Physical Abilities and Military Task Performance: A Replication and Extension

摘要

Strength influences the performance of military physical tasks. These influences can be summarized by models that treat strength as a general dimension that affects performance on tasks in general. Previous findings also indicate that combining a general strength (GS) dimension with an aerobic capacity (AC) dimension yields a model that accounts for the full pattern of association between physical ability tests and lifting and carrying. This study attempted to replicate the earlier findings using a strength test battery with some new strength measures, a different set of military tasks, and a different military population. Structural equation models were constructed to represent strength as a single construct, a two-dimensional construct based on measurement modality, and a seven-dimensional model based on specific functional movements. Performance was represented as a single general performance dimension that added digging and casualty evacuation to the manual materials-handling tasks that had been previously studied. A modified unidimensional model maximized the prediction of performance. Adding AC to the strength model improved performance prediction, but adding muscle endurance (ME) and anaerobic power (AP) did not. The results provided a very close replication of earlier findings while extending the model to a wider range of military tasks and a new population.