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Effect of Prolonged Military Exercises With High Load Carriage, on Neuromuscular Fatigue and Physiological/Biomechanical Responses

Completed
Conditions
Healthy
Interventions
Other: military equipment
Registration Number
NCT01127191
Lead Sponsor
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint Etienne
Brief Summary

Land military missions generally combine prolonged walking/moderate-pace-running and other physical actions such as creeping, jumping, shooting,... which are associated with the direct carrying of high to severe loads of equipment and supplies (20-30 to 50 kg) by soldiers. For an infantry section, "typical" intervention phases last about 20-24 h and combine variable intensity grades. Consequently, military mission characteristics are an interesting investigation field of human fatigue. Previous studies have investigated human neuromuscular alterations after prolonged "normal" locomotion exercises \[Millet et al., 2004, 2009\], thus the aim of this study is to characterize the neuromuscular determinants of fatigue induced by a 24-h Simulated Military Effort (SME) and a 4-h Military Road March (MM), both performed with high load carriage. Additionally, the consequences of fatigue on physiological and biomechanical parameters of locomotion will be investigated.

Detailed Description

Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
Male
Target Recruitment
10
Inclusion Criteria
  • to be a male
  • to have a VO2max > 45ml/min/kg (mean observed value in military subjects)
  • to be aged from 30 to 45
  • to be recently retreated from National Army
  • to be highly experienced in military efforts
  • to be trained in exercises involving load carrying
  • to benefit from a social security insurance
Exclusion Criteria
  • All subjects with recent (< 3 month) bone, articular or muscle diseases.
  • All subjects presenting a clinic sign of intolerance to testing procedures, especially subjects with knee, ankle, hip or back diseases.
  • All subjects intolerant to muddy or wooded environment.
  • All subjects presenting a clinic sign of intolerance to exercise, and particularly to running or walking while carrying a load
  • All subjects involved at the same time in another medical research
  • All subjects militarily active
  • All subjects with cardiac or pulmonary identified and known diseases

Study & Design

Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Study Design
Not specified
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Militarymilitary equipment-
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Peripheral fatigue based on electrically-induced force measurement on the same muscle in relaxed condition.after a a military exercise of 24 hours
Central fatigue quantification based on voluntary and electrically-induced force measurement on activated muscle.after a a military exercise of 24 hours
Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Lactatemia, based on subject's arterialized capillary blood samples analysisafter a a military exercise of 24 hours
Oxygen uptake, carbon-dioxide output, energetic-cost of locomotion and respiratory ratio, based on subject's gas exchanges.after a a military exercise of 24 hours
Walking and running mechanics, measured by an instrumented treadmillafter a a military exercise of 24 hours
Perceived comfort, measured by a 10 cm visual analogic scale (VAS)after a a military exercise of 24 hours
Muscular electrical activities, based on subject's surface EMG analysisafter a a military exercise of 24 hours
Rate of perceived exertion, measured by the Borg scale ranging from 6 to 20after a a military exercise of 24 hours
Heart rate frequenceafter a a military exercise of 24 hours
Postural equilibration, measured by a piezo-dynamometric double platformafter a a military exercise of 24 hours

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

CHU de Saint-Etienne

🇫🇷

Saint-Etienne, France

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