Dawes, Jay

Hess, Clint

Lockie, Robert G.

Orr, Rob Marc

Tramel, Whitney

English

PURPOSE: Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) officers that express high levels of strength and endurance are more likely to perform better in specific occupational tasks, such as a body drag where they must physically transport a civilian or fellow officer from a hazardous environment. The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between measures of strength, endurance, and power to sled pull time (a simulated body drag) among SWAT officers. METHODS: Archival data for twelve (n=12; age 34.33 ± 5.85 yrs.; ht: 72.17 ± 3.04 in., wt: 205.66 ± 24.01 lbs.) SWAT officers. This data were collected as part of the agency’s normal training academy fitness assessment prior to commencement of training and included measures of upper-body muscular strength (pull-ups) and endurance (push-ups), trunk muscular endurance (sit-ups), anaerobic power (vertical jump; 300 m run), and aerobic capacity (20 meter multi-stage fitness test). The body drag (BD) assessment was simulated using a 200 lb. sled which was pulled 20 yards, backward, using a rope strap. Time to complete the BD was recorded using a stopwatch to the nearest 0.01 seconds.RESULTS: The results indicated significant relationships between sled pull time and body weight (r=-.822, p=.001,), BMI ( r=-.632, p = .028), and number of pushups performed (r=-.661, p = .02). CONCLUSIONS: As body weight and BMI of the SWAT officers increased, their sled pull time significantly decreased, suggesting larger officers may have an advantage when performing strength-based occupational tasks. It is important to note that simply gaining more weight will not lead to faster times, but rather increasing overall muscle mass by increasing strength would most likely yield better results. Sled pull times also decreased as officers could perform more push-ups, suggesting that overall upper-body muscular endurance may be beneficial when performing such tasks over distance of ~18 meters. <br/

Bond University Research Portal

Bond UniversityResearch RepositoryRelationship between measures of muscular strength, endurance, and power to anoccupational task among SWAT operatorsTramel, Whitney; Orr, Rob Marc; Lockie, Robert G.; Hess, Clint; Dawes, JayPublished: 01/03/2019Document Version:Peer reviewed versionLink to publication in Bond University research repository.Recommended citation(APA):Tramel, W., Orr, R. M., Lockie, R. G., Hess, C., & Dawes, J. (2019). Relationship between measures ofmuscular strength, endurance, and power to an occupational task among SWAT operators. Abstract from RockyMountain American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting 2019, Denver, United States.General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright ownersand it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.For more information, or if you believe that this document breaches copyright, please contact the Bond University research repositorycoordinator.Download date: 22 Aug 2019Title: Relationship between measures of muscular strength, endurance, and power to an occupational task among SWAT operators  1Whitney Tramel, 2, 3 Robin M Orr, 4 Robert G. Lockie, 5 Clint Hess, 1 J. Jay Dawes  1University of Colorado – Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO, USA  2Bond Institute of Health & Sport, Bond University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia  3Tactical Research Unit, Bond University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia  4California State University, Fullerton, California, USA  5 Broomfield Police Department, Broomfield, Colorado, USA   PURPOSE: Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) officers that express high levels of strength and endurance are more likely to perform better in specific occupational tasks, such as a body drag where they must physically transport a civilian or fellow officer from a hazardous environment. The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between measures of strength, endurance, and power to sled pull time (a simulated body drag) among SWAT officers.   METHODS: Archival data for twelve (n=12; age 34.33 ± 5.85 yrs.; ht: 72.17 ± 3.04 in., wt: 205.66 ± 24.01 lbs.) SWAT officers.  This data were collected as part of the agency’s normal training academy fitness assessment prior to commencement of training and included measures of upper-body muscular strength (pull-ups) and endurance (push-ups), trunk muscular endurance (sit-ups), anaerobic power (vertical jump; 300 m run), and aerobic capacity (20 meter multi-stage fitness test). The body drag (BD) assessment was simulated using a 200 lb. sled which was pulled 20 yards, backward, using a rope strap. Time to complete the BD was recorded using a stopwatch to the nearest 0.01 seconds.  RESULTS: The results indicated significant relationships between sled pull time and body weight (r=-.822, p=.001,), BMI ( r=-.632, p = .028), and number of pushups performed (r=-.661, p = .02).   CONCLUSIONS: As body weight and BMI of the SWAT officers increased, their sled pull time significantly decreased, suggesting larger officers may have an advantage when performing strength-based occupational tasks. It is important to note that simply gaining more weight will not lead to faster times, but rather increasing overall muscle mass by increasing strength would most likely yield better results. Sled pull times also decreased as officers could perform more push-ups, suggesting that overall upper-body muscular endurance may be beneficial when performing such tasks over distance of ~18 meters.   

Relationship between measures of muscular strength, endurance, and power to an occupational task among SWAT operators

https://pure.bond.edu.au/ws/files/32474087/Abstract_Orr_Relationship_between_measures_of_muscular_strength.pdf

Relationship between measures of muscular strength, endurance, and power to an occupational task among SWAT operators

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