Edinburgh Napier University

  A-46 Free Communication/Poster - Fitness Assessment Wednesday, June 1, 2016, 7:30 AM - 12:30 PM Room: Exhibit Hall A/B

PURPOSE: Identifying the effects of carrying a rifle during backpack load-carriage is of interest to the military. This study measured the metabolic cost, ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), and stride characteristics for two backpack load-carriage tasks. METHODS: Male participants with military experiences (n = 14) completed each of the incremental treadmill walking/running protocols (speeds range: 6.4-12.4 km·h-1) while carrying a total of 24 kg to volitional exhaustion. The two conditions of the study were: carrying a 24 kg backpack only, and carrying a 20.2 kg backpack with a 3.8 kg simulated rifle in two hands. Oxygen uptake, heart rate, ventilation, metabolic equivalents, RPE and stride length/frequency were recorded at each incremental stage. A univariate factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to measure the main effects within the conditions and interaction effects between conditions. RESULTS: All interaction effects for each variable were insignificant. Welch’s unequal variance t-test was used to measure the significance between conditions at each incremental stage. Carrying the rifle significantly increased %VO2 peak at 8.4 and 9.4 km·h-1; minute ventilation at 12.4 km·h-1; metabolic equivalents at 8.4 and 9.4 km·h-1, and RPE at 12.4 km·h-1. Stride length significantly decreased at 8.4, 9.4, 11.4, and 12.4 km·h-1, compared to carrying the backpack only (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Results from the ANOVA concluded that carrying a rifle has no significant effect on load-carriage performance. Nevertheless, analysis of Welch’s t-test provided evidence for future research to cross-validate these findings