title: Ambulatory physical activity during United States Army basic combat training.
abstract: Electronic pedometers were used to quantify locomotor physical activity during an entire 9-week United States Army Basic Combat Training (BCT) cycle. Pedometers were worn on the hips of 4 trainees in each of 10 BCT companies during all BCT activities. Investigators obtained pedometer readings (steps) on a daily basis, and estimated travel distances were obtained by multiplying steps by the average individual step length. A short questionnaire was administered daily to assure trainees wore the pedometers and trained with their companies all day. Trainees performed an average +/- SD of 16 311 +/- 5826 steps/day and traveled an estimated 11.7 +/- 4.4 kilometers/day. The highest daily locomotor activity was during the field training exercise in which trainees took an average +/- SD of 22 372 +/- 12 517 steps/day traveling an estimated 16.2 +/- 9.7 kilometers/day. Differences among the 10 companies ranged from 14 720 +/- 6649 steps/day to 18 729 +/- 6328 steps/day. This survey provided the first examination of locomotor physical activity during an entire BCT cycle.
authors.affiliation: U. S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21010, USA. joseph.knapik@apg.amedd.army.mil
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Knapik
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Darakjy
authors.forename: K G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Hauret
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Canada
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Marin
authors.forename: B H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010806:Physical Education and Training; D014481:United States