INTRODUCTION: Structured exercise intervention has been shown to improve overall fitness performance and decrease injury rates in military soldiers. A recent operation order tasked the Holistic Health and Fitness Initiative committee at Fort Riley, Kansas to decrease the number of Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT), Body Composition Test failures, and reduce the number of Musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries. To address these concerns a multi-phase, multidisciplinary fitness program [Fit Nation (FN)]was developed. Phase 1 (P1) of FN focused on introduction to exercise and incorporated high-intensity, low-impact aerobic and anaerobic training. Phase 2 (P2) of FN focused on functional resistive strength development. With a current interest in FN’s influence on strength performance, P2 will be reported. METHODS: Following the completion of P1, soldiers were invited to participate in P2. The P2participants consisted of 16 soldiers (14 males, mean±SD: age=23.2±3.2 years; 2 females, 26.5±7.8 years). Originally 19 participants volunteered in P2, however 3 participants were removed due to incomplete data collection. Participants performed a resistance training protocol developed by a certified strength and condition professional for 12 weeks (5 days/week). Pre- and post-test evaluations were performed prior to and after the 12 week protocol. OUTCOMES MEASURED: Pre- and post- measures of sumo deadlift (SUMODL) to evaluate total body strength, back squat (SQ) to determine lower-body strength, and weighted push-ups (PUPW) to examine upper-body strength were performed. Repeated measures ANOVAs were applied to analyze SUMODL, SQ, and PUPWwith an alpha level of p≤0.05 to determine statistical significance. RESULTS:A significant difference in SUMODL, SQ, andPUPWperformance was demonstrated (post-mean±SD:=117.5±28.9kg,115.1±30.6kg,47.0 ±16kg;p≤0.001; p\u3c0.001; p≤0.001) respectively. CONCLUSION: The exercise intervention of P2 of FN has shown beneficial for strength developments of the entire body.This data could provide support for FN as a large-scale operation to improve strength beyond APFTand Body Composition Test failures. However, in its infancy, the long-term influence of FN still requires investigation. The greatest determent of this study was, and continues to be attendance and attrition since active duty soldiers have military assignments and responsibilities such as in-field training and deployment
