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Influence of Soldiers’ Cardiorespiratory Fitness on Physiological Responses and Dropouts During a Loaded Long-distance March

INTRODUCTION: In military service, marching is an important, common, and physically demanding task. Minimizing dropouts, maintaining operational readiness during the march, and achieving a fast recovery are desirable because the soldiers have to be ready for duty, sometimes shortly after an exhausti...

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Autores principales: Oeschger, Regina, Roos, Lilian, Wyss, Thomas, Buller, Mark J, Veenstra, Bertil J, Gilgen-Ammann, Rahel
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Oxford University Press 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10363014/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35015894
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/milmed/usab540
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author Oeschger, Regina
Roos, Lilian
Wyss, Thomas
Buller, Mark J
Veenstra, Bertil J
Gilgen-Ammann, Rahel
author_facet Oeschger, Regina
Roos, Lilian
Wyss, Thomas
Buller, Mark J
Veenstra, Bertil J
Gilgen-Ammann, Rahel
author_sort Oeschger, Regina
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: In military service, marching is an important, common, and physically demanding task. Minimizing dropouts, maintaining operational readiness during the march, and achieving a fast recovery are desirable because the soldiers have to be ready for duty, sometimes shortly after an exhausting task. The present field study investigated the influence of the soldiers’ cardiorespiratory fitness on physiological responses during a long-lasting and challenging 34 km march. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Heart rate (HR), body core temperature (BCT), total energy expenditure (TEE), energy intake, motivation, and pain sensation were investigated in 44 soldiers (20.3 ± 1.3 years, 178.5 ± 7.0 cm, 74.8 ± 9.8 kg, body mass index: 23.4 ± 2.7 kg × m(−2), peak oxygen uptake ([Formula: see text] O(2peak)): 54.2 ± 7.9 mL × kg(−1) × min(−1)) during almost 8 hours of marching. All soldiers were equipped with a portable electrocardiogram to record HR and an accelerometer on the hip, all swallowed a telemetry pill to record BCT, and all filled out a pre- and post-march questionnaire. The influence of aerobic capacity on the physiological responses during the march was examined by dividing the soldiers into three fitness groups according to their [Formula: see text] O(2peak). RESULTS: The group with the lowest aerobic capacity ([Formula: see text] O(2peak): 44.9 ± 4.8 mL × kg(−1) × min(−1)) compared to the group with the highest aerobic capacity ([Formula: see text] O(2peak): 61.7 ± 2.2 mL × kg(−1) × min(−1)) showed a significantly higher (P < .05) mean HR (133 ± 9 bpm and 125 ± 8 bpm, respectively) as well as peak BCT (38.6 ± 0.3 and 38.4 ± 0.2 °C, respectively) during the march. In terms of recovery ability during the break, no significant differences could be identified between the three groups in either HR or BCT. The energy deficit during the march was remarkably high, as the soldiers could only replace 22%, 26%, and 36% of the total energy expenditure in the lower, middle, and higher fitness group, respectively. The cardiorespiratory fittest soldiers showed a significantly higher motivation to perform when compared to the least cardiorespiratory fit soldiers (P = .002; scale from 1 [not at all] to 10 [extremely]; scale difference of 2.3). A total of nine soldiers (16%) had to end marching early: four soldiers (21%) in the group with the lowest aerobic capacity, five (28%) in the middle group, and none in the highest group. CONCLUSION: Soldiers with a high [Formula: see text] O(2peak) showed a lower mean HR and peak BCT throughout the long-distance march, as well as higher performance motivation, no dropouts, and lower energy deficit. All soldiers showed an enormous energy deficit; therefore, corresponding nutritional strategies are recommended.
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spelling pubmed-103630142023-07-24 Influence of Soldiers’ Cardiorespiratory Fitness on Physiological Responses and Dropouts During a Loaded Long-distance March Oeschger, Regina Roos, Lilian Wyss, Thomas Buller, Mark J Veenstra, Bertil J Gilgen-Ammann, Rahel Mil Med Feature Article and Original Research INTRODUCTION: In military service, marching is an important, common, and physically demanding task. Minimizing dropouts, maintaining operational readiness during the march, and achieving a fast recovery are desirable because the soldiers have to be ready for duty, sometimes shortly after an exhausting task. The present field study investigated the influence of the soldiers’ cardiorespiratory fitness on physiological responses during a long-lasting and challenging 34 km march. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Heart rate (HR), body core temperature (BCT), total energy expenditure (TEE), energy intake, motivation, and pain sensation were investigated in 44 soldiers (20.3 ± 1.3 years, 178.5 ± 7.0 cm, 74.8 ± 9.8 kg, body mass index: 23.4 ± 2.7 kg × m(−2), peak oxygen uptake ([Formula: see text] O(2peak)): 54.2 ± 7.9 mL × kg(−1) × min(−1)) during almost 8 hours of marching. All soldiers were equipped with a portable electrocardiogram to record HR and an accelerometer on the hip, all swallowed a telemetry pill to record BCT, and all filled out a pre- and post-march questionnaire. The influence of aerobic capacity on the physiological responses during the march was examined by dividing the soldiers into three fitness groups according to their [Formula: see text] O(2peak). RESULTS: The group with the lowest aerobic capacity ([Formula: see text] O(2peak): 44.9 ± 4.8 mL × kg(−1) × min(−1)) compared to the group with the highest aerobic capacity ([Formula: see text] O(2peak): 61.7 ± 2.2 mL × kg(−1) × min(−1)) showed a significantly higher (P < .05) mean HR (133 ± 9 bpm and 125 ± 8 bpm, respectively) as well as peak BCT (38.6 ± 0.3 and 38.4 ± 0.2 °C, respectively) during the march. In terms of recovery ability during the break, no significant differences could be identified between the three groups in either HR or BCT. The energy deficit during the march was remarkably high, as the soldiers could only replace 22%, 26%, and 36% of the total energy expenditure in the lower, middle, and higher fitness group, respectively. The cardiorespiratory fittest soldiers showed a significantly higher motivation to perform when compared to the least cardiorespiratory fit soldiers (P = .002; scale from 1 [not at all] to 10 [extremely]; scale difference of 2.3). A total of nine soldiers (16%) had to end marching early: four soldiers (21%) in the group with the lowest aerobic capacity, five (28%) in the middle group, and none in the highest group. CONCLUSION: Soldiers with a high [Formula: see text] O(2peak) showed a lower mean HR and peak BCT throughout the long-distance march, as well as higher performance motivation, no dropouts, and lower energy deficit. All soldiers showed an enormous energy deficit; therefore, corresponding nutritional strategies are recommended. Oxford University Press 2022-01-07 /pmc/articles/PMC10363014/ /pubmed/35015894 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/milmed/usab540 Text en © The Association of Military Surgeons of the United States 2021. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Feature Article and Original Research
Oeschger, Regina
Roos, Lilian
Wyss, Thomas
Buller, Mark J
Veenstra, Bertil J
Gilgen-Ammann, Rahel
Influence of Soldiers’ Cardiorespiratory Fitness on Physiological Responses and Dropouts During a Loaded Long-distance March
title Influence of Soldiers’ Cardiorespiratory Fitness on Physiological Responses and Dropouts During a Loaded Long-distance March
title_full Influence of Soldiers’ Cardiorespiratory Fitness on Physiological Responses and Dropouts During a Loaded Long-distance March
title_fullStr Influence of Soldiers’ Cardiorespiratory Fitness on Physiological Responses and Dropouts During a Loaded Long-distance March
title_full_unstemmed Influence of Soldiers’ Cardiorespiratory Fitness on Physiological Responses and Dropouts During a Loaded Long-distance March
title_short Influence of Soldiers’ Cardiorespiratory Fitness on Physiological Responses and Dropouts During a Loaded Long-distance March
title_sort influence of soldiers’ cardiorespiratory fitness on physiological responses and dropouts during a loaded long-distance march
topic Feature Article and Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10363014/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35015894
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/milmed/usab540
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