Please cite this article as: Agustín Curiel-Regueros, Jesús Fernández-Lucas, Vicente Javier Clemente-Suárez , Effectiveness of an applied high intensity interval training as a specific operative training. Phb (2018), https://doi. AbstractThe psychophysiological response due to stress of soldiers in actual combat operations have been determined by recent researchers, but there is a lack of knowledge about the most effective training methodologies to prepare these population for these new psychophysiological and tactical requirements. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of an operative high intensity interval training (HIIT) in the psychophysiological response and shooting performance of professional soldiers. We analyzed 20 soldiers of the Spanish Army which performed an operative HIIT composed by 3 series of 7 repetitions of exercises based on operative military procedures with 30 s of workload and 30 s of resting between repetitions and 5 min resting between series. Blood lactate, rate of perceived exertion and stress, upper and lower limbs, and respiratory muscle strength, skin temperature, blood oxygen saturation, heart rate, cortical arousal, shortterm memory and anxiety response were measured before and after the training. After the training rated of perceived exertion and stress, leg strength, heart rate and lactate presented a significant increase and blood oxygen saturation and cortical arousal significantly decreased. An operative HIIT achieves similar psychophysical response than the evaluated in combat simulations in professional soldiers, producing a decrease in cortical arousal and lactate values over the anaerobic threshold.

An anticipatory stress response develops before an internal or external stimulus, which initiates a homeostasis process through a chain of responses that enable human organisms to face different threats, thus allowing them to adapt to a continuous and eliciting environment. In the current research, we analyzed the psychophysiological anticipatory anxiety response of professional soldiers prior to a real mission in an actual theater of operation. Autonomic modulation through the heart rate variability values, muscular strength manifestation, and psychological stress of 53 military personnel of Army Airmobile Forces (age: M = 35.4 years, SD = 5.88 years; height: M = 1.75 m, SD = 6.87 cm; body mass: M = 77.33 kg, SD = 11.95 kg; military duty = 14.44 years, SD = 6.43; military operation experience = 4 months, SD = 4.25 months) and a control group of 33 civil participants were analyzed. The military personnel presented significant differences in some HRV values related to the activation of sympathetic systems. We found that the military personnel presented an anticipatory anxiety response only at an autonomic level, showing an increased sympathetic modulation, but not at a psychological level, since their anxiety levels were not significantly different than those of the control civilians. In addition, this anticipatory anxiety response did not affect muscular strength manifestation, as it presented no significant differences between the military personnel and the control group.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the body composition symmetry in upper and lower body segments of aircrafts pilots. To reach the study aim, body composition in upper and lower body segments of 206 male aircraft pilots of the Spanish Army (23.1 ± 6.87 years) and 105 civilians (24.0 ± 6.29 years) were evaluated by a bioimpedance analyser (InBody 720, Biospace Co. Ltd., Seoul, Korea). Aircraft pilots presented a tendency to dysmetria in upper and lower body segments, showing fitter values in the protagonist side when performing flight functions. Dysmetria could be detrimental during flight manoeuvres and produce injuries in aircraft pilots. It would be recommended to design specific training protocols to improve this imbalance.