THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AEROBIC FITNESS AND RECOVERY FROM HIGH-INTENSITY EXERCISE IN INFANTRY SOLDIERS

The relationship between aerobic fitness and recovery from high-intens ity exercise was examined in 197 infantry soldiers, Aerobic fitness wa s determined by a maximal-effort, 2,000-m run (RUN), High-intensity ex ercise consisted of three bouts of a continuous 140-m sprint with seve ral changes of direction. A 2-minute passive rest separated each sprin t, A fatigue index was developed by dividing the mean time of the thre e sprints by the fastest time, Times for the RUN were converted into s tandardized T scores and separated into five groups (group 1 had the s lowest run time and group 5 had the fastest run time), Significant dif ferences in the fatigue index were seen between group 1 (4.9 +/- 2.4%) and groups 3 (2.6 +/- 1.7%), 4 (2.3 +/- 1.6%), and 5 (2.3 +/- 1.3%), It appears that recovery from high-intensity exercise is improved at h igher levels of aerobic fitness (faster time for the RUN), However, as the level of aerobic fitness improves above the population mean, no f urther benefit in the recovery rate from high-intensity exercise is ap parent.