Abstract
Background and Study Aim: Front kicks are often used in hand-to-hand military combat training. To mimic real-life combative environments, personal protective equipment (PPE) that includes a ballistic vest should be worn during training.
The aim of this study was the effects of ballistic and weighted vests on front kick kinetics. Material and Methods: Five male soldiers (22.2 +/- 1.5 y, 78.8 +/- 5.8 kg, 180.6 +/- 4.8 cm) performed six individual front kicks during three conditions: bodyweight with no vest (NV), with a 12 kg ballistic vest (BV), and with a 12 kg weighted vest (WV).
Peak force (N), time to reach peak force (s), and impact force (N) were measured during each kick. Data were analyzed using paired sample t-tests and Cohen's d.
Results: Peak force of BV 6061 +/- 1176 N and WV 6298 +/- 1355 N was greater than NV 5201 +/- 1176 N (p<0.01; d = 0.7 and 0.9, respectively). Time to reach peak force was longer for BV 14.25 +/- 4.24 ms compared to WV 13.00 +/- 3.96 ms (p<0.01; d = 0.3), but neither were different than NV 14.02 +/- 6.71 ms (p = 0.822, p = 0.330, respectively).
Impact force was greater for WV 3833 +/- 790 N and BV 3761 +/- 930 N compared to NV 3405 +/- 62 N (p<0.01; d = 0.4 and 0.6, respectively). Conclusions: As both vests result in similar kinetics, soldiers can use a WV or BV during hand-to-hand combat training to adapt to greater front kick impact forces that likely occur during combat.