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Introduction In military service, marching is an important, common, and physically demanding task. Minimizing dropouts, maintaining operational readiness during the march, and achieving a fast recovery are desirable because the soldiers have to be ready for duty, sometimes shortly after an exhausting task. The present field study investigated the influence of the soldiers’ cardiorespiratory fitness on physiological responses during a long-lasting and challenging 34 km march. Materials and Methods Heart rate (HR), body core temperature (BCT), total energy expenditure (TEE), energy intake, motivation, and pain sensation were investigated in 44 soldiers (20.3 ± 1.3 years, 178.5 ± 7.0 cm, 74.8 ± 9.8 kg, body mass index: 23.4 ± 2.7 kg × m−2, peak oxygen uptake ($\dot{\rm{V}}$O2peak): 54.2 ± 7.9 mL × kg−1 × min−1) during almost 8 hours of marching. All soldiers were equipped with a portable electrocardiogram to record HR and an accelerometer on the hip, all swallowed a telemetry pill to record BCT, and all filled out a pre- and post-march questionnaire. The influence of aerobic capacity on the physiological responses during the march was examined by dividing the soldiers into three fitness groups according to their $\dot{\rm{V}}$O2peak. Results The group with the lowest aerobic capacity ($\dot{\rm{V}}$O2peak: 44.9 ± 4.8 mL × kg−1 × min−1) compared to the group with the highest aerobic capacity ($\dot{\rm{V}}$O2peak: 61.7 ± 2.2 mL × kg−1 × min−1) showed a significantly higher (P Conclusion Soldiers with a high $\dot{\rm{V}}$O2peak showed a lower mean HR and peak BCT throughout the long-distance march, as well as higher performance motivation, no dropouts, and lower energy deficit. All soldiers showed an enormous energy deficit; therefore, corresponding nutritional strategies are recommended.

There is evidence that progressive loading of physical demands at the beginning of basic military service and specific physical training can reduce injury incidences. Therefore, aim of this study was to measure the effects of a progressive increase in marching distances and an adapted physical training program on injury incidence and attrition rate in a Swiss Army infantry training school. One company reduced the distances covered on foot during the first 4 weeks of basic military training. A second company performed an adapted physical training program for 10 weeks. A third company participated in both interventions combined, and a fourth company served as a control group without any intervention. The injury incidences and attrition rates of 651 male recruits were registered during 21 weeks of military service. Several predictor variables for injury and attrition, such as physical fitness, previous injuries, level of previous physical activity, smoking, motivation, and socioeconomic factors, were assessed as well. The data were analyzed using binary logistic backward regressions. Each intervention separately had a favorable effect on injury prevention. However, combining the 2 interventions resulted in the greatest reduction in injury incidence rate (-33%). Furthermore, the adapted physical training successfully reduced the military service attrition rates (-53%).

Non-battle injury rates are a major health problem in the armed forces today. Injury rates are related to physical demands of daily military routine. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of different physical training patterns on incidences of injuries in 12 Swiss Army basic military training schools. Therefore, injury data of 1,676 voluntary participant recruits and objective sensor data on physical demands of 50 volunteers at each of 12 trainings schools were assembled. Multiple linear regression showed that high physical demands, decreasing development of distances covered on foot, monotony in weekly physical demands, little time spent on sport-related physical training, and little time for night rest were significant risk factors for injuries. Together, those variables describe 98.8% of the variances of total injury incidence rate between military training schools. The new method used to objectively assess training demands allowed this study to investigate the impact of training patterns on injury incidence in a large number of training schools. The results of this study are important for future interventions to reduce injury incidence rates in a military setting by quantifying the injury risk potential of a large number of training patterns.