Load carriage does not reduce absolute mechanical power output but reduces agility in elite military police officers.

Objectives. The main objective of this study was to evaluate mean propulsive velocity (MPV), mean propulsive force (MPF) and mean propulsive power (MPP) in elite police officers under LOADED and UNLOADED conditions. The study also investigated the association of body composition and strength levels under the same load conditions. Methods. Twenty-one men from an elite unit in Brazil participated in the study, performing Smith machine half squats and an agility test. Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry measured body composition; a linear encoder measured MPV, MPF and MPP during the half squats; and a manual chronometer registered agility test performance. Results. The results showed that wearing and carrying occupational loads did not alter the squat exercise's MPP, MPV and MPF but reduced the performance of relative MPP and agility (p < 0.05). The results also showed that MPP had a higher association with force (i.e., MPF and one-repetition maximum [1RM]) than velocity (i.e., MPV and agility) under the LOADED condition (p < 0.05). Among the body composition variables, only lean body mass was associated with MPP under the LOADED condition (p < 0.05). Conclusion. These findings suggest that load carriage does not reduce absolute mechanical power output, but reduces the relative MPP and agility in military police officers.

Can training trunk musculature influence musculoskeletal pain and physical performance in military police officers?

To investigate the effect of a Trunk Training (TT) program on the general musculoskeletal pain (GMP) and physical performance of Military Police Officers. Twenty officers were divided into either control group (CG) or TT group (TTG). Both groups performed nine weeks of traditional physical training. However, the TTG had 25-minutes allocated to TT during each scheduled physical training period. Anthropometric, trunk endurance, and physical fitness tests were completed pre- and post-training for both groups. Both groups also answered a weekly questionnaire about their GMP. Post-training, trunk endurance performance was significantly higher (p < 0.05) and the GMP significantly lower (p < 0.05) in the TTG when compared to the CG. Improvement in side plank test scores was associated with a decreased in GMP (r = -0.495, p < 0.05). TT can reduce the perception of GMP in addition to increasing the endurance of the trunk muscles. The side plank was the only physical test associated with GMP. Practitioner summary: Trunk Training can reduce general musculoskeletal pain and increase the endurance of the trunk muscles without a concomitant loss in general fitness in elite Military Police Officers. This research lasted 11 weeks and presents real-world and pragmatic findings.

Validação do questionário de saúde e performance para policiais e bombeiros militares (QSPM) / Validation of health and performance questionnaire for military police and firefighter (QSPM) / Validation of health and performance questionnaire for military police and firefighter (QSPM)

O objetivo deste estudo foi desenvolver e analisar a validade de conteúdo, constructo e a fidedigni-dade de um questionário para avaliar a demanda física e operacional, saúde e condições de trabalho em policiais e bombeiros militares. O Questionário de Saúde e Performance para Militares (QSPM) foi desenvolvido por pesquisadores militares e não militares, a validade foi analisada com o índice de validade de conteúdo (IVC), análise fatorial exploratória e a fidedignidade com o percentual de concordância (%C), coeficiente Kappa e alfa de Cronbach. Nove juízes participaram da validação de conteúdo, 732 militares (15% mulheres) participaram da etapa de validação de constructo e 262 militares (18% mulheres) responderam duas vezes ao QSPM para a verificação da fidedignidade. As análises foram realizadas no software SPSS 26 e o nível de significância mantido em 5%. O QSPM apresentou o IVC de 0,98 e variância total explicada em 54,7%. A reprodutibilidade apresentou valores de %C entre 97,2 - 100,0%, Kappa entre 0,94 - 1,00 (p < 0,05) e alpha de Cronbach entre 0,80 - 1,00 (p < 0,05). Conclui-se que o QSPM apresentou validade de conteúdo, constructo e fidedignidade para avaliar a frequência da demanda física e operacional, as condições de saúde e de trabalho de policiais e bombeiros militares

The aim of this study was to develop and analyze the content and construct validity and reliability of a questionnaire to assess the performance, health and working conditions of police officers and military fire-fighters (QSPM). Civilian and military personnel carried out the development of the QSPM. The validity was analyzed by the content validity index (CVI), factor analysis, and the reproducibility by the simple agreement (%SA), the Kappa coefficient, and Cronbach's alpha. Nine experts participated in the content validation, 732 military personnel (15 women) participated in the construct validation, and 262 military (18% women) answered the QSPM twice to measure reproducibility. The QSPM had a CVI of 0.98. In the exploratory factorial analysis, when considering four factors, and the total explained variance was 54.7%. The reproducibility showed %SA values varying between 97.2 to 100.0%, Kappa values varying between 0.94 to 1.00 (p < 0.05 for all questions) and, Cronbach's α values varying between 0.80 to 1.00 (p < 0.05 for all questions). In conclusion, the QSPM showed content validity, construct validity and reliability to measure the frequency of physical-operational demand, the presence of morbidities, and the working condi-tions of police officers and firefighters