How Much of Muscle Power Performance Is Explained by Upper Limb Strength? A Cross-Sectional Study in Male Military Personnel
Vol. 94 No. 2 (2025), Fisiologia do Exercício
Vol. 94 No. 2 (2025)

How Much of Muscle Power Performance Is Explained by Upper Limb Strength? A Cross-Sectional Study in Male Military Personnel

Fisiologia do Exercício
https://doi.org/10.37310/ref.v94i2.3065
Published 2025-10-30
Jorge Henrique Thomaz Delabio Ferraz
1. Escola de Educação Física e Desportos, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro – UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. 2. LADTEF-Laboratório de Desempenho, Treinamento e Exercício Físico, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro-UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. 3. Pós-graduação Lato Sensu em Musculação e Treinamento de Força – Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. 4. Escola de Educação Física do Exército – EsEFEx, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Vitor Luiz Lima Gameiro
1. Escola de Educação Física e Desportos, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro – UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. 2. LADTEF-Laboratório de Desempenho, Treinamento e Exercício Físico, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro-UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. 3. Pós-graduação Lato Sensu em Musculação e Treinamento de Força – Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. 4. Escola de Educação Física do Exército – EsEFEx, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5210-0308
Thiago Nunes Dutra
1. Escola de Educação Física e Desportos, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro – UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. 2. LADTEF-Laboratório de Desempenho, Treinamento e Exercício Físico, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro-UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. 3. Pós-graduação Lato Sensu em Musculação e Treinamento de Força – Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
https://orcid.org/0009-0000-3095-6634
Michel Moraes Gonçalves
1. Escola de Educação Física e Desportos, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro – UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. 2. LADTEF-Laboratório de Desempenho, Treinamento e Exercício Físico, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro-UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. 5. Centro de Capacitação Física do Exército – CCFEx, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4177-0250
Fabio Henrique de Freitas
1. Escola de Educação Física e Desportos, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro – UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. 2. LADTEF-Laboratório de Desempenho, Treinamento e Exercício Físico, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro-UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. 3. Pós-graduação Lato Sensu em Musculação e Treinamento de Força – Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4545-1388
Humberto Lameira Miranda
1. Escola de Educação Física e Desportos, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro – UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. 2. LADTEF-Laboratório de Desempenho, Treinamento e Exercício Físico, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro-UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. 3. Pós-graduação Lato Sensu em Musculação e Treinamento de Força – Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7911-3910
REF / JPE 2025 94, 2
pdf (Português (Brasil))

Keywords

correlation
explosive strength
muscle fitness
physical training
military personnel

How to Cite

Ferraz, J. H. T. D., Lima Gameiro, V. L., Nunes Dutra , T., Moraes Gonçalves, M., de Freitas, F. H., & Lameira Miranda, H. (2025). How Much of Muscle Power Performance Is Explained by Upper Limb Strength? A Cross-Sectional Study in Male Military Personnel. Journal of Physical Education, 94(2), 389–397. https://doi.org/10.37310/ref.v94i2.3065
ACM ACS APA ABNT Chicago Harvard IEEE MLA Turabian Vancouver

Download Citation

Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS) BibTeX

Abstract

Introduction: Muscle power is a fundamental physical ability for the military. Understanding how strength explains muscle power performance can contribute to the planning of TFM aimed at muscle fitness.

Objective: To estimate the magnitude of the linear correlation of force with upper limb muscle power in young adult males of the Brazilian Army.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional observational study with convenience sampling, consisting of 20 male Brazilian Army military personnel, all with at least three years of experience in military physical training. Participants performed the 1 RM test on the bench press with free bar to measure maximum strength and the medicine ball throw test  to assess muscle power. The linear correlation between the variables was analyzed using Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficient and its magnitude was estimated by R2.

Results: The results showed a significant positive correlation of moderate magnitude (r = 0.677; p = 0.001; R2 (%) = 45.83%) between maximum strength and muscle power of the upper limbs.

Conclusion: The results demonstrated the magnitude (the effect) of strength on the muscle power compound and confirmed the theoretical-conceptual model of this physical capacity that encompasses the product of physical capacities strength and speed.

https://doi.org/10.37310/ref.v94i2.3065
pdf (Português (Brasil))

References

Pihlainen K, Santtila M, Häkkinen K, Kyröläinen H. Associations of Physical Fitness and Body Composition Characteristics With Simulated Military Task Performance. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 2018;32(4): 1089. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000001921.

Michaelides MA, Parpa KM, Henry LJ, Thompson GB, Brown BS. Assessment of physical fitness aspects and their relationship to firefighters’ job abilities. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2011;25(4): 956–965. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181cc23ea.

Aandstad A. Association Between Performance in Muscle Fitness Field Tests and Skeletal Muscle Mass in Soldiers. Military Medicine. 2020;185(5–6): e839–e846. https://doi.org/10.1093/milmed/usz437.

Neves EB. Correlations between the simulated military tasks performance and physical fitness tests at high altitude. Motricidade. 2017;13(2): 12–17. https://doi.org/10.6063/motricidade.10129.

Kawamori N, Haff GG. The optimal training load for the development of muscular power. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2004;18(3): 675–684. https://doi.org/10.1519/1533-4287(2004)18<675:TOTLFT>2.0.CO;2.

Thébault N, Léger LA, Passelergue P. Repeated-sprint ability and aerobic fitness. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2011;25(10): 2857–2865. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e318207ef37.

Bilzon JLJ, Scarpello EG, Bilzon E, Allsopp AJ. Generic task-related occupational requirements for Royal Naval personnel. Occupational Medicine (Oxford, England). 2002;52(8): 503–510. https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/52.8.503.

Stanković D, Petrović I, Petrović I. Relationship of aerobic abilities and agility with military physical tasks in the serbian armed forces. In: 2018.

Hunt AP, Orr RM, Billing DC. Developing physical capability standards that are predictive of success on Special Forces selection courses. Military Medicine. 2013;178(6): 619–624. https://doi.org/10.7205/MILMED-D-12-00347.

McGuigan MR, Wright GA, Fleck SJ. Strength training for athletes: does it really help sports performance? International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance. 2012;7(1): 2–5. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.7.1.2.

Baker D. Comparison of upper-body strength and power between professional and college-aged rugby league players. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2001;15(1): 30–35.

Campos VG de [UNIFESP. Relações entre testes funcionais e composição corporal, potência e força em atletas masculinos de voleibol. 2015; https://repositorio.unifesp.br/handle/11600/53277

Wang R, Hoffman JR, Sadres E, Bartolomei S, Muddle TWD, Fukuda DH, et al. Evaluating Upper-Body Strength and Power From a Single Test: The Ballistic Push-up. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2017;31(5): 1338–1345. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000001832.

Brasil. Manual de Campanha Treinamento Físico Militar EB70-MC-10.375.. 5a. Comando de Operações Terrestres; 2021. http://bdex.eb.mil.br/jspui/handle/123456789/9759 [Accessed 23rd September 2024].

Beckett MB, Hodgdon JA. Lifting and Carrying Capacities Relative to Physical Fitness Measures. 1987 Oct [Accessed 29th June 2022]. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA189305 [Accessed 29th June 2022].

Mala J, Szivak TK, Flanagan SD, Comstock BA, Laferrier JZ, Maresh CM, et al. The role of strength and power during performance of high intensity military tasks under heavy load carriage. U.S Army Medical Department journal. 2015; 3–11.

Szivak TK, Kraemer WJ, Nindl BC, Gotshalk LA, Volek JS, Gomez AL, et al. Relationships of physical performance tests to military-relevant tasks in women. U.S. Army Medical Department Journal. 2014; 20–26.

Sousa MMB de. Correlação entre o desempenho no teste de uma repetição máxima e potência máxima de agachamento em militares. 2021; http://bdex.eb.mil.br/jspui/handle/123456789/10165

Di Bucchianico A. Coefficient of Determination (R2). In: Encyclopedia of Statistics in Quality and Reliability. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd; 2008. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470061572.eqr173. [Accessed 10th July 2025].

Brasil EM do E. Portaria no 850, Diretriz para o Treinamento Físico Militar e sua Avaliação. 2022.

Brown L, Weir J. ASEP Procedures recommendation I: Accurate assessment of muscular strength and power. Journal of Exercise Physiology Online. 2001;4: 1–21.

Gillespie J, Keenum S. A validity and reliability-analysis of the seated shot put as a test of power. Journal of human movement studies. 1987;13(2): 97–105.

Chan YH. Biostatistics 101: data presentation. Singapore Medical Journal. 2003;44(6): 280–285.

New View of Statistics: Effect Magnitudes. https://www.sportsci.org/resource/stats/effectmag.html [Accessed 10th April 2025].

Laird, M, Clifford, H, Heaney JH. Navy PRT Modality Validation Pilot Study.

Landen S, Hiam D, Voisin S, Jacques M, Lamon S, Eynon N. Physiological and molecular sex differences in human skeletal muscle in response to exercise training. The Journal of Physiology. 2023;601(3): 419–434. https://doi.org/10.1113/JP279499.

Aagaard P. Training-induced changes in neural function. Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews. 2003;31(2): 61–67. https://doi.org/10.1097/00003677-200304000-00002.

Klass M, Baudry S, Duchateau J. Age-related decline in rate of torque development is accompanied by lower maximal motor unit discharge frequency during fast contractions. Journal of Applied Physiology (Bethesda, Md.: 1985). 2008;104(3): 739–746. https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00550.2007.

Huiberts RO, Wüst RCI, van der Zwaard S. Concurrent Strength and Endurance Training: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on the Impact of Sex and Training Status. Sports Medicine (Auckland, N.z.). 2024;54(2): 485–503. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-023-01943-9.

Lowndes J, Carpenter RL, Zoeller RF, Seip RL, Moyna NM, Price TB, et al. Association of Age with Muscle Size and Strength Before and After Short-Term Resistance Training in Young Adults. Journal of strength and conditioning research / National Strength & Conditioning Association. 2009;23(7): 1915–1920. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181b94b35.

Bartolomei S, Grillone G, Di Michele R, Cortesi M. A Comparison between Male and Female Athletes in Relative Strength and Power Performances. Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology. 2021;6(1): 17. https://doi.org/10.3390/jfmk6010017.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Physical Education