• Military medicine · Jul 2023

    Assessment of Training Load, Sleep, Injuries, and Operational Physical Performance During Basic Military Qualification.

    • Marie-Andrée Laroche, Étienne Chassé, Daniel Théoret, François Lalonde, and Alain-Steve Comtois.
    • Personnel Support Program, Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School, Richelain, QC J0J 1R0, Canada.
    • Mil Med. 2023 Jul 22; 188 (7-8): e2018e2025e2018-e2025.

    IntroductionOptimizing training load (TL) and sleep is essential to maximize physical performance and prevent musculoskeletal injuries (MSKIs) for Canadian forces recruits during the 10-week basic military qualification (BMQ) course. The purpose of this study was to assess the TL, sleep duration, the occurrence of MSKIs during the BMQ, and the operation fitness performance during the BMQ.Materials And MethodsForty Canadian recruits, eight females and 32 males, (age 24 ± 5 years; height 176.4 ± 10.4 cm), were monitored with an accelerometer (GENEActiv) on their wrist between weeks 1 and 9 to evaluate the TL and sleep duration. During weeks 2 and 10, the recruits completed an operational fitness evaluation. Injury surveillance was performed over 10 weeks.ResultsTL intensity was significantly different (P = 0.0001) from week to week. The weekly average total time of moderate and vigorous physical activity was 189.7 ± 48.1 min and 44.7 ± 15.2 min, respectively. The average sleep duration was 5.4 ± 0.4 h per night and decreased to 4.2 h ± 0.4 during field exercises. A significant difference in sleep duration was observed between recruits with and without a MSKI. The recruits accumulated a total of 95 days under medical restrictions with an average of 3.8 consecutive days. The VO2peak estimated from the Fitness for Operational Requirements of Canadian Armed Forces Employment job-based simulation test significantly improved from weeks 2 to 10 (pre, 47.1 ± 6.3; post: 50.2 ± 5.8; P = 0.001).ConclusionsTL is of high magnitude and varies from week to week. The reported mean sleep duration per week may perhaps negatively impact the occurrence of MSKI. No significant improvement was detected in operational fitness by the end of the BMQ.© The Association of Military Surgeons of the United States 2022. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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