The Initial Efficacy of Warrior Health and Fitness: A 3-Month Fitness and Nutrition Program for Veterans

Research Objectives: To assess physical and mental changes after participation in Home Base’s Warrior Health and Fitness (WHF) program, a 3-month health and wellness intervention for veterans and service members in New England and Southwest Florida.

Design: Pre- post-intervention program evaluation.

Setting: The intervention took place at Home Base gyms in New England and Florida. Two cohorts were included: 2019- April 2021, and May 2021-December 2022.

Participants: There were 48-85 participants who completed the physical measures and surveys in cohort 1, and 97-154 who completed the measures in cohort 2.

Interventions: Participants engaged in small-group workouts, nutrition counseling, educational seminars, and other aerobic activities led by a multi-disciplinary team over 3 months. Participants enrolled in the program through an online application process and were screened for eligibility before starting.

Main Outcome Measures: Physical measures included coach-measured waist to hip ratio, weight, BMI, grip strength (left and right), body fat percent, lean mass, fat mass, heart rate, and blood pressure. Self-report psychological measures included quality of life, sleep quality, pain intensity and interference, depression, and anxiety. Paired t-tests were used to determine significance of pre- post- changes.

Results: In cohort 1, significant improvements were found in measures of weight (p=.014), left grip strength (p <.001), body fat percent (p <.001), and quality of life (p <.001). In cohort 2, significant improvements were found in measures of waist:hip ratio (p=.019), right grip strength (p <.001), left grip strength (p <.001), BMI (p=0.024), body fat percent (p <.001), and quality of life (p=.019).

Conclusions: The WHF program showed benefit on veteran/service members’ weight, grip strength, body fat percent, waist:hip ratio, BMI, and quality of life. Additional variables showed marginally significant improvements on additional physical and emotional outcomes. Continued offering of this program to veterans and service members is needed and beneficial.

Author(s) Disclosures: Authors declare that they have no relevant disclosures.