Objective: To study the results of weight bearing exercises during the first year of the active military service before and after training by using quantitative ultrasound.

Materials and Methods: The authors measured bone mineral density [BMD], broadband ultrasonic attenuation [BUA], and speed of sound [SOS] in which the measurement was focused in the right calcaneus by using quantitative ultrasound [QUS]. The sample population was the first-year draftees privates in the military service of the Service Company, Service Division, Directorate of Army Transportation, Second group, in the year 2016. Measurement were taken twice, the first one before the beginning of practicing physical integrity and strength on the first day of reporting and the second one was after six months of weight bearing exercises by QUS, the Sahara Clinical Bone Sonometer; Hologic Inc., Bedford, MA, which have been verified for reliability.

Results: Forty-eight first year privates in the military service of Service Company, Service Division, Directorate of Army Transportation, second group, in 2016 had an higher average BMD (1.08±0.18 g/cm²) as compared to before training (0.49±0.18 g/cm²) (p-value <0.001). This was consistent with the higher average BUA after training (after: 88.58±2.17 dB/MHz, before: 84.19±2.79 dB/MHz) (p-value 0.039), and the higher average SOS after training (after: 1,577.62±24.09 m/s, before: 1,569.69±27.52 m/s) (p-value <0.001).

Conclusion: After six months training, the first-year privates had higher BMD than before training. This indicates that the new army private training program has a positive correlation with increased BMD, especially weight-bearing exercises such as running, training exercise, playing football, and Sepa takraw, etc.

Keywords: Weight bearing, Privates, Training exercise, Bone mineral density