(70) RECOVERY PATTERNS OF THE NORTHERN WARFARE CHALLENGE AND THE UTILITY OF THE PERCEPTUAL RECOVERY STATUS SCALE

Purpose: The Northern Warfare Challenge (NWC) is a rigorous competition among Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) cadets that includes a ~22.5- to 27.4-km ruck while carrying a 13.6-22.7 kg pack. The purpose of this study was to observe physical and perceptual recovery patterns following the NWC. Methods: Nine cadets volunteered to participate in this study [mean ± SD] [age, 20.8 ± 1.3 years; height, 177.2 ± 6.8 cm; mass, 79.9 ± 8.3 kg]. Forty-eight hours prior to, 24-, 48-, 96-hours and 10-days following the NWC, cadets attended the human performance laboratory between 0530-0630 to perform a battery of tests. Initially, cadets completed the profile of mood state questionnaire to quantify total mood disturbance (TMD) followed by a standardized warmup. Following the warmup, cadets were asked to rate their recovery via the perceptual recovery status (PRS) scale, followed by three countermovement jumps (CMJ) on a force plate using a sampling rate of 1000 Hz. A 30-s rest was allotted between each jump to minimize the potential for fatigue. Jump height, derived from impulse, and peak braking force was extrapolated from the vertical ground reaction force for analysis. Next, cadets performed two 5-second maximal isometric mid-thigh pulls (IMTP) separated by 2-minutes rest on a force plate at a knee and hip angle of approximately 125° and 145° respectively. Repeated measures analysis of variance was used to analyze changes across time and repeated measures correlations were performed to assess the intra-individual association between PRS and all other outcome measures. Statistical significance was determined using an alpha of .05 and the strength of the relationship between PRS, TMD, and physical performance parameters were interpreted as very weak: < 0.20; weak: 0.20–0.39; moderate: 0.40–0.59; strong: 0.60–0.79; and very strong: >0.80. Results: There was a significant time effect for all outcome variables as PRS, CMJ height, and CMJ braking force significantly declined at 24- and 48-h post NWC, and TMD was significantly higher 48-h post NWC. Additionally, PRS had a moderate association with all outcome parameters (see Table 1). Conclusions: The physical demands of the NWC reduced physical performance parameters and individual perceptions of recovery, via PRS, appear to track well with physical performance recovery. However, TMD seemed to be less sensitive to physical performance parameters and perceptions of recovery. Practical Applications: The similar trends between PRS and physical performance outcomes following the NWC suggest PRS may be a viable tool for monitoring recovery following an extensive military related training event. Furthermore, the simplicity of the PRS tool warrants utility when access to research grade equipment, such as force plates, are not available. Acknowledgements: None