2007, Piran, Slovenia

Environmental Ergonomics XII
Igor B. Mekjavic, Stelios N. Kounalakis & Nigel A.S. Taylor (Eds.), © BIOMED, Ljubljana 2007
PHYSICAL FITNESS ESTIMATES IN GENDER INTEGRATED BASIC
TRAINING
Ran Yanovich 1 , Rachel Evans 2 , Amir Hadid 1 , Heath Isome 2 , Yoram Epstein 1 ,
Dan Catrambone 2 , Daniel S. Moran 1
1 Heller Institute of Medical Research, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer and the Sackler
Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, ISRAEL
2 US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Natick, MA, USA
Contact person: ranovich@sheba.health.gov.il
INTRODICTION
Integrating women soldiers into combat units has been an issue under question for over a
decade. The question is critical in cases where females are required to perform under
standards that were established for male soldiers. To note, all prediction models for
physiological variables (e.g., sweat rate, work-rest cycle) were constructed from data
collected only from men.
METHODS
The purpose of this study was to determine whether a 4-month basic training (BT) course was
sufficient to narrow the differences between male and female soldiers in terms of physical
fitness parameters that are relevant for their daily performance.
129 females and 47 males (19±1 yr) participated in this study. A total of 137 volunteers (109
females and 28 males) successfully completed a 4-month BT course, which was identical for
male and female soldiers. The subjects' physical fitness was evaluated pre and post BT by 3
laboratory tests (VO2max, Leonardo Ground Reaction Force Plate (GRFP), and Wingate
Anaerobic Test (WAnT)) and by the IDF's physical fitness test (PT), consisting of a 2-km run,
and the maximum number of push-ups and sit-ups performed in 2 min.
RESULTS
Prior to BT, males had a 38% and 28% advantage in anaerobic and aerobic capacities,
respectively. Following BT, gender differences narrowed in all aspects except upper body
strength. Females significantly improved in field and laboratory aerobic tests, push-ups and
sit-ups, whereas males significantly improved only in the PT as shown in the following Table.
546
Females
Males
Phase
(in BT)
Aerobic
VO2max
(ml·min -1 ·kg -1 )
GRFP
Force/kg
(N/kg)
Table 1:
WAnT
Power
(W)
2-km run
(min.)
PT
Push-ups
(rep.)
Sit-ups
(rep.)
pre 35.8±6.4 46.1±9.2 4.85±0.90 12:23 37.2±2.6 63.6±18.6
post 40.8±6.0* 42.7±7.2 4.89±0.80 11:14* 47.8±6.9* 85.5±18.3*
pre 45.9±7.9 49.9±12.9 6.79±0.90 9:43 42.8±8.5 65.4±19.9
post 50.6±7.0 44.6±8.3 6.59±2.30 9:15* 67.8±9.1* 85.9±9.9*
pre -28.3 + -8.2 -38.1 + -21.5 + -15.1 + Females/
Males
-2.7
Dif. (%) post -24.1 + -4.5 -34.8 + -17.7 + -41.7 + -0.5
* denotes significance between pre and post, + denotes significant gender differences, p