Cigarette smoking has been reported to be prevalent in military training populations, and associated with lower cardiorespiratory fitness and higher risk of training-related injury. However, it is unclear whether habitual smoking impairs development of physical fitness. It is possible that smoking-induced alterations in oxidative stress, inflammation and hormone balance may disrupt training adaptation in smokers. The aim of this programme of work was to identify the influences of smoking on physical performance adaptation, selected biomarkers and injury risk in a military trainee population. The first study established that habitual smokers comprised 48% of a cohort of 2087 trainees. Upon closer examination, both at entry (Study 2) and during 10 weeks of training (Study 3) smokers exhibited chronically elevated oxidative stress and, after commencement of training, evidence of significantly higher resting inflammation compared with non-smokers. Throughout the full duration of training, performance of smokers in military physical fitness tests was significantly worse than non-smokers (Study 4), but neither muscular adaptation nor physical performance improvement were impaired in smokers in the early stages (10-14 weeks) or over the full duration (26 weeks) of training. It was expected that smokers would experience greater acute inflammatory responses to exercise but neither these, nor hormonal responses, differed between smokers and non-smokers in response to consecutive days of military field exercise (Study 5). In addition to poorer physical performance in smokers, training-related injury incidence was higher in smokers than non-smokers, specifically injuries attributed to overuse (Study 6). Overall, smoking appears to cause some physiological alterations which, while not impairing adaptation to training, may have adverse implications on health outcomes. Although the specific underlying mechanisms are unclear, habitual smokers exhibit greater injury risk and typically lower physical fitness than non-smoking counterparts.

Identification and development of physical characteristics that lead to efficient performance of military skills or tasks has been a consistently difficult task for the United States military for decades. The literature suggests certain physical characteristics may be more important, although this information is conflicting. Furthermore, the military physical fitness training program that is intended to prepare soldiers for combat is commonly evaluated with the Army Physical Fitness Test (PFT), a test that is more suited for evaluating health and wellness rather than task-specific fitness. All of this testing and training of soldiers focuses on the individual soldiers and their abilities although military skills or tasks are seldom if ever conducted independently. The first purpose of this dissertation was to identify relationships between the PFT, anthropometrics, measures of strength, and power. The second purpose was to identify the team characteristics that influence team performance during the Sandhurst Competition (a 2-day simulated military operation). Strong correlations were found between PFT events and weak correlations were found between PFT measures and evaluations of strength and power. The strong correlations between PFT events could indicate that only one event may be necessary to determine health and wellness. The weak correlations between events of the PFT and measures of strength and power suggest the PFT is not an assessment of strength and power based on the strength and power measures employed in the current study. The evaluation of team characteristics indicated that age (possibly experience) had the largest effect on Sandhurst Competition performance. Further analysis of each event supported the contention that age influences performance but also identified specific aerobic, anaerobic, and anthropometric variables that influenced performance on particular events. The data from this dissertation suggests that teams competing in the Sandhurst Competition should attempt to recruit team members with more experience, very high run scores, and high vertical jump heights.

Very little peer-reviewed information is available to aid military personnel in selecting training programs to enhance performance on fitness tests and direct fitness-related military policy. Objective: This review provides recommendations on training programs for enhancing performance on 1.5-mile and 2-mile runs based on the available relevant literature. Design: Short review article. Methods: Collected relevant research articles by using search terms such as aerobic power, military physical fitness test, strength training, resistance training, endurance training, high intensity interval training, running economy, 3 km run, 5 km run, and 1.5/2-mile run. Results: Evidence has shown running performance can improve with a combination of traditional strength training, high intensity interval training, and distance training. Conclusion: A combination of traditional strength training, high intensity interval training, and distance training should be used to enhance running performance on the 1.5 and 2-mile run tests used by the military.