Muscular Fitness Improves during the First Year of Academy Studies among Fighter Pilot Cadets

Tuomas Honkanen, Harri Rintala, Jani P. Vaara and Heikki Kyröläinen
Additional contact information
Tuomas Honkanen: Aeromedical Centre, Centre for Military Medicine, The Finnish Defense Forces, 00301 Helsinki, Finland
Harri Rintala: Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, 40014 Jyväskylä, Finland
Jani P. Vaara: The Department of Leadership and Military Pedagogy, National Defence University, 00860 Helsinki, Finland
Heikki Kyröläinen: The Department of Leadership and Military Pedagogy, National Defence University, 00860 Helsinki, Finland

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 24, 1-8

Abstract: Background : An adequate level of muscular fitness is related to occupational performance in military personnel, including pilots flying high performance aircraft. The aim of this study was to describe the baseline level and the change in muscular fitness between the first and the second years of the Air Force Academy among fighter pilot cadets. Methods : The muscular strength and endurance test results of 182 male fighter pilot cadets were analyzed during their first year in the Air Force Academy and one year after. Maximal isometric strength tests included trunk flexion, trunk extension and bilateral leg extension tests, whereas muscle endurance was measured with modified a sit-up test and seated alternative dumbbell press. Results : The maximal isometric bilateral strength of the leg extensor muscles increased from 220 ± 42 to 232 ± 42 kg. The maximal isometric trunk extension strength increased from 117 ± 21 to 120 ± 19 kg and trunk flexion from 82 ± 16 to 86 ± 17 kg. Muscle endurance increased from 68 ± 13 to 75 ± 15 repetitions/min in seated dumbbell press and from 47 ± 12 to 51 ± 13 repetitions/min in sit-up test. Conclusions : Both maximal strength and muscular endurance improved among fighter pilot cadets, which indicates that occupational performance is well maintained or improved from the perspective of physical fitness during the early phase of academy studies. Education in the Air Force Academy, including physical education, seems beneficial in improving muscular fitness among military pilots.

Keywords: muscular fitness; fighter pilot; military aviation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/24/9168/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/24/9168/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:24:p:9168-:d:458672

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().