| Popis: |
The purpose of this investigation was to perform an administrative and safety assessment of the proposed Army Physical Readiness Test (APRT). Subjects were Ordnance School students in Advanced Individual Training (AIT) at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. Test items consisted of the standing long jump, power squat, heel hook, 300-yard shuttle mn, push-ups and 1-mile mn. The procedures followed were those outlined in a draft Army Field Manual 3-22.20 (Physical Readiness Training). A total of 372 soldiers (330 men and 42 women) performed some part of the test but 39 men and 10 women chose not to complete all six events. The majority of men and women who did not complete the testing after starting it complained of being dizzy, 'sick' or lightheaded (31%) or of having leg pain (31%). Descriptive statistics and percentile rankings for the 6 events are reported in this paper but limitations of these data include the subject population (young AIT students), the fact that soldiers had no opportunity to practice the test events, and that some soldiers lacked the motivation for the maximal effort required for the test. The APRT required a relatively large amount of equipment. Army warm-up tops were baggy and this made it difficult to observe whether or not soldiers were properly performing the heel hook and push ups. Eased on data, test observations, and a review of the literature the following major recommendations were made. Eliminate the heel hook because of the potential for head and spine injury and substitute another test that involves the trunk musculature. Eliminate the power squat because this ma encourage soldiers to perform an excessive number of squatting exercises, which may be associated with osteoarthritis. Reduce the number of test events because the fatigue generated by the 6 event test could increase the risk of injury. |
