First sailors complete ground-breaking trial to help curb injuries ruining military careers
The first recruits to take part in ground-breaking work to dramatically reduce injuries in training – and throughout their careers – have passed out from HMS Raleigh.
Civilians joining the Naval Service now undergo comprehensive scientific assessments, using the latest tech and sports science knowledge which will shape future training programmes and how the Royal Navy helps rehabilitate personnel with injuries.
Motion capture technology (kinematics) record recruits’ gait as they walk or run across a series of pressure points and pads, assessing how and where they distribute their body weight as they do so.
Coupled with measuring grip strength, height, and observing how someone stands, as well as noting health factors such as smoking and diet, the data will be used in a bid to curb the single biggest cause of sailors and marines being medically downgraded: musculoskeletal injuries.
Such injuries – anything which is muscular/bone related, such as a twisted knee or hip injury – account for half the military personnel who are medically downgraded.
Working side-by-side with leading academics from Bath, Exeter and Southampton Universities, the goal is to drastically cut those injuries (typically caused by overuse, playing sport, physical training, or poor working practices) across the Naval Service.
Scientific Support Facilities (SSF) have been installed at two of the Royal Navy’s ‘entry’ training establishments: HMS Raleigh and the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines in Lympstone; a third facility will be established at the Institute of Naval Medicine in Alverstoke later this year to capture Phase 2 and 3 trainees.
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