Physical Fitness in Spanish Naval Cadets. A 4-year Study

Abstract Background: Military physical readiness largely depends on Soldiers maintaining the level of general health and physical fitness to perform their requisite occupational duties in garrison and deployment environments. To know the physical fitness of naval cadets throughout its formative stage, will help us define a training program tailored to your needs. The objective of this study was to analyse the physical fitness of the cadets enrolled in the Military training in the academic year 2018-2019 in the XXXX.Methods. A longitudinal correlational-descriptive design was developed. 167 of the 292 students who participated in the global analysis participated in the pre and post (first and second semester) physical fitness tests (153 males and 14 females, mean age 21.86±3.5) and were stratified by age groups. Anthropometric and data from the Spanish army physical fitness assessment system (2 min Push-Ups, 1000 and 50m races, Vertical Jump and 50m swimming) was used. A descriptive, inferential and correlational analysis was carried out and the level of significance set for the study was p≤0.05.Results. Inferential analysis between marks by age group and for the total sample shows statistical differences for the total sample in the 1000m and 50m race (p<0.001) and in Vertical Jump test (p<0.01). There was significant statistical correlation between all the five tests developed.Conclusion. The level of physical fitness of cadets at the XXXX appears to be acceptable when compared to other countries military naval corps. A coherence between training and evaluation is of extremely importance and probably a rethinking on resistance and power strength should be necessary.