Body Composition and Elite Warfighters with Holly McClung

MOPs & MOEs

Our guest this week is a key player in two important research and policy initiatives. First, she led the Army Comprehensive Body Composition (ACBC) study that led to the recent updates to body composition policy. Second, she leads the Female Elite Warfighter (FEW) research initiative which focuses on identifying the characteristics that make women successful in elite combat training courses. We discuss both of these ongoing efforts in this conversation.

Holly McClung is a Nutritional Physiologist for the Military Performance Division at the United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (USARIEM) in Natick, MA.

She earned her Master of Science Degree in Nutritional Biochemistry from the University of New Hampshire and obtained her certification as a Registered Dietitian through course work at Cornell University and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

Holly is dual-trained in nutrition and exercise physiology, holding certifications as a Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics and Certified Exercise Physiologist.

On the Military Performance Team Holly functions as a principal investigator leading work in the female Warfighter and special populations workspace. Her work group is focused on designing and implementing research to quantify and model individualized energy and nutritional needs of modern Warfighters.

She led the Army’s modern body composition study, and her research supports the 2023 updates to the Army Body Composition Policy (AR 600-9).

Holly has published more than 45 peer-reviewed publications and holds two patents on a mobile metabolic sensor system intended for personal use. Most recently her attention has been on characterizing the physiological, metabolic, and cognitive profile of elite Warfighters going through the modern Ranger Training Course to determine
whether differences exist between sexes.

She also has some really interesting forthcoming research based on the Army body composition study pending publication that we'll keep you guys posted on. And most importantly, she's a member of Leg Tuck Nation.

A selection of her publications:

"Development and cross-validation of a circumference-based predictive equation to estimate body fat in an active population"

"The Rise of the Female Warfighter: Physiology, Performance, and Future Directions"

"Physiology of Health and Performance: Enabling Success of Women in Combat Arms Roles"

"Physical and Physiological Characterization of Female Elite Warfighters"

"Psychological and Sociological Profile of Women Who Have Completed Elite Military Combat Training"