Attwells et al - Final Draft ERGONOMICS.pdf (52.42 kB)
Influence of carrying heavy loads on soldiers' posture, movements and gait
journal contribution
posted on 2015-03-18, 15:26 authored by Renee L. Attwells, Stewart A. Birrell, Robin H. Hooper, Neil MansfieldMilitary personnel are required to carry heavy loads whilst marching; this load carriage representing a substantial component of training and combat. Studies in the literature mainly concentrate on physiological effects, with few biomechanical studies of military load carriage systems (LCS). This study examines changes in gait and posture caused by increasing load carriage in military LCS. The 4 conditions used during this study were: control (including rifle, boots and helmet carriage, totalling 8 kg), webbing (weighing 8 kg), backpack (24 kg) and a Light Antitank Weapon (LAW, 10 kg), resulting in an incremental increase in load carried from 8, 16, 40 to 50 kg. Twenty male soldiers were evaluated in the saggital plane using a 3-dimensional CODA™ motion analysis system. Measurements of ankle, knee, femur, trunk and craniovertebral angles and spatiotemporal parameters were made during self-paced walking. Results showed spatiotemporal changes were unrelated to angular changes, perhaps a consequence of military training. Knee and femur ranges of motion (control, 21.1º ±3.0 and 33.9º ±7.1 respectively) increased (p<0.05) with load (LAW, 25.5º ±2.3 and 37.8º ±1.5 respectively). The trunk flexed significantly further forward confirming results from previous studies. In addition, the craniovertebral angle decreased (p<0.001) indicating a more forward position of the head with load. It is concluded that the head functions in concert with the trunk to counterbalance load. The higher muscular tensions necessary to sustain these changes have been associated with injury, muscle strain and joint problems.
History
School
- Design
Published in
ERGONOMICSVolume
49Issue
14Pages
1527 - 1537 (11)Citation
ATTWELLS, R.L. ... et al, 2006. Influence of carrying heavy loads on soldiers' posture, movements and gait. Ergonomics, 49 (14), pp. 1527-1537.Publisher
© Taylor & Francis LtdVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Publisher statement
This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Publication date
2006Notes
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Ergonomics on 20th February 2007, available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/ISSN
0014-0139eISSN
1366-5847Publisher version
Language
- en