Background: During periods of high-volume vigorous exercise, United States Marine Corps recruits often experience musculoskeletal injuries. While the program of instruction (POI) for basic training is a defined training volume, the total workload of boot camp, including movements around the base, is unknown.
Objective: The present study aimed to quantify the daily total workload, energy expenditure, and sleep during basic recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD) San Diego.
Methods: Eighty-four male recruits from MCRD San Diego wore wrist wearable physiological monitors to capture their complete workload (mileage from steps), energy expenditure, and sleep throughout the 10-week boot camp.
Results: Marine recruits traveled an average of 11.5±3.4 miles per day (M±SD), expended 4105±823 kcal per day, and slept an average of 5 : 48±1 : 06 hours and minutes per night. While the POI designates a total of 46.3 miles of running and hiking, the actual daily average miles yielded approximately 657.6±107.2 miles over the 10-week boot camp.
Conclusion: Recruit training requires high physical demand and time under tension due to the cumulative volume of movements around base in addition to the POI planned physical training.
Keywords: Work; energy expenditure; inservice training; military; sleep; workload.