Fitness, performance, and risk of injury in British Army officer cadets

The objectives of this study were to investigate the effectiveness of the C ommissioning Course (CC) to develop and maintain standards of fitness, to a ssess capability to perform military tasks, and to determine the relationsh ip between fitness and risk of injury in 106 British Army officer cadets (O Cdts). Aerobic fitness, muscular strength, endurance, and body composition were regularly assessed. Performance on four representative military tasks was measured at the end of the CC. All injuries in term 1 were documented. Over the CC, changes in fitness were generally modest and equivocal, Aerobi c fitness improved by approximately 10% (p < 0.01), strength by 5 to 9% (p < 0.05 to p < 0.01), and muscular endurance by 55% (p < 0.01), Reductions i n fat (p < 0.01) and gains in fat free mass (p < 0.05) averaged 3%. The fem ales demonstrated greater improvements than the males, The majority of OCdt s passed the representative military tasks, although females in some trades showed high failure rates. Forty-six percent of OCdts sustained injuries i n the first term, resulting in 5% of man-days lost. No gender difference wa s found in injury rates. The least aerobically fit OCdts sustained more inj uries than their fitter counterparts. In conclusion, there is scope for opt imizing the effectiveness of the CC to enhance fitness and improve the focu s of physical training on maximizing military task performance.