The psychophysical and physiological responses of individuals with varying body fat percentages and physical fitness levels during one-handed carrying on an inclined surface

One-handed carrying is a demanding and understudied form of manual material handling (MMH). Existing studies have not adequately considered the roles of body fat and physical fitness on the psychophysical and physiological responses of individuals performing one-handed carrying. A laboratory treadmill study involving 16 male and 16 female participants was completed to characterize the physiological and psychophysical responses incurred by one-handed MMH on a flat and inclined surface. Participants walked at a speed of 3.2 km/h for a distance of 96.5 m over four experimental conditions: No-load and flat surface [NF], no-load and inclined surface [NI], load and flat surface [LF], load and inclined surface [LI]). The results indicated generally consistent main effects of body fat, physical fitness, load, and incline on psychophysical and physiological responses, highlighting the inadequacy of current MMH guidance in addressing the impact of body fat percentage and physical fitness on one-handed carrying task performance.