Aim: Characterise the physiological demands of a military dismounted assault task (DAT) simulation.
Method: Fourteen men (mean ±SD: age 29 ±9 years; body mass 79.9 ±9.2 kg; VO2peak 51.9 ±4.4 ml⋅kg− 1⋅min− 1; upright pull strength 177 ±20 kg) performed a DAT (external load 24.3 kg) of 16 ×6 m bounds in 20 s cycles (5 s work, 15 s rest) followed by an 18 m leopard crawl. Performance and physiological demands (heart rate and indirect calorimetry via the Douglas bag technique) during the first and last 48 m of bounds and the leopard crawl were compared using a one-way repeated measures ANOVA. Performance was maintained across the first
and last 48 m (bound speed 5.7 ±0.9 and 5.8 ±0.8 km⋅h− 1) despite substantial increases in oxygen consumption (first 48 m 25.4 ± 3.3 ml⋅kg− 1⋅min− 1; last 48 m 31.7 ± 3.5 ml⋅kg− 1⋅min− 1; leopard crawl 40.4 ± 6.4 ml⋅kg− 1⋅min− 1, p < 0.001, Ѡ2 =0.64). Mean leopard crawl time was 26.1 ±8.1 s at a speed of 2.7 ±0.8 km⋅h− 1 and post-exercise blood lactate was 3.8 ±1.4 mmol⋅L− 1. Increasing oxygen consumption with modest blood lactate responses suggests the demands of the DAT simulation are similar to intermittent high-intensity
exercise and that aerobic fitness is an important determinant of performance.