The Effect of Tactical Tasks and Gear on Muscle Activation of SWAT Officers.

Keeler, JM, Pohl, MB, Bergstrom, HC, Thomas, JM, and Abel, MG. The effect of tactical tasks and gear on muscle activation of SWAT officers. J Strength Cond Res 36(1): 238–244, 2022—Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) officers perform a variety of tactical operations while wearing tactical gear. Load...

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Published in:Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research Vol. 36; no. 1; pp. 238 - 245
Main Authors: Keeler, Jason M., Pohl, Michael B., Bergstrom, Haley C., Thomas, Justin M., Abel, Mark G.
Format: pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article
Published: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Jan2022
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Jan2022
      vid: 36
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      pub: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
      place: Baltimore, Maryland
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        atl: The Effect of Tactical Tasks and Gear on Muscle Activation of SWAT Officers.
      aug:
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          Keeler, Jason M.
          Pohl, Michael B.
          Bergstrom, Haley C.
          Thomas, Justin M.
          Abel, Mark G.
        affil: Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, Kentucky State University, Frankfort, Kentucky
      sug:
        subj:
          Task Performance and Analysis Evaluation
          Muscle, Skeletal Physiology
          Police
          Torso Physiology
          Human
          Adult
          Low Back Pain
          Body Mass Index
          Standing
          Walking
          Sitting
          Isometric Contraction
          Descriptive Statistics
          Adult: 19-44 years
      ab: Keeler, JM, Pohl, MB, Bergstrom, HC, Thomas, JM, and Abel, MG. The effect of tactical tasks and gear on muscle activation of SWAT officers. J Strength Cond Res 36(1): 238–244, 2022—Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) officers perform a variety of tactical operations while wearing tactical gear. Load carriage has been shown to alter muscle activation in the torso and is also associated with lower back pain, which is a prevalent musculoskeletal injury suffered by SWAT Officers. The purpose of this study was to quantify the effect of tactical gear on muscle activation of torso musculature while performing occupational tasks. Twenty male SWAT Officers (age: 34.7 ± 4.5 years; height: 1.79 ± 0.1 m; body mass: 91.5 ± 17.3 kg) performed 4 tasks (standing, rifle walk, sitting, and shield walk) with and without gear (mass of gear: 13.8 ± 1.9 kg). Mean electromyographic amplitude was evaluated bilaterally for the erector spinae, rectus abdominis, and external oblique muscles during the trials and expressed relative to maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC). Addition of gear significantly increased erector spinae mean muscle activation during the rifle walk task (mean delta: +0.16%). However, no differences in muscle activation were identified for any other muscles between gear conditions (effect size ≤ 0.15). The shield walk produced the highest mean activation for each muscle during different tasks. The dynamic tasks yielded (0.24–4.18% MVIC) greater muscle activation levels than sitting and standing tasks. Despite minimal increases in muscle activation levels with the addition of gear, load carriage is known to increase the risk of acute and chronic injury. Collectively, these findings indicate that SWAT Officers should perform most skills without gear during tactical training to simulate task-specific movement patterns but reduce the risk of musculoskeletal injury.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        pictorial
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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