ABSTRACT
The physical fitness of members of the Nigerian armed forces is of great importance to their
mobility and health. Available studies have centred on growth, development and combat
readiness of the Nigerian Armed Forces (NAF) but have not critically examined their
Physical Fitness Characteristics (PFC) as recommended by the United Nations Military
Fitness Established Norms (UNMFNs). Therefore, this study evaluated Resting Heart Rate
(RHR), Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP), Diastolic Blood Pressure (DBP), Agility, Speed, Leg
Power, Flexibility, Muscular Endurance, Maximum Oxygen Consumption (MaxV02),
Percent Body Fat (%BF) and Body Mass Index (BMI) characteristics of officers and men
(OM) of the armed forces in Lagos, Nigeria.
The ex-post facto research design was employed. Purposive sampling technique was
adopted to select 186 participants from officers (n=49) and men (n=137) of the Nigerian
Army (n=64), Navy (n=64) and Air force (n=58). Data were collected using Skin-fold
Callipers (r=0.99), Sphygmomanometer (r= 0.97), Illinois Agility Run (r=0.93), 1.5mile
Run\Walk (r= 0.72), Sit-Up (r= 0.92), Sergeant Jump (r= 0.70), BMI (r=0.69) and Flex box
(r= 0.90). Three research questions were answered, and nine hypotheses tested at 0.05 level
of significance. Data were analysed using paired t-test, Analysis of Variance and Scheffe
post-hoc test.
There were significant differences between the RHR (t=4.167, p<0.05), DBP (t=5.958,
p<0.05), agility (t=63.283, p<0.05), leg power (t=22.316, p<0.05), flexibility (t=18.944,
p<0.05), MaxV02 (t=20.937, p<0.05), and BMI (t=3.786, p<0.05) when compared with
UNMFNs. Significant differences were recorded in SBP (t=2.791, p<0.05), agility (t=2.970,
p<0.05), speed (t=3.483, p<0.05), muscular endurance (t=3.510, p<0.05), MaxV02 (t=1.084,
p<0.05) and BMI (t=2.296, p<0.05) between Officers and Men of the Armed forces. There
were significant difference in SBP (F(2,183)=4.917, p<0.05), agility (F(2,183)=57.583, p<0.05),
speed (F(2,183)=11.526, p<0.05), leg power (F(2,183)=9.237, p<0.05), flexibility
(F(2,183)=18.923, p<0.05), MaxV02 ( F(2,183)=9.775, p<0.05), %BF (F(2,183)=66.461, p<0.05)
and BMI (F(2,183)=5.176, p<0.05) among the groups. Scheffe post hoc showed that the mean
difference in SBP was between Army and Air Force (x̄=3.98); agility was among the three
groups [Army and Navy (x̄=8.17), Army and Air force (x̄= 2.94), Navy and Air force (x̄=
5.24)]; speed [Army and Air Force (x̄=0. 68), Air force and Navy (x̄=0.71)]; leg power
between [Army and Navy (x̄=7.97), Navy and Air force (x̄=5.13)]; flexibility between
[Army and Navy (x̄=4.22), Army and Air Force (x̄=5.52)]; MaxV02 among [Army and Navy
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
xiii
(x̄=7.67), Navy and Air Force (x̄=8.04)], %BF among [Army and Navy (x̄=6.86), Army and
Air Force (x̄=4.33)] and BMI between [Army and Navy (x̄=10.64), Army and Air force
(x̄=9.07)].
CDR, C (2021). Evaluation Of Physical Fitness Characteristics Of Officers And Men Of The Armed Forces In Lagos, Nigeria. Afribary.com: Retrieved April 10, 2021, from https://afribary.com/works/evaluation-of-physical-fitness-characteristics-of-officers-and-men-of-the-armed-forces-in-lagos-nigeria
Coalition, CDR. "Evaluation Of Physical Fitness Characteristics Of Officers And Men Of The Armed Forces In Lagos, Nigeria" Afribary.com. Afribary.com, 03 Apr. 2021, https://afribary.com/works/evaluation-of-physical-fitness-characteristics-of-officers-and-men-of-the-armed-forces-in-lagos-nigeria . Accessed 10 Apr. 2021.
Coalition, CDR. "Evaluation Of Physical Fitness Characteristics Of Officers And Men Of The Armed Forces In Lagos, Nigeria". Afribary.com, Afribary.com, 03 Apr. 2021. Web. 10 Apr. 2021. < https://afribary.com/works/evaluation-of-physical-fitness-characteristics-of-officers-and-men-of-the-armed-forces-in-lagos-nigeria >.
Coalition, CDR. "Evaluation Of Physical Fitness Characteristics Of Officers And Men Of The Armed Forces In Lagos, Nigeria" Afribary.com (2021). Accessed April 10, 2021. https://afribary.com/works/evaluation-of-physical-fitness-characteristics-of-officers-and-men-of-the-armed-forces-in-lagos-nigeria