• Jodie A Wills, David J Saxby, Daniel J Glassbrook, and Timothy L A Doyle.
• Department of Health Professions, Macquarie University, Macquarie Park, NSW 2109, Australia.
• Mil Med. 2023 Mar 20; 188 (3-4): 658664658-664.

IntroductionThe purpose of this study was to identify and characterize sex-specific physical and psychophysical performance adaptations in response to a novel 10-week training program.Materials And MethodsFifteen males and thirteen females completed a standardized load carriage task (5 km at 5.5 km.h-1, wearing a 23 kg torso-borne vest) before and after 10 weeks of resistance and load carriage training. Psychophysical responses (i.e., heart rate and ratings of perceived exertion) were measured throughout the load carriage task. Physical performance (i.e., countermovement and squat jumps, push-ups, sit-ups, and beep test) was measured at before, mid-way, and after the training program (weeks 0, 6, and 11, respectively).ResultsTraining elicited significant improvements in squat jump maximal force, push-ups, and beep test performance (P < .05). Males outperformed females in all performance measures, with interactions (time, sex) for push-ups, sit-ups, and beep test performance. After training, aerobic capacity improved by 5.4% (42.9 mL· kg-1· min-1 to 45.2 mL· kg-1· min-1) in males but did not improve in females. Psychophysical responses decreased for both sexes (P < .05) during the load carriage task post-training.ConclusionWhile 10 weeks of standardized training elicited positive adaptations in both physical and psychophysical performance, sex-specific differences were still evident. To lessen these differences, sex-specific training should be considered to optimize load carriage performance.© The Association of Military Surgeons of the United States 2021. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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