Uncorrected Proof J Arch Mil Med. 2022 December; 10(4):e130084. Published online 2023 January 4. https://doi.org/10.5812/jamm-130084. Methods Article Effects of 8-Week Suspension Training Program on Physical Fitness, Biomechanical Lower Extremity Injury Risk Factors, Mental Health, and Work-Related Factors in Navy Personnel: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial Hossein Shirvani 1 , Vahid Sobhani 1 , Esmaeil Mozafaripour 2, * , Mohammad Bayattork 3 , Zohreh Yaghoubitajani 4 and Lars LouisAndersen 5, 6 1 Research Institute for Life Style, Exercise Physiology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 2 Health and Sports Medicine Department, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran 3 Sport Sciences and Physical Education, Faculty of Humanities Science, University of Hormozgan, Bandar Abbas, Iran 4 Department of Health and Sport Rehabilitation, Faculty of Sport Sciences and Health, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran 5 National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark 6 Department of Health Science and Technology, Aalborg University, 9220, Aalborg, Denmark * Corresponding author: Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Tel: +98-9192787818, Fax: +98-2188021527, Email: e.mozafaripour@yahoo.com Received 2022 July 22; Accepted 2022 November 19. Abstract Background: Military personnel need to be in optimal physical fitness and ready for action. Currently used physical training pro- grams are mainly based on cardiovascular routines that do not fulfill all physical requirements. Feasible and easy-accessible training programs are needed to improve strength-related physical performance. Objectives: The current study aims to investigate the effectiveness of a suspension-training program with the total body resistance exercise band in physical fitness, biomechanical lower extremity injury risk factors, mental health, and work-related factors in navy personnel. Methods: To conduct this parallel-group randomized controlled trial, 50 young men aged 18 to 28 years will be recruited. The inter- vention group performs suspension training (three times a week for 8 weeks) in addition to their daily duties; however, the control group continues their daily duties. The primary outcome is physical performance. The secondary outcomes include biomechanical lower extremity injury risk factors, mental health, and work-related factors. Discussion: This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a randomized controlled trial of suspension training in performance, lower extremity frontal plane kinematics, job satisfaction, workability, and quality of life in navy personnel. This trial might provide new insights for various experts and military coaches and suspension-training programs can be used as new methods to meet all military personnel demands with minimum facilities. Keywords: TRX Band, Health of Military Personnel, Suspension Training, Physical Fitness, Mental Health 1. Background Military personnel in combat environments require complete fitness to meet the physical demands of occupa- tional and combat-related specific tasks (1). Therefore, ap- plying appropriate physical training programs is crucial for military personnel survival and mission success (2). Tra- ditionally, conditioning in the military has been focused on aerobic endurance exercises (e.g., long-running train- ing) and performing calisthenics because it was accessible to prescribe these kinds of exercises when training large numbers of soldiers during physical training (2). However, military demands are also highly dependent on functional muscle strength. Therefore, aerobic exercise alone cannot meet all military personnel demands in training and com- bat conditions (3). On the other hand, physical training can also lead to injuries during the act, either as sudden or long-term overuse injuries (3). For example, as routine training, long- distance running can be a primary risk factor for foot in- juries among military personnel (4). Therefore, reducing training volumes is the most recommended strategy for in- jury prevention (4). In addition, in some situations, such as serving in warships, submarines, or limited military Copyright © 2023, Journal of Archives in Military Medicine. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits copy and redistribute the material just in noncommercial usages, provided the original work is properly cited.