The Influence of Interindividual Factors on Army Combat Fitness Test Performance.

Abstract

It is well-understood that interindividual factors impact physical performance. Variations in muscle mass yield differences in strength and power between sexes and performance declines with age. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the impact of inter-individual factors (age, sex, and BMI) on U.S. Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT). We employed a retrospective analysis of population-level data. We calculated distributions of ACFT performance and linear regressions with N=1,329,066 test scores (973,474 males and 319,043 females) with post hoc marginal effects and pairwise comparisons to evaluate group differences. Males scored higher on all six ACFT events with the largest differences in the standing power throw (male: 2.99±0.00, female: 1.80±0.00 m p <0. 001), and smallest in the static plank (male: 2.53±0.00, female: 2.28±0.00 min p < 0.001). However, there was an average of 50.9% overlap in performance distributions between males and females. Higher BMI was associated with lower overall scores but higher deadlift scores. Age negatively impacted ACFT performance in all events (p < 0.001), but sex differences were smaller in older individuals. When rescored, 28% of females passed the ACFT at the male standard. On average, males outperformed females on all six ACFT events. Importantly, for all events, individual distributions demonstrated significant overlap in performance. Age negatively impacted performance in both sexes. These data are consistent with known examples of elite Soldiers and Marines that demonstrate that when presented with a high standard, many individuals (male and female) can meet that standard with proper training.