(30) COMPARISONS OF PHYSICAL FITNESS MARKERS BETWEEN FIREFIGHTER RECRUITS WHO COMPLETE VERSUS DROP-OUT OF A TRAINING ACADEMY

Saturday, July 13, 2024

10:00 AM – 11:30 AM East Coast USA Time

Location: Exhibit Hall

Poster Presenter(s)

Andrew LeMense, MEd, CSCS

Graduate Assistant/Doctoral Candidate
University of Alabama
Brown Deer, Wisconsin, United States

Author(s)

TA

Tiffany Adams

Graduate Assistant
University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States
GM

Grant Malone

Graduate Assistant
University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States
SG

Samuel Gomez

Master's Student
University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States
CU

Caitlin Upchurch

Undergraduate Student
University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States
MG

Morgan Grzybowski

Undergraduate Student
University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States
HM

Hayley V. MacDonald

Assistant Professor
University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States
LW

Lee Winchester

Assistant Professor
University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States

Abstract Details: Aspiring firefighters must attend a recruit training academy, successfully complete the requirements, and obtain certification. In some states, recruits must complete a standardized physical ability test, like the candidate physical ability test (CPAT), as part of the training academy admission process. Additional measures of recruit physical fitness, even in states that require the CPAT, are lacking. Further, it is currently unknown whether measures of physical fitness differ between recruits that successfully complete training academy and those that drop out.

Purpose: To characterize the physical fitness of firefighter recruits at the start of training academy and compare those fitness markers between recruits who successfully completed versus dropped out of the training program.

Methods: 30 males attending a firefighting training academy (age: 20 ± 4 years, weight: 86.3 ± 12.3 kg, height: 178.8 ± 7.3 cm) completed a series of baseline physical fitness tests to assess their health and fitness. Subjects were assessed for their body composition via bioelectric impedance analysis (BIA), lower body strength via an isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP) using an isokinetic dynamometer, and anaerobic power and capacity via a Wingate anaerobic test (WAnT) performed on an electronically braked cycle ergometer. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, presented as Mean ± SD, on the entire recruit cohort at baseline and a series of one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests were run comparing health and fitness data between recruits that completed vs. dropped out of the training academy; when applicable, independent samples t-tests compared group means. Significance was set a priori to p <u>< 0.05.

Results: At baseline, recruits as a whole, had a body fat percentage of 18.0 + 5.5%, lean muscle mass of 40.3 + 5.4kg, peak and average torques in the IMTP of 463.5 + 72.6 N·m and 403.8 + 66.8 N·m, and relative peak and average power during the WAnT of 8.54 + 1.22W/kg and 6.26 + 1.02 W/kg, respectively. At the end of 8-weeks of training at the recruit academy, 11 recruits had dropped out. The only variable that was significantly different between groups was relative peak power during the WAnT (p = 0.046, Cohen’s d effect size (ES) = 0.95) with recruits who completed training having a higher relative peak power. Although none of the other variables were statistically different (p > 0.05) between groups, from a practical standpoint those that completed training had higher relative mean power (ES = .87), higher lower-body peak and average torque (ES = 0.35 & 0.45, respectively), and lower rates of fatigue (ES = -0.54) when compared with recruits that dropped out. There were no statistically or practically significant differences between groups for body fat percentage (ES = -0.2) or lean muscle mass (ES = -0.12).

Conclusion: The preliminary results of this study would suggest that higher relative peak and mean power at baseline may be an indicator of those who successfully complete firefighter training. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Firefighting academies and training programs should consider encouraging applicants to work on increasing their anaerobic power prior to attending training, to better their chances of program completion. Additionally, firefighter training programs may consider incorporating more anaerobic power and capacity and lower body strength work into the training of their recruits.

Acknowledgements: None