Winter 2025 - 18

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Evaluating tactical athletes varies depending on their occupation,
physical demands, environmental stressors, and off-duty lifestyle.
What about hydration status? Research
has shown that cardiovascular health,
thermoregulatory systems, and performance
are improved when athletes replace fluid losses
during exercise (Karpinski & Rosenbloom, 2017).
The military occasionally uses refractometers (i.e.,
HemoCue®) to measure urine specific gravity
(USG). USG, though cumbersome and redundant
at times, measures the concentration of particles,
including wastes and electrolytes, in the urine
(Pagana et al., 2022).
Sodium losses are a crucial area of nutritional
concern for the tactical athlete. For instance,
firefighters are at significant risk of sodium (and
fluid) losses during fire suppression activity. They
can lose up to 40 oz. of sweat, containing about
2,070mg of sodium, in only 30 minutes of fighting
a fire (Walker et al., 2016). These are not just
numbers but important factors that every tactical
athlete should know. However, these are only
estimates, and every body is unique. Nutrition
technology such as the Gatorade Gx Sweat Patch
may prove helpful for tactical athletes to learn how
much sodium they are losing. The patch goes on
the upper part of the individual's arm, and they
wear it while executing typical exercise sessions or
training simulations.
Tactical athletes who are better educated on
healthy eating usually make healthier choices,
which can significantly impact their performance.
Acevedo et al. (2024) found that Army Reserve
Officer's Training Corp (ROTC) cadets with
healthier diets performed better on the Army
Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) than those with
less healthy diets. The researchers used a self18
| Tactical Training & Conditioning | Winter 2025
reported food and nutrition questionnaire to
evaluate the cadet's diets. How can tactical units
evaluate their personnel's diets? First, establishing
an electronic system is vital. Systems like
TeamBuildr and Teamworks AMS are commonly
used in law enforcement and military, respectively.
Validated food and nutrition questionnaires can
be integrated into these systems. Then, tactical
athletes can take the questionnaire by logging in
and answering all the questions. Once all the units
have completed the questionnaire, a trained sports
scientist can aggregate the data and determine
statistical means or averages.
The development of departments and
designated staff dedicated to the collection and
interpretation of performance data is growing in
popularity. For example, the military developed
the Optimizing the Human Weapon System
(OHWS) and integrated it into systems such as
the Army's Holistic Health and Fitness (H2F)
system and the Air Force's Air Combat Command
(Sebastianelli, 2022). These systems provide
service members with specialized support and
technology to monitor and improve their health
and wellness.
Innovations and advancements in sport science
and nutrition technology have migrated from
sports to the tactical realm. Performance and
nutrition technology has come a long way, from a
simple focus on understanding the basic physical
demands of the sport (or activity) and using that
information to develop effective training strategies
to now where artificial intelligence (AI) is surging
in popularity. As nutrition technology improves, so
can tactical athletes. n
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Winter 2025

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Winter 2025
