Medieval armor certainly looks heavy. And now researchers have demonstrated how the protection might have [--1--] put its wearers at a heavy disadvantage on the battlefield.

An armored combatant in the 1400s had between about 60-to-110-pounds of steel on his head and body. The scientists wanted to know how that weight affected performance. They [--2--] battle experts from the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, in the UK, who got into replicas of four types of European armor.

The weighted warriors then walked and ran on a treadmill while the research team measured their oxygen [--3--]. Wearing the armor turned out to be a much greater burden than carrying the same weight in a backpack. Because the [--4--] of weight in the armor requires the wearer to use more energy to swing his arms or move his legs. The scientists published the research in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. [Citation to come.]

Armor wearers also [--5--] taking short, shallow breaths rather than the deep breaths associated with regular exertion. The researchers say that the tight, metal shell may have made the soldiers feel safer. But being weighted down probably made it a long day for a knight.
【视听版科学小组荣誉出品】
unwittingly recruited intake distribution wound up
“身负重任”的中世纪盔甲 我们都觉得中世纪的盔甲应该很重。但是最近研究人员证实这种保护可能会让其穿戴者在战场上不知不觉的处于下风。 十五世纪的装甲战士的头部和身体负担着大约60至100磅的钢材。科学家们想弄清楚这些重量会对战士的表现造成什么影响。他们聘请了来自英国利兹皇家军械博物馆的战争专家,由他们穿上4种欧洲盔甲的复制品。 “加重”后的战士在跑步机上走动或者跑动,同时由研究团队测量他们摄氧量。结果证明盔甲的负担比同重量的背包大得多。因为盔甲的重量分布要求其穿戴者使用消耗更多的力气来摆动胳膊和移动行走。研究人员将此成果发布在《英国皇家学会会报•生物科学》期刊上。 盔甲穿戴者受伤后的呼吸也比常规作战中浅短的多。研究人员表示紧密的金属外壳会让士兵们更有安全感,但是身负的“重担”不会让他们轻松到哪儿去。