What Factors Predict Upper Body Push to Pull Ratios in Professional Firefighters?

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Sports Science
• Biomechanics

Background:

• Professional firefighters experience high rates of shoulder joint injuries.
• Muscle imbalances between anterior (pushing) and posterior (pulling) shoulder musculature are a potential cause.
• Understanding factors contributing to these imbalances is crucial for injury prevention and performance enhancement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate push-to-pull (P2P) ratios in firefighters.
• To examine the relationships between upper body fitness assessments, body composition, and P2P ratios.
• To determine if strength P2P (sP2P) and endurance P2P (eP2P) ratios are associated.

Main Methods:

• Thirty-three professional firefighters participated in the study.
• Fitness assessments included one-repetition maximum (1RM) bench press, maximal pull-up repetitions, and maximal push-up repetitions.
• Body composition was assessed, and sP2P and eP2P ratios were calculated.

Main Results:

• Strength P2P (sP2P) and endurance P2P (eP2P) were not statistically associated (p = 0.99).
• sP2P correlated with 1RM bench press (r = 0.80) and push-up repetitions (r = 0.40).
• eP2P correlated with pull-up repetitions (r = -0.62), body fat percentage (r = 0.40), and fat mass index (r = 0.34).

Conclusions:

• The strength P2P and endurance P2P ratios should not be used interchangeably in firefighter assessments.
• Improving sP2P may involve enhancing anterior upper body musculature strength.
• Enhancing eP2P may require improving posterior upper body musculature strength and reducing body fat mass.