Summary
The study was designed to determine the energy cost of walking over sandy and firm surfaces, and to compare the physiological responses of recruits recorded while walking over these surfaces.
The average oxygen intake of 11 young men walking over loose sand at 3 m.p.h. and carrying loads of about 50 lbs each (inclusive of clothes) was 1.973 litre/min. as compared with 1.101 litre/min. for walking on a firm surface, an increase of 80 per cent. The average pulse rate and rectal temperature were significantly higher during the march over sand (150 beats/min. and 101.5 °F respectively) than while walking over firm surfaces (127 beats/min. and 100.5 °F). The increased physiological strain was obvious. Most of the men were working at more than 50 per cent of their estimated maximum oxygen intakes while walking on sand, as a result of which their heart rates and rectal temperatures would have increased progressively with time.
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Strydom, N.B., Bredell, G.A.G., Benade, A.J.S. et al. The metabolic cost of marching at 3 m.p.h. over firm and sandy surfaces. Int. Z. Angew. Physiol. Einschl. Arbeitsphysiol. 23, 166–171 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00699304
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00699304