Rehabilitating Soldiers for Load Carriage Tasks: An International Perspective

Robin Orr (), Joseph J. Knapik, Rachel Rodgers, Robyn Cassidy, Jacques Rousseau, Damien Van Tiggelen and Rodney Pope
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Robin Orr: Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University, Robina, QLD 4226, Australia
Joseph J. Knapik: Military Nutrition Division, U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Natick, MA 01760, USA
Rachel Rodgers: Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre, Stanford Hall, Loughborough LE12 5QW, UK
Robyn Cassidy: Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre, Stanford Hall, Loughborough LE12 5QW, UK
Jacques Rousseau: Human Performance Cell, Joint Support Group, New Zealand Army, Waiouru 4825, New Zealand
Damien Van Tiggelen: Belgium Armed Forces, 1140 Brussels, Belgium
Rodney Pope: Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University, Robina, QLD 4226, Australia

IJERPH, 2025, vol. 22, issue 8, 1-15

Abstract: Soldiers are likely to suffer an injury and require rehabilitation at some stage of their career. Load carriage, whilst a fundamental requirement, is also a source of injury risk. To optimize the rehabilitation of soldiers and prepare them for a full return to operational duty, load carriage requirements need to be considered throughout their rehabilitation pathway. In addition, injury risks associated with load carriage need to be considered to inform mitigation of reinjury. During the initial injury treatment stage, loss of key fitness elements associated with load carriage performance, being aerobic fitness and relative strength, need to be minimized. Any losses of these same elements of fitness then need to be considered in the overall reconditioning stage. Finally, with injury being a predictor of future load carriage injury, the conditioning stage must move beyond general occupational conditioning to include load carriage-specific conditioning to make the soldier physically resilient against future injury and confident of their capability. By synthesizing evidence from the latest research in load carriage, this narrative review provides pragmatic considerations and guidelines for optimizing soldier load carriage capability following injury.

Keywords: ruck march; tabbing; pack march; reconditioning; military (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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