New Army Physical Fitness Test to Simulate Battlefield Activities

On February 28, 2011 the Official U.S. Army website reported that, after 30 years of using the same physical fitness test, the Army is developing a new physical fitness test battery to better simulate battlefield activities. The previous test was comprised of the following 3 tests done with a short rest in between:

• As many pushups as possible in 2 minutes
• As many situps as possible in 2 minutes
• Running 2 miles a quickly as possible

Scoring was based on age and gender. See our web site for testing details and scoring charts.
The revised test has not been finalized, but trials are being held this month on 7 Army bases and at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. A review and approval process will take place before full implementation. The article states that there will be a general physical readiness test for all soldiers and a physical readiness test for those going into combat:

Army Physical Readiness Test

• 60-yard shuttle run
• one-minute rower (see diagram)
• standing long-jump
• one-minute push-up
• 1.5 mile run

Army Physical Readiness Test
The examinee will be timed while performing the following obstacle-course sequence while wearing a combat uniform and helmet and carrying a rifle:

• 400-meter run
• Low hurdles
• high crawl
• Over and under
• casualty drag
• Balance beam while holding ammo cans
• Point and move
• 100 yard shuttle sprint while holding ammo cans
• Agility sprint around cones

See the Army article for a diagram of the course. As with the current Army Physical Fitness Test, scoring charts will be developed that take age and gender into consideration.

The change in the fitness tests appears to be a good one because the new test more closely simulates battlefield physical demands. It might even be better if the Physical Readiness Test were performed while the examinees carried a combat load similar to those normally worn by soldiers.

Mens-fitness-and-health.com is very supportive of functional training that seeks to improve performance in sports, combat, or daily living. Function-based training programs emphasize improved physical performance rather than appearance. Workouts designed to “get big” generally train isolated muscle groups and do not prepare the body for strenuous whole-body physical demands.

The Drawback of Exercising on Unstable Surfaces



Stability training, mainly in the form of lifting weights while standing on unstable surfaces, became somewhat popular with the advent of the Bosu Ball, which is a hemispheric ball about 2+ feet across mounted on a flat plastic base. The idea is that the instability of the surface brings muscles into play that are required for maintaining stability; muscles that would be minimally involved when exercising on a stable surface.

A study by Chulvi-Dedrano et al. in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (vol. 24, no. 10, pp. 2723-2730, 2010) tested force production and muscle electrical activity during deadlifts on a stable surface and on two different unstable surfaces.

Method
31 young adult subjects did the following:

1. Isometric deadlift in which the lifter pulled upward maximally for 5 seconds against an immovable bar
2. Dynamic deadlift in which a barbell weighing 70% of the individual’s maximal isometric deadlift was lifted for 5 repetitions 

Lifting force was measured during the isometric efforts. Muscle electrical activity of the lower back muscles (paraspinals) was measured during both the isometric and dynamic lifts to indicate how hard the muscles were working. Both of the lifts were done on the following 3 surfaces:

1. Stable floor
2. Bosu Ball
3. T-Bow (a curved board that can rock laterally as one stands on it)

Results

• In the isometric deadlift, both the force produced and the muscle electrical activity were significantly higher on the stable surface than on either unstable surface.
• In the dynamic deadlift, muscle electrical activity was significantly higher on the stable surface than on either unstable surface

Bottom Line
This study backs up other ones that have shown that exercising on unstable surfaces does not provide as much stimulus as stable-surface training to the main muscles (prime movers) used to effect the exercise movement. It has previously been shown that more weight can be handled when lifting on stable than unstable surfaces, providing greater stimulus to the muscles. In view of these factors, training on unstable surfaces is not best for increasing the size or strength of the major muscles. However, since such training does bring stability muscles into play, it can be effectively used as a supplement to training on stable surfaces, especially for athletes who engage in sports in which maintaining stability is of major importance (e.g. hockey, figure skating, snow-boarding, gymnastics). The major part of the resistance workout should still be on stable surfaces.

How to Avoid Weightlifting-Related Shoulder Injuries

Terms used in this article:

• Rotator cuff: Muscles (supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, subscapularis) that stabilize the shoulder joint and rotate the arm at the shoulder
• Internal shoulder rotation: Standing with your upper arm against your torso with your elbow at a right angle, rotate your upper arm inward until your hand touches your abdomen.
• External shoulder rotation: From the position you just attained by internally rotating your shoulder, rotate your upper arm outward so that your hand moves away from your abdomen, as you would when throwing a Frisbee.
• Trapezius muscle: Extends from the back of your head and neck down your central upper back and serves to raise the shoulders and draw them backwards.
• Range of motion: The number of degrees through which a joint can be rotated.

A recent article by Kolber et al. in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (Vol 24, no 6, pp. 1696-1704, 2010) reviewed existing scientific research articles on shoulder injuries brought on by weightlifting. It noted that 25-35% of people who engage in resistance training sustain an injury severe enough to require medical attention and that 36% of such injuries are to the shoulder. The vulnerability of the shoulder is related to the high number of exercises that involve the shoulder, the great stresses the exercises place on the shoulder, and the unfavorable positions in which some exercises place the shoulder. In addition, many lifters do not warm up properly, select a balanced set of exercises, use proper lifting technique, or modify/eliminate exercises that cause pain. Major muscles are frequently worked to the exclusion of minor ones, leading to muscle imbalances. Shoulder muscles commonly injured include the pectoralis major, biceps, deltoid and rotator cuff group.

The Most Common Signs of Shoulder-Dysfunction Among Weightlifters:

• Reduced internal shoulder rotation range of motion
• Excessive external shoulder rotation range of motion
• Underdeveloped external rotation strength relative to internal rotation strength
• Underdeveloped external rotation strength relative to arm abduction (raising) strength
• Underdeveloped lower trapezius strength relative to upper trapezius strength
• Instability of the anterior (front) shoulder
• Tightness of the posterior (rear) shoulder

Common Pain-Producing Exercises
The following exercises in which the upper arm is raised to the side and parallel to the floor while the forearm is vertical put the shoulder in a fully externally rotated position and are considered hazardous:

• Behind the neck pull-down
• Behind the neck overhead press
• Overhead stack machine press in which the hands move rearward as the weight is lifted

Other exercises, although generally safe, also associated with shoulder pain:

• Bench press
• Incline chest fly
• Supine chest fly
• Dip
• Biceps curl

The following may help to prevent weightlifting-related shoulder injury:

• Discontinue any exercise that causes pain.
• If an exercise hurts, try variations that do not hurt (e.g. bench press with rolled up towel on chest to limit movement).
• Balance every push exercise with a pull exercise in the opposite direction.
• Balance exercises involving major body movements (e.g. bench press, pull-down) with those that stabilize and rotate the shoulder.
• Exercises that strengthen external shoulder rotation are particularly important (e.g. do the external rotation movement described above, resisted by weight stack cable or elastic band).
• Do strength exercises for the lower trapezius (e.g. rowing motions with elbows high and shoulders drawn fully back).
• Do flexibility exercises to increase internal shoulder rotation.
• Do flexibility exercises to stretch the rear shoulder (e.g. Stand with upper arm parallel to the ground. Grip elbow with other hand and pull arm horizontally across the chest).

Balance Can Be Improved By Training

A review by DiStefano, Clark and Padua of the effectiveness of balance training was published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (vol 23, no 9, pp. 2718-2731, 2009). The article assessed the effects of training on the following 3 types of balance:

Static balance on a stable surface: For example, holding a stable body posture while standing on one leg on a flat floor.

Static balance on an unstable surface: For example, holding a stable body posture while ice-skating on one leg (the skate is the unstable surface).

Dynamic balance: For example, performing a dismount from a balance beam or high bar and landing stably; snow-boarding; skiiing.

Effective Exercise for Improving Each Type of Balance
The following training methods were shown effective for improving the various types of balance when performed at least 10 minutes per day, 3 days per week, for 4 weeks.

For static balance on a stable surface:
     Wobble board (a board with a cylindrical roller under it)
     Ankle disc (a board with a hemispheric ball attached to the underside)
     Balance sandal (with a hemispheric ball under the midsole)

For static balance on an unstable surface:
     Wobble board
     Foam pad
     Balance trampoline
     Tilting platform
     Jump to hold (dynamic)

For dynamic balance:
     Wobble board
     Foam pad
     Balance trampoline
     Single leg balance with contralateral limb and trunk motion
     Single leg balance with external perturbations

NOTE: The authors stated that effective balance programs started with comfortable, less challenging exercises (e.g. static, on two legs, on stable surface, eyes open) and progressed, according to the individual's ability, to more challenging exercises (dynamic, on one leg, on unstable surface, eyes closed).