0
February 8, 1971, Vol 215, No. 6 >
ARTICLE | February 8, 1971

Physical Fitness in United States and Austrian Military Personnel: Title and subTitle BreakA Comparative Study FREE

Lt Col Kenneth H. Cooper, MCCapt ; Arthur Zechner
[+] Author Affiliations

Reprint requests to Box 368842 CMR No. 8, Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center, Lackland Air Force Base, Tex 78236 (Lt Col Cooper).


JAMA. 1971;215(6):931-934. doi:10.1001/jama.1971.03180190049011
Text Size: A A A
Published online
Article
References

A difference between the United States and Austria in number of deaths from heart attacks among men 35 to 44 years of age aroused considerable interest with respect to the role of physical activity. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the level of physical fitness of younger men, ie, 18 to 29 years of age, in the US Air Force and the Austrian Army. A marked difference in endurance performance was observed on a 12-minute field test of performance irrespective of the stage of training or the age, even though the Austrian soldiers weighed more and a comparable percentage of them smoked cigarettes. The results indicate that the 12-minute field test is a good substitute for the laboratory-determined maximal oxygen consumption if the subjects are well motivated.

REFERENCES

1 +
Brummer P:  Coronary heart disease and the living standard . Acta Med Scand 182:523-527, 1967;.
2 +
Taylor HL, Buskirk E, Henschel A:  Maximal oxygen intake as an objective measure of cardio-respiratory performance . J Appl Physiol 8:73-80, 1955;.
3 +
Astrand PO:  Human physical fitness with special reference to sex and age . Physiol Rev 36:307-335, 1956;.
4 +
Mitchell JH, Sproule BJ, Chapman CB:  The physiological meaning of the maximal oxygen intake test . J Clin Invest 37:538-547, 1958;.
5 +
Newton JL:  The assessment of maximal oxygen intake . J Sport Med 3:164-169, 1963;.
6 +
Rowell LB, Taylor HL, Wang Y:  Limitations to prediction of maximal oxygen intake . J Appl Physiol 19:919-927, 1964;.
7 +
Buskirk E, Taylor HL:  Maximal oxygen intake and its relation to body composition, with special reference to chronic physical activity and obesity . J Appl Physiol 11:72-78, 1957;.
8 +
Balke B, Ware RW:  An experimental study of physical fitness of air force personnel . US Armed Forces Med J 10:675688, 1959;.
9 +
Balke B: A Simple Field Test for the Assessment of Physical Fitness . CARI report 63-18. Oklahoma City, Civil Aeromedical Research Institute, Federal Aviation Agency, 1963;.
10 +
Cooper KH:  A means of assessing maximal oxygen intake: Correlation between field and treadmill testing . JAMA 203:201-204, 1968;.
11 +
Mahadeva K, Passmore R, Woolf B:  Individual variations in the metabolic cost of standardized exercises: Effects of food, age, sex and race . J Physiol (London) 121:225-231, 1953;.
12 +
Costill DL:  The relationship between selected physiological variables and distance running performance . J Sport Med 7:61-66, 1967;.
13 +
Krumholz RA, Chevalier RB, Ross JC:  Cardiopulmonary function in young smokers: A comparison of pulmonary function measurements and some cardiopulmonary responses to exercise between a group of young smokers and a comparable group of nonsmokers . Ann Intern Med 60:603-610, 1964;.
14 +
Cooper KH, Gey GO, Bottenberg RA:  Effects of cigarette smoking on endurance performance . JAMA 203:189-192, 1968;.
15 +
Cooper KH:  Testing and developing cardiovascular fitness within the United States Air Force . J Occup Med 10:636-639, 1968;.

Figures

Tables

Interactive Graphics

Video

Country-Specific Mortality and Growth Failure in Infancy and Yound Children and Association With Material Stature

Use interactive graphics and maps to view and sort country-specific infant and early dhildhood mortality and growth failure data and their association with maternal

1 +
Brummer P:  Coronary heart disease and the living standard . Acta Med Scand 182:523-527, 1967;.
2 +
Taylor HL, Buskirk E, Henschel A:  Maximal oxygen intake as an objective measure of cardio-respiratory performance . J Appl Physiol 8:73-80, 1955;.
3 +
Astrand PO:  Human physical fitness with special reference to sex and age . Physiol Rev 36:307-335, 1956;.
4 +
Mitchell JH, Sproule BJ, Chapman CB:  The physiological meaning of the maximal oxygen intake test . J Clin Invest 37:538-547, 1958;.
5 +
Newton JL:  The assessment of maximal oxygen intake . J Sport Med 3:164-169, 1963;.
6 +
Rowell LB, Taylor HL, Wang Y:  Limitations to prediction of maximal oxygen intake . J Appl Physiol 19:919-927, 1964;.
7 +
Buskirk E, Taylor HL:  Maximal oxygen intake and its relation to body composition, with special reference to chronic physical activity and obesity . J Appl Physiol 11:72-78, 1957;.
8 +
Balke B, Ware RW:  An experimental study of physical fitness of air force personnel . US Armed Forces Med J 10:675688, 1959;.
9 +
Balke B: A Simple Field Test for the Assessment of Physical Fitness . CARI report 63-18. Oklahoma City, Civil Aeromedical Research Institute, Federal Aviation Agency, 1963;.
10 +
Cooper KH:  A means of assessing maximal oxygen intake: Correlation between field and treadmill testing . JAMA 203:201-204, 1968;.
11 +
Mahadeva K, Passmore R, Woolf B:  Individual variations in the metabolic cost of standardized exercises: Effects of food, age, sex and race . J Physiol (London) 121:225-231, 1953;.
12 +
Costill DL:  The relationship between selected physiological variables and distance running performance . J Sport Med 7:61-66, 1967;.
13 +
Krumholz RA, Chevalier RB, Ross JC:  Cardiopulmonary function in young smokers: A comparison of pulmonary function measurements and some cardiopulmonary responses to exercise between a group of young smokers and a comparable group of nonsmokers . Ann Intern Med 60:603-610, 1964;.
14 +
Cooper KH, Gey GO, Bottenberg RA:  Effects of cigarette smoking on endurance performance . JAMA 203:189-192, 1968;.
15 +
Cooper KH:  Testing and developing cardiovascular fitness within the United States Air Force . J Occup Med 10:636-639, 1968;.

Letters

Submit a Letter
CME Course for:


You need to register in order to view this quiz.


To understand the clinical management of acute heart failure syndromes.
Accreditation Information The American Medical Association is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The AMA designates this journal-based CME activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM per course. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Physicians who complete the CME course and score at least 80% correct on the quiz are eligible for AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM.
Note: You must get at least of the answers correct to pass this quiz.
Note: You must get at least of the answers correct to pass this quiz.
You have not filled in all the answers to complete this quiz
The following questions were not answered:
Sorry, you have unsuccessfully completed this CME quiz with a score of
The following questions were not answered correctly:
For CME Course: A Proposed Model for Initial Assessment and Management of Acute Heart Failure Syndromes
Indicate what changes(s) you will implement in your practice, if any, based on this CME course.
To view and print your certificate and access a summary of your CME courses go to My CME.
NOTE:
Citing articles are presented as examples only. In non-demo SCM6 implementation, integration with CrossRef’s “Cited By” API will populate this tab (http://www.crossref.org/citedby.html).
Compression-Only CPR: Pushing the Science Forward
Cone
AAM 2010;304:1493-1495.
All you need to read in the other general journals
BMJ 2010;341:c5893-c1494.
Submit a Response

Some tools below are only available to our subscribers or users with an online account.

Related Content

Customize your page view by dragging & repositioning the boxes below.

© 2012 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.
Powered bySilverchair Information Systems