Health, Fitness, and Responses to Military Training of Officer Cadets in a Gulf Cooperation Council Country

Objective: To quantify the health, fitness, and physiological responses to military training of Officer Cadets from a Gulf Cooperation Council country. Methods: One hundred and nineteen Officer Cadets volunteered; body composition, core body temperature, aerobic fitness, hydration status (urine osmolality), cardiovascular strain, physical activity (3-dimensional accelerometry), and energy expenditure (doubly labelled water) were measured over 5-days of Basic Training (BT), Army Training (AT), Navy Training (NT), and Air Force Training (AFT). Results: There were no differences between courses for body mass index (mean all courses: 24.1 +/- 4.1 kg.m(-2)) or peak core body temperature (mean all courses: 38.1 +/- 0.4 degrees C) (p > 0.05). AT body fat (19.8 +/- 3.6%) and BT VO2 max (36.8 +/- 11.6 mL.kg(-1).min(-1)) were lower than the other courses (BT, 26.1 +/- 8.1; NT, 26.0 +/- 6.0; AFT, 24.7 +/- 6.1%) and (AT, 44.8 +/- 9.6; NT, 45.0 +/- 7.5; AFT, 44.6 +/- 5.2 mL.kg(-1).min(-1)), respectively (p < 0.05). NT urine osmolality (979 +/- 90 mOsmol.kg(-1)) was similar to BT (946 +/- 181 mOsmol.kg(-1) p > 0.05) but lower in AT (868 +/- 144 mOsmol.kg(-1), p < 0.05) and AFT (883 +/- 121 mOsmol.kg(-1), p < 0.05). Cardiovascular strain during NT (22 +/- 5 %HRR) was lower than other courses (range, 25 +/- 4-29 +/- 3% Heart Rate Reserve) (p < 0.05). Physical activity level during AFT (1.70 +/- 0.18 AU) was lower than other courses (range, 1.86 +/- 0.21-1.92 +/- 0.18 AU) (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Positive developments were apparent from BT leading into other courses. Potential exists to increase physical training volume on all courses, which may improve participants' aerobic fitness, body composition, and health.