Occupational demands of members of Slovenian Armed Forcec (SAF) requires good physical readiness and therefore SAF member have regular daily physical training during which musculo-skeletal injuries may occure. Most freuent injuries are ankle and knee injuries.
The main goals of this study were injury prevention and improvement of physical readiness through the exercise intervention that was implemented over 12 week period, with frequency 2 times a week, and each exercise session lasting 45 minutes.
In different parts of the study 160 SAF infantry members has voluntarily participated in the study while in a two arm randomized control trial designed to evaluate the effect of exercise intervention soldiers were randomized into control (N=41) and experimental (N=64) group. During the study we have collected 4 types of data: regular annual army physical fitness test (APFT), additional testing of functional physical fitness, injury data and lifestyle and physical training habits data.
The main finding of our study is that (1) 12 week of preventive exercise intervention has successfully and significantly improved the physical fitness of SAF members in the experimental group but has not managed to decrease injury incidence. (2) We have evaluated the additional motor abilities of SAF members that are not regularly checked, and have highlighted the weakness of the muscles of the posterior part of the shoulder girdle and upper back, as well as the importance of hamstring strength endurance, which well predicts other physical abilities and is associated with the overall injury occurence. (3) The proportion of smokers in our sample was higher than in the general Slovenian population and (4) too little sleep was statistically related to four types of injuries. (5) Current injury report system of SAF does not give a full and thorough picture of the incidence of musculo-skeletal injuries. (6) The reported BMI in men was too high, which directly affects their overall APFT score and the pull-up performance.
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