Medicine: Pilot Muscles

Stark naked, a sinewy cadet took the controls of a training plane, went through all the motions of piloting. Day after day physical training experts studied his every move, took notes on which muscles he used most often. Purpose of this Army project at Maxwell Field, Ala. was to design exercise which would “overtrain” the most used muscles and thereby reduce pilot strain.

Results of this study were announced last week by Physical Education Expert Ernest Smith. A confirmed groundhog, Mr. Smith has never been up in a plane. But last week he was proud to say that cadets who took his exercises scored 29% higher on agility and coordination tests than untrained men. Some of his findings :

> When a pilot taxis down an “apron” and when he is aloft he has to twist his neck from side to side to look out for other planes. So neck muscles must be strengthened by special twisting exercises.

> Most strain is on the extensor muscles of the leg, least on the flexors ; for example, the rudder pedal is kicked, not pulled. Cadets are trained to lie on their backs, kick their legs in bicycle movements.

> Since a pilot’s abdominal muscles are strained when he leans forward in the cock pit, they must be developed. One exercise starts with a sitting position. The cadet bends forward obliquely, turning his trunk. Another consists of jumping with feet apart, touching the right toe with the left hand, and vice versa.

> For proper handling of a ship, a pilot’s movements must be rhythmic rather than jerky. “That means exercising the swimming rather than the boxing muscles.”