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Tactical Strength and Conditioning

(26) EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL WORKLOAD DEMANDS OF THE NORTHERN WARFARE CHALLENGE: A PILOT STUDY

Saturday, July 13, 2024
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM East Coast USA Time
Location: Exhibit Hall

    Poster Presenter(s)

  • Ward C. Dobbs, PhD

    Assistant Professor
    University of Wisconsin - La Crosse
    La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States

    • Author(s)

  • MC

    Makenna Carpenter

    Student
    University of Wisconsin - La Crosse
    La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States

  • AJ

    Anna Jacobson

    Student
    University of Wisconsin - La Crosse
    La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States

  • RS

    Rachel Schmitt

    Student
    University of Wisconsin - La Crosse
    La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States

  • Andrew R. Jagim, PhD

    Director of Sports Medicine Research
    Mayo Clinic Health System
    Holmen, Wisconsin, United States

  • JL

    Joel Luedke

    Athletic Trainer
    Mayo Clinic Health System
    La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States

  • TA

    Thomas Almonroeder

    Associate Professor
    Trine University
    Angola, Indiana, United States

Abstract Details:

Background: The Northern Warfare Challenge (NWC) is an annual competition among Reserve Officers’ Training Corp (ROTC) cadets. This challenge consists of a 26.9-kilometer ruck march carrying a rucksack ranging from 13.6-22.7 kg. Previous literature suggests that the acute:chronic (A:C) training workload ratio should range approximately between 0.8-1.3 to reduce the risks of injury. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the external (e.g., accelerometry through g forces) and internal (e.g., heart rate and breathing rate) workloads accumulated by ROTC cadets is pivotal to ensure cadets are prepared for the demands imposed by competition such as the NWC.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to quantify the internal and external workload demands of the NWC in relation to regimented physical training (PT) sessions leading up to the NWC.

Methods: Eight male Reserve Officers’ Training Corp (ROTC) cadets [mean (SD)] [age, 20.8 (1.1) years; height, 177.5 (8.7) cm; mass, 77.8 (7.3) kg] participated in this observational study. Participants were equipped with a physical activity monitor and wore it throughout the duration of the NWC, and during all PT sessions one month leading up to the NWC to quantify internal and external workload. The combination of the external and internal load was computed through proprietary software to represent the overall training load. Descriptive statistics of the training sessions were computed to show the relative demands of the NWC in comparison to a typical PT session, along with a practice ruck march consisting of half the NWC course (NWCPractice). The A:C workload was calculated as the NWC compared to the average PT session sessions several weeks prior to the NWC, before cadets began a taper, and to the and the NWCPractice.

Results: The average internal and external workload was greater for the NWC (2952.9 ± 440.3 au; 240 ± 47 g) than the PT sessions (290.2 ± 62.2 au; 142.2 ± 36.4 g), and NWCPractice (883.7 ± 106.2 au; 128.5 ± 36.8 g) respectively. The duration of the NWC was approximately 7 times longer than PT sessions. Furthermore, the overall workload of the NWC displayed an A:C of 6.7 when compared to the average PT training, and NWCPractice training loads, respectively.

Conclusions: Implementing training programs to meet the unique needs of ROTC cadets requires an understanding of training loads to maximize performance adaptations while reducing injury risk. The increased training load of the NWC compared to the PT sessions was primarily due to the increased duration rather than the training intensity. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: The longer duration of the NWC compared to PT sessions significantly increased the internal and external workload recorded by the cadets. Thus, the duration of the NWC increased the average internal and external load compared to typical training, which could enhance the acute injury risk. Therefore, efforts should be made to ensure adequate strength and conditioning programming is implemented to prepare ROTC cadets for the workloads associated with events such as the NWC.

Acknowledgements: This study was funded by the Mayo Clinic and University of Wisconsin - La Crosse Collaborative Seed Grant.