Obstacle courses (OCs), physical challenge courses, and confidence courses are valuable in training and assessing military troops. However, OCs are not well characterized with regard to physical demands and requisite abilities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the physical capabilities associated with success on an OC. Male subjects (N = 47) were assessed on an OC, skinfolds, upper and lower body aerobic and anaerobic power, muscular strength, and endurance. Faster performers were lighter (p < 0.003), leaner, and, relative to body weight, averaged greater arm anaerobic peak and mean power, leg aerobic power, one-repetition maximum leg press, and one-repetition maximum latissimus dorsi pull-down, than slower performers. There were significant correlations between OC time and weight (0.59), percent fat (0.54), anaerobic leg mean power (-0.43), arm anaerobic peak (-0.48) and mean power (-0.48), and arm (-0.51) and leg aerobic power (-0.53), all expressed relative to body weight. A three-variable regression model accounted for 35% of the variation in OC time. Good performers on this OC displayed many diverse physical capabilities.
The impact of body weight on test scores is a common issue in applied measurement. Dimensional analysis suggests that heavier participants are disadvantaged in weight-supported tasks. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of body weight on performance scores for a military obstacle course. Three cohorts of male participants completed the Indoor Obstacle Course Test (IOCT). In cohort 1 (N = 2,191), height and weight were measured. In cohort 2 (N = 134), skinfold measurements were also performed. In cohort 3 (N = 44), all aforementioned measurements were performed, as well as upper- and lower-body tests for aerobic power, anaerobic power, muscular strength, and muscular endurance. The R2 between IOCT scores and body weight was 0.06 and that between IOCT scores and percentage of body fat was 0.08. All cohort analyses suggested that, for male subjects, body weight had only a small impact on the performance score distribution and the IOCT is fit for purpose as a fair repeatable system for assessment of physical performance.
The purpose of this study was to assess inter-rater reliability and intra-rater reliability of the 2-minute, 90° push-up test as utilized in the Army Physical Fitness Test. Analysis of rater assessment reliability included both total score agreement and agreement across individual push-up repetitions. This study utilized 8 Raters who assessed 15 different videotaped push-up performances over 4 iterations separated by a minimum of 1 week. The 15 push-up participants were videotaped during the semiannual Army Physical Fitness Test. Each Rater randomly viewed the 15 push-up and verbally responded with a "yes" or "no" to each push-up repetition. The data generated were analyzed using the Pearson product-moment correlation as well as the kappa, modified kappa and the intra-class correlation coefficient (3,1). An attribute agreement analysis was conducted to determine the percent of inter-rater and intra-rater agreement across individual push-ups.The results indicated that Raters varied a great deal in assessing push-ups. Over the 4 trials of 15 participants, the overall scores of the Raters varied between 3.0 and 35.7 push-ups. Post hoc comparisons found that there was significant increase in the grand mean of push-ups from trials 1-3 to trial 4 (p < 0.05). Also, there was a significant difference among raters over the 4 trials (p < 0.05). Pearson correlation coefficients for inter-rater and intra-rater reliability identified inter-rater reliability coefficients were between 0.10 and 0.97. Intra-rater coefficients were between 0.48 and 0.99. Intra-rater agreement for individual push-up repetitions ranged from 41.8% to 84.8%. The results indicated that the raters failed to assess the same push-up repetition with the same score (below 70% agreement) as well as failed to agree when viewed between raters (29%). Interestingly, as previously mentioned, scores on trial 4 increased significantly which might have been caused by rater drift or that the Raters did not maintain the push-up standard over the trials. It does appear that the final push-up scores received by each participant was a close approximation of actual performance (within 65%) but when assessing physical performance for retention in the Army, a more reliable test might be considered.
Collegiate combative physical education classes, such as boxing, grappling, wrestling, and martial arts, offer many positive benefits to students and institutions. There has been an increased interest in combative sports in recent years. As a result of media focus on high-profile female athletes in combative sports, combative physical education classes have become increasingly popular with women. Physical education programs stand to greatly benefit from gender integration of combative classes. Educators and administrators, however, need to consider a number of social, psychological, physiological, and medical factors in order to ensure successful gender integration. Approaching gender integration with a careful and deliberate process that involves physical educators, administrators, and medical personnel will ensure programs maintain an authentic yet safe environment contributing to the attainment of course objectives. When executed in a prudent and deliberate manner, gender integration of combative course offerings has been anecdotally observed to improve women’s self-confidence, sense of inclusion, teamwork, and to enhance cohesion among students of both genders.
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