Ranger Athlete Warrior Assessment Performance in a Reserve Officer Training Corps Training Environment.

Muscular strength, power, and aerobic capacity are vital to Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (AROTC) Cadets as well as active-duty Soldiers, especially when lifting heavy objects, traveling long distances, or moving with maximum speed and agility. The purpose of this study was to examine the change (after a pre/post intervention) of 5 weeks of resistance strength training and aerobic capacity training on a Ranger Athlete Warrior (RAW) assessment. Twelve (males, n = 10; females, n = 2) college-aged AROTC Cadets volunteered for this study during their train-up for the annual Ranger Challenge Competition. Each training week consisted of two resistance, two aerobic, and one tactical training session lasting about 90 minutes. The RAW assessment consisted of the following: 5-10-5 shuttle, standing broad jump, 3-repetition maximum (RM) trap bar deadlift, pull-ups, metronome pushups, heel claps, and two 300-yard shuttles. Paired samples t tests produced statistically significant differences (pre vs post): 5-10-5 (p = .04), 3-RM trap bar deadlift (p = .01), and metronome push-ups (p = .01). The results suggest that combining resistance strength and endurance and aerobic capacity training at a set volume with a self-selected intensity improved the Cadets' agility, lower-body strength, and upper-body muscular endurance. Implementing a program similar to this in other AROTC programs could also improve Cadet performance in the field. This study also showed the benefit of an AROTC program collaborating with human performance professionals to optimize Cadets' human performance capabilities.

Testing the generality of above-ground biomass allometry across plant functional types at the continent scale.

Accurate ground-based estimation of the carbon stored in terrestrial ecosystems is critical to quantifying the global carbon budget. Allometric models provide cost-effective methods for biomass prediction. But do such models vary with ecoregion or plant functional type? We compiled 15 054 measurements of individual tree or shrub biomass from across Australia to examine the generality of allometric models for above-ground biomass prediction. This provided a robust case study because Australia includes ecoregions ranging from arid shrublands to tropical rainforests, and has a rich history of biomass research, particularly in planted forests. Regardless of ecoregion, for five broad categories of plant functional type (shrubs; multistemmed trees; trees of the genus Eucalyptus and closely related genera; other trees of high wood density; and other trees of low wood density), relationships between biomass and stem diameter were generic. Simple power-law models explained 84-95% of the variation in biomass, with little improvement in model performance when other plant variables (height, bole wood density), or site characteristics (climate, age, management) were included. Predictions of stand-based biomass from allometric models of varying levels of generalization (species-specific, plant functional type) were validated using whole-plot harvest data from 17 contrasting stands (range: 9-356 Mg ha(-1) ). Losses in efficiency of prediction were <1% if generalized models were used in place of species-specific models. Furthermore, application of generalized multispecies models did not introduce significant bias in biomass prediction in 92% of the 53 species tested. Further, overall efficiency of stand-level biomass prediction was 99%, with a mean absolute prediction error of only 13%. Hence, for cost-effective prediction of biomass across a wide range of stands, we recommend use of generic allometric models based on plant functional types. Development of new species-specific models is only warranted when gains in accuracy of stand-based predictions are relatively high (e.g. high-value monocultures).