Warwick Joseph, Cooper Sophie, Ronca Flaminia
Division of Surgery & Interventional Science, Institute of Sport Exercise and Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2025 Jan 13;20(1):e0300161. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300161. eCollection 2025.
Law enforcement agencies require minimum fitness standards to safeguard their officers and training staff. Firearms instructors (FI) are expected to maintain the same standards as their operational counterparts. This study aimed to quantify the daily physiological demands placed on FI.
19 FI (45 ± 5 years) completed occupational tasks whilst wearing heart rate (HR) monitors for a minimum 10 days. Maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) testing was conducted on FI during a treadmill test (TT) and a multistage shuttle test (ST). Linear regression models were used to model the relationship between VO2 and HR throughout the TT. This model was applied to HR data from occupational tasks to infer oxygen consumption. Repeated Measures ANOVAs were used to compare time spent in VO2max equivalent zones throughout.
The VO2max achieved during ST (45.1 ± 5.6 ml/kg/min) was significantly higher than TT (39 ± 3 ml/kg/min) (p = 0.014). Time to exhaustion (TTE) was sooner on ST (06:26 min) compared to TT (13:16 min) (p < .001). FI spent ~85% of occupational time with an oxygen demand ≤20 ml/kg/min (p < .005). The most intense occupational tasks saw FI achieve VO2max ≥30 ml/kg/min, but <40 ml/kg/min.
Using ST to assess cardiorespiratory fitness resulted in a quicker TTE and a higher VO2max. Predominantly, FI occupational tasks are low intensity with sporadic exposures requiring a VO2max of >40 ml/kg/min. To safeguard FI from occupational-related cardiorespiratory or long-term health issues, it is intuitive to suggest fitness standards should exceed a VO2max of 40 ml/kg/min.
执法机构需要最低体能标准来保障其官员和培训人员的安全。枪械教官（FI）应维持与执行任务的同行相同的标准。本研究旨在量化FI日常的生理需求。
19名FI（45±5岁）在佩戴心率（HR）监测器的情况下完成职业任务，最少持续10天。在跑步机测试（TT）和多级穿梭测试（ST）期间对FI进行最大摄氧量（VO2max）测试。使用线性回归模型来模拟整个TT过程中VO2与HR之间的关系。该模型应用于职业任务中的HR数据以推断耗氧量。使用重复测量方差分析来比较整个过程中处于VO2max等效区域的时间。
ST期间达到的VO2max（45.1±5.6毫升/千克/分钟）显著高于TT（39±3毫升/千克/分钟）（p = 0.014）。与TT（13:16分钟）相比，ST的疲劳时间（TTE）更早（06:26分钟）（p <.001）。FI在职业时间中约85%的时间内氧气需求≤20毫升/千克/分钟（p <.005）。最激烈的职业任务中，FI的VO2max≥30毫升/千克/分钟，但<40毫升/千克/分钟。
使用ST评估心肺适能导致更快的TTE和更高的VO2max。主要地，FI的职业任务强度较低，偶尔会有需要VO2max>40毫升/千克/分钟的情况。为保护FI免受与职业相关的心肺或长期健康问题的影响，直观地建议体能标准应超过VO2max 40毫升/千克/分钟。
