is part of a healthy lifestyle that is compatible with readiness, arid that daily physical activity generally increases health and fitness. Extrapolation to the military situation suggests that a consistently ready, fit, and healthy force is one that routinely engages in at least the level of exercise recommended by the ACSM.
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From page 64... ...
Neither the Navy nor the Marine Corps performs a similar assessment of physical fitness at enlistment beyond the height/weight and body composition assessments. By the end of basic combat training (BCT)
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From page 65... ...
In 1988, the Army Physical Fitness School was given the task of measuring the fitness of the active-duty Army. The PFT was administered at a number of Army posts within the continental United States to measure the fitness of a sample of 5,347 males and 676 females in 60 of the 277 military occupational specialties (MOSs, which are classified by strength requirement [see Table 3-2 and Appendix Cl)
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From page 67... ...
~ Army defines heavy strength requirement as ability to lift on occasional basis a maximum of 100 lb (45 kg) with frequent or constant lifting of 50 lb (23 kg)
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From page 68... ...
(1995~. It is widely acknowledged that the periodic military fitness tests establish a minimum level of fitness (the Army PET was based on an arbitrary, perceived level of fitness needed for Army task performance [Vogel, ~ 9923~.
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From page 69... ...
. Few systematically collected data are available regarding the numbers of military facilities or commands that provide duty time for physical activity or conduct organized physical activity programs; however, a number of active-duty women who were interviewed acknowledged that the amount of time allowed for physical activity during the duty day varied considerably from one worksite to another and that many, especially those working in health care, were given no time for regular physical activity (Friedman, 1996; Hernandez, 1996; King, 1996)
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From page 70... ...
As a result of this legislation, the GAO was asked to re-examine the question of job-specific performance testing. Each branch of the military performs fitness testing independently, and the Air Force is the only branch that requires new recruits to take a strength test for MOS assignment (the incremental dynamic lift)
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From page 71... ...
While the ExPres is considered a reasonable measure of general physical ability, it is not considered an adequate assessment of task-specific performance, particularly for the infantry and others with occupations that demand high strength; thus, there has been ongoing effort to develop gender-neutral, task-specific performance tests and standards that can be administered with a minimum of equipment and in minimal time (Chahal et al., 19921. This effort has been further intensified as a result of the abolition, in 1992, of body fat standards for Canadian Forces on the grounds that an insufficient relationship could be demonstrated between body fat and physical performance (Personal communication, S
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From page 72... ...
In response to concerns that a significant percentage of personnel (and a disproportionate number of women) were unable to accomplish their assigned tasks, the GAO performed an analysis and issued a report in 1996 recommending the institution of task-specific performance tests throughout the military as well as reconsideration of the validity and reliability of the incremental dynamic lift test.
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From page 73... ...
to screen new recruits (Rhodes and Farenholtz, 19921. Although task performance correlated poorly with fitness test performance, established officers who scored poorly on the Police Officers' Physical Abilities Test also scored poorly on routine tests of fitness, and the test has been demonstrated to have content validity and accepted for screening of new recruits.
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From page 74... ...
In contrast to the law enforcement groups polled, all firefighting services regularly assessed fitness and body composition. A variety of approaches were used to assess overall fitness and specific task performance.
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From page 75... ...
In a study of women during basic combat training, Westphal and coworkers (1995) examined the relationship among weight-for-height; BMI; total body fat as predicted by all services' circumference equations and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry; body fat distribution as predicted by waist-hip ratio; performance on the Army PFT; and measures of strength and task performance (torque task performance, machine lift, bench press, military press, and vertical jump)
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From page 76... ...
and others presents a problem; it is that the majority of the military's physically demanding MOSs involve occasional to frequent lifting and carrying, also known as manual material handling. Thus the capacity to lift and catty is a significant aspect of military task performance.
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Strategies to Improve Performance on Physically Demantling Military Tasks The establishment of MOS-specific fitness standards and corresponding physical abilities tests is only one means of ensuring that military personnel are qualified to perform their jobs. Two additional strategies that are under investigation are the optimization of strength training to allow women to reach their full potential and the ergonomic redesign of tasks and equipment to decrease the need for physical exertion.
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From page 78... ...
When dynamic strength is compared between men and women, women soldiers exhibit 50 percent of men's ability on the incremental dynamic lift but 60 percent of men's ability on a box lift task, which suggests that training plays a role and when the task is familiar, women may be better able to adapt anc! vary their technique.
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From page 79... ...
have shown that women's box lift performance was closer to that of men's than scores on the incremental dynamic lift would predict, because women were able to shift the weight of the load when performing the box lift task. 2 Psychomotor learning is the acquisition of skill in performing a task as a result of experience believed to result in strengthening of efferent (motor neuron)
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From page 80... ...
However, it is body fat that is currently assessed and used as the primary criterion for accession and retention. Thus, in some regard, the body composition standards currently employed by the military may discriminate against the women who would be most capable of performing the jobs requiring strength, those perhaps most critical for survival in a combat situation.
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From page 81... ...
Pp. 71-88 in Body Composition and Physical Performance, Applications for the Military Services, B.M.
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From page 82... ...
Pp. 57-70 in Body Composition and Physical Performance, Applications for the Military Services, B.M.
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From page 83... ...
Pp. 141-172 in Body Composition and Physical Performance, Applications for the Military Services, B.M.
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From page 84... ...
1994. The physical performance of female Army basic trainees who pass and fai} the Army body weight and percent body fat standards.
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From page 85... ...
Pp. 89-103 in Body Composition and Physical Performance, Applications for the Military Services, B.M.
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