Enhanced physical and cognitive performance in active duty airmen: Evidence from a randomized multimodal physical fitness and nutritional intervention.

Zwilling et. al (2020) declares the critical demand for interventions to enhance human physical fitness and cognitive performance to enable Airmen in particular, who operate under extreme physical and cognitive pressure, to remain resilient and perform well during missions. A twelve-week randomised controlled trial was conducted on 148 active-duty Air Force Airmen to compare the efficacy of a multimodal intervention that consisted of high-intensity interval aerobic fitness and strength training coupled with a novel nutritional supplement [containing β-hydroxy β-methylbutyrate (HMB), lutein, phospholipids, DHA and selected micronutrients including B12 and folic acid] with another program of high-intensity interval aerobic fitness and strength training paired with a standard placebo drink. The study found the exercise program alone improved several physical fitness attributes: strength and endurance (+8.3%); power (+0.85%); mobility and stability (+22%); heart rate (-1.1%); lean muscle mass (+1.4%). Plus, enhancements in cognitive function were observed with regards to processing efficacy (+7.5%), episodic memory (+9.5%), fluid intelligence accuracy (+19.5%) and executive function reaction time (-4.8%).
The addition of the nutritional supplement to the fitness regime further boosted the Airmen’s physical fitness and cognitive performance, indicated by the bettering of working memory by 9%, processing efficiency by 1.8%, lean muscle mass by 1.5%, as well as the reductions in fluid intelligence reaction time by 7.7% and heart rate by 2.4%. This study found the multimodal intervention incorporating aerobic fitness and strength training with a novel nutritional supplement to be effective in enhancing military performance and in providing optimal exercise training and nutritional support for the modern warfighter. [NPID: military, cognition, working memory, memory, reaction time, nutritional support]

Year: 2020

Reference: Zwilling, C. E., Strang, A., Anderson, E., Jurcsisn, J., Johnson, E., Das, T., Kuchan, M. J., & Barbey, A. K. (2021). Author Correction: Enhanced physical and cognitive performance in active duty Airmen: evidence from a randomized multimodal physical fitness and nutritional intervention. Scientific reports, 11(1), 3820. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-81800-9