Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Jul 7;17(13):4886.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph17134886.

Assessment of the Levels of Oxidative Stress, Muscle Damage, and Psychomotor Abilities of Special Force Soldiers during Military Survival Training

Affiliations

Assessment of the Levels of Oxidative Stress, Muscle Damage, and Psychomotor Abilities of Special Force Soldiers during Military Survival Training

Paweł Różański et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the changes in biochemical markers of oxidative stress and muscle damage, as well as psychomotor abilities during a military survival training. The study included 15 soldiers of special unit (SU), that completed 48 h military survival training combined with sleep deprivation. Before the training (P1), after 24 h (P2), and after 48 h of training (P3), blood samples were taken to measure biochemical markers. At the same time points, the measurements of divided attention and handgrip strength were conducted. Glutathione peroxidase activity decreased significantly at P3, in comparison with P1 and P2 (p < 0.0001), however, no changes were observed in other biochemical markers (i.e., lipid hydroperoxides, creatine kinase and superoxide dismutase activity) throughout the survival training (p > 0.05). The divided attention index was improved significantly at P2 and P3, as compared to P1 (p < 0.05). A tendency to change in maximum strength was found during the training period (main time effect; p = 0.08). Moreover, the strength differentiation (i.e., 50% maximum strength; 50%max) was higher at P3 than at P1 and P2 (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the 48 h survival training in the SU soldiers does not cause oxidative stress or muscle tissue damage, as well as any deterioration, and even improvement in psychomotor abilities. However, the change in strength differentiation (i.e., the production above 60%max instead of target 50%max) after the training may point to deterioration in motor control. Although it should be confirmed in further study with a more numerous group of soldiers, our findings indicate that the special unit soldiers will be able to perform, in a correct manner, specialized tasks related to their long-term activities, especially those which require divided attention. However, participation in long-term survival training, even with low workload, combined with sleep deprivation, results in a deterioration in motor control which may indicate the relevance of monitoring coordination motor abilities/skills in the training process of special unit soldiers.

Keywords: divided attention; forearm strength; lipid peroxidation; prooxidant–antioxidant homeostasis; sleep deprivation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Bahmanyar M., Osman C. SEALs: The US NAVYs Elite Lighting Force. Amber Book Ltd; London, UK: 2008.
    1. Denece E. Historia Oddziałów Specjalnych. Bellona; Warszawa, Poland: 2007. (In Polish)
    1. Królikowski H. Historia Działań Specjalnych. Bellona; Warszawa, Poland: 2004. (In Polish)
    1. Winnett R., Sparks J. Saddams Sea of Fire Foiled by Polish SAS. The Sunday Times. [(accessed on 29 February 2004)]; Available online: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/saddams-sea-of-fire-foiled-by-polish-....
    1. McNab C. Nabór Do Sił Specjalnych. Bellona; Warszawa, Poland: 2002. (In Polish)

Publication types

-