Maximal manual stretcher carriage: performance and recovery of male and female ambulance workers
The effects of a maximal duration stretcher carriage on heart rate (HR), lactate concentration, hand steadiness and hand-grip strength were studied up to 72 h post-exercise in 17 male and 15 female military ambulance personnel. Using both hands for transport, the participants walked on a treadmill e...
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Published in | Ergonomics Vol. 50; no. 5; pp. 752 - 762 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
London
Taylor & Francis
01.05.2007
Washington, DC Taylor & Francis LLC |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | The effects of a maximal duration stretcher carriage on heart rate (HR), lactate concentration, hand steadiness and hand-grip strength were studied up to 72 h post-exercise in 17 male and 15 female military ambulance personnel. Using both hands for transport, the participants walked on a treadmill ergometer at a speed of 4.5 km/h. Force measurements at the handlebars yielded mean loads of 245 N (25 kg) on each side. Each step on the treadmill induced additional force oscillations with peak forces up to 470 N corresponding to 130% (women) and 98% (men) of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC). In the males the maximal transport time was about twice the time in women (mean ± SD: 184 ± 51 s vs. 98 ± 34 s). These differences had no significant effect on HR and lactate values. The same applies to hand steadiness, which showed only a transient deterioration immediately after exercise. In contrast to these parameters, substantial differences were seen in hand-grip strength recovery. Immediately after exercise, maximal hand-grip strength decreased by 150 N (25% MVC) in the males vs. 50 N (14%) in the females. Irrespective of gender, individuals with larger hand-grip strength and longer carriage durations (range 120 s-280 s) showed the slowest strength recoveries (up to 72 h) as compared to 1 h of recovery in participants with short transport durations (range 27 s-120 s). These findings suggest that the increasing number of eccentric strains during uninterrupted stretcher carriage induces cumulative muscle damages that may require some days for complete recovery. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 |
ISSN: | 0014-0139 1366-5847 |
DOI: | 10.1080/00140130701195063 |