An Ergometer for Maximal Effort Repetitive Lifting

Abstract : The vast majority of physically demanding jobs in the armed forces involve lifting. The success of a military mission often depends on the ability to manually move supplies and ammunition. In contrast to an industrial setting, the material handled frequently exceeds safe weight and size limits and must be lifted at a rapid rate for extended time periods. Considerable industrial lifting research has been performed to determine safe and acceptable workloads for repetitive lifting (RL), however little is known about, nor is equipment available to study, maximal effort RL. The purpose of this paper is to describe a RL device designed to examine the physiological limitations to RL, and to provide preliminary data on the maximal effort repetitive lifting capacity of soldiers.