Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-2011

Publication Source

Military Medicine

Abstract

Recent research has demonstrated body mass (M) bias in military physical fi tness tests favoring lighter, not just leaner, service members. Mathematical modeling predicts that a distance run carrying a backpack of 30 lbs would eliminate M-bias. The purpose of this study was to empirically test this prediction for the U.S. Army push-ups and 2-mile run tests. Two tests were performed for both events for each of 56 university Reserve Offi cer Training Corps male cadets: with (loaded) and without backpack (unloaded). Results indicated signifi cant M-bias in the unloaded and no M-bias in the loaded condition for both events. Allometrically scaled scores for both events were worse in the loaded vs. unloaded conditions, supporting a hypothesis not previously tested. The loaded push-ups and 2-mile run appear to remove M-bias and are probably more occupationally relevant as military personnel are often expected to carry external loads.

Inclusive pages

1032-1036

ISBN/ISSN

0026-4075

Document Version

Postprint

Comments

This is the authors' accepted manuscript of an article of the same title that ran in the journal Military Medicine; it is provided here with the permission of the publisher. The article available in the repository is the author's accepted manuscript; the version of record may contain minor differences that have come about in the copy editing and layout processes.

Permission documentation is on file.

Publisher

AMSUS: Society of the Federal Health Professionals

Volume

176

Issue

9

Peer Reviewed

yes

Keywords

allometric scaling, backpack, weight bias

Link to published version

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