Women in Service

[stef]

by CJ Gotcher

“Opening up the combat arms to women will be a difficult adjustment…but we can help prepare for them with effective physical training; developing stronger, faster, and more resilient candidates who can excel at the standards in their pipeline schools.”

Article

[Eric Larousse]

So a female should ain for 14-18%? That seems fairly low bodyfat for a female.

What about males though what BMI and BF% should they aim for in the military?

[CJ Gotcher]

So a female should ain for 14-18%? That seems fairly low bodyfat for a female.

What about males though what BMI and BF% should they aim for in the military?

Thanks for the read, Eric! I'm glad you mention that, because I'm surprised I haven't been asked about it before now.

My recommendation is lean: specifically, 14.5% BF is at the 90th percentile and 18% BF is at about the 75th percentile for military-age-females in America.

This article is keyed towards initial entry courses where relative strength is key due to the heavy run-them-ragged aerobic bias. In virtually every combat service (SOF especially), applicants tend to come in leaner and, within 5 years of service, round out towards being heavier and (this is my personal observation of one Team) stronger. I would expect most women to be above this range during the predominantly-strength portion of their training, slowly lean out during the 6-8 months prior to indoc, then settle slightly higher (16-20%) for service.

For men, I'd aim for 12-16% arriving at their indoc pipeline. If you're curious to deep-dive some of the data on the subject: here, here, here, here, and here.

The clearest research-driven inflection point is at 20% BF for men and women (recovery, injury rate, and endurance begin to suffer). There's not that much of a difference between my recommendations for men and women for a reason: both men and women will face a fixed challenge that will require a set level of fitness to match. If BF is a metric that matters and women as a population tend to have more BF than men, you'll need to pick a leaner, more select class of women.

[Eric Larousse]

Very nice info. Thanks!

[galacticapegasus]

Wow. 14.5% bf and 18% bf for the 75th percentile? I lost my period for two years when I hit 16% bf and also started to lose my hair( I used to be in the army). I am 25% bf now but i am no longer military but I am stronger than I was when I was in.

[CJ Gotcher]

Wow. 14.5% bf and 18% bf for the 75th percentile? I lost my period for two years when I hit 16% bf and also started to lose my hair( I used to be in the army). I am 25% bf now but i am no longer military but I am stronger than I was when I was in.

For the 18-24 age group, yeah. Every woman is different: how lean you can get and hold without becoming amenorrhoea involves a lot of factors (including genetics) and it's exacerbated by stress, sustained training volume, and lower body weight (lean at a low BMI tends to cause more problems than being lean at a higher BMI). Many women reported becoming amenhorrhoeic during basic training just due to the stress regardless of change in bodyweight.

It's good to hear that you've gotten stronger! In the end, although body composition helps, stronger and more athletic wins every time.