Major, PhD, Honoured coach of Russia V.A. Islamov
Professor, Dr.Hab., Colonel G.G. Dmitriev
Associate Professor, PhD, Colonel K.A. Bogza
Associate Professor, PhD, Colonel R.A. Tsygankov
Military Institute of Physical Culture, St. Petersburg

Keywords: adaptation, military personnel, body, working capacity, physical fitness, physical load, physical exercises.

Introduction

Modern combat technologies, weaponry and equipment coming to the Armed Forces of Russian Federation have resulted in the fitness standards of military personnel being notably changed. The physical loads expected in modern military conflicts and missions can be stood only by the people having the motor systems of the relevant working capacities [5].

Heavy stresses on the nervous and motor system, in their turn, require the respiratory, cardiovascular and other body systems working at higher intensity rates, albeit every body system is known to operate within certain natural working capacity (reserve) limits; and the only way to build up this capacity is a special training process.

Objective of the study was to perform a theoretical analysis of the serviceman adaptation process in extreme natural environmental conditions.

Study results and discussion. It is the body responses acquired through a long evolutionary process and integrated in the homeostatic regulation system that maintain a constant internal environment in a human body. Long-term body adaptation mechanism is known to develop as a result of multiple recurring impacts [2].

An important constituent of the training system intended to efficiently improve the body system functionality in the servicemen trained for operations in extreme/ unusual environmental conditions is the high-intensity physical exercises geared to build up the working capacities of the urgently adaptable physiological systems.

It should be noted in this context that the human body that has passed a long-term adaptation to some stressor (e.g. intense physical loads) may better (with virtually no detriment for the working capacity) activate the relevant adaptation responses under new harsh conditions (when, for instance, the serviceman goes on mission to deserts or mountains or hot climatic zones) making resort to the readily available adaptation mechanism that involve every body system down to the cellular level.

The adaptation process is normally manifested in the body morpho-physiological and biochemical responses being optimized as required by the new environmental conditions and the body tolerance to physical loads being increased as verified by the so called non-specific resistance rates indicative of the growing tolerance/ stress immunity.

It is the highlanders and trained athletes that are known to develop the highest body tolerance rates. The powerful physiological reserve (that secures oxygen supply to the body systems and high stress resistance on the tissue and cellular levels) formation mechanism is largely driven by the adaptive responses to the environmental conditions (in case of the highlanders) or to the sport loads (in case of racers).

Advantages of a well-trained human body may be described as follows [1]:

• Trained body may cope with the prolonged and high-intensity exercise that can never be surmounted by a non-trained person;
• Physiological systems of the trained body operate in a more energy efficient manner both in a quiescent state and under moderate physical loads and may, when required, stand maximum and high-intensity operational loads that are far beyond abilities of a non-trained person; and
• Trained body is highly tolerant to the extreme environmental conditions.

“Cost of adaptation” to the physical loads is known to depend to the body working capacity on the one hand and the training loads on the other hand. The higher is the load and the lower is the working ability – the higher is the cost of the muscular work; and it is not unusual that such work results in unnoticeable bodily adaptation and/or stress tolerance improvements [2].

It is based on the above background knowledge that a set of special physical methods and tools geared to improve the working capacity rates of different combat specialists in a most efficient way through the most important (for the professional operations) body qualities and functions being formed. Purposeful physical training process gives the means to successfully form both the instant and long-term body adaptation mechanisms to secure high working capacity of the service personnel in extreme environmental conditions [1].

It is the fitness transition ability that is known to be the most expressed form of the physical practice impacts on the trainees being efficient and the relevant mechanisms of adaptation to variable loads being formed [2]. Regular trainings including 5/10 km quick marches as a part of the special physical training course help form the mechanisms of adaptation to high loads and ensure the acquired fitness transition to a variety of stressful service conditions including the motorized infantry offensives, obstacle crossing operations, hand-to-hand fights, water barriers forcing operations etc. [1, 3, 5].

It may be challenging to convince some commanders and/or physical training specialists that the training systems they traditionally use need to include, for instance, 1/3 km run races and 5/10 km cross-country ski races for the service personnel of marine ships on the whole and submarines in particular; flight personnel of the national Air Forces; operators of Strategic Missile Forces etc. – whose professional responsibilities may seem to be beyond the above loads and stresses on the face of it. It should be explained and understood, however, that the body adaptation mechanisms capable of standing high and sub-maximum loads in the physical training process are imperative for fitness improvement and are highly efficient in preventing and offsetting hypoxic/ hipodynamic conditions, operational monotony and sensor deprivations [4, 5].

Conclusion

Adaptation viewed as a psycho-physiological mechanism of adjustment to aggressive environmental impacts both reflects the essential features of deep body processes and determines their content. The fitness transition process may be considered one of manifestations of this phenomenon and its constituent [2, 4, 5].

The military service personnel’s specific general working capacity component is not always fit enough to maintain the body homeostasis under extreme environmental conditions. This is the situation when the body has to make resort to the morpho-functional reserves accumulated through special physical practices that secure the body energy resources and flexibility qualities being mobilized to improve the stress tolerance and protection and trigger adequate responses to the increased loads. 

References

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