Effect of Grip Strength on Controlled Force Exertion in Different Strength Exertion Phases in Young Men

Yoshinori Nagasawa^1, and Shinichi Demura²

¹Department of Health and Sports Sciences, Kyoto Pharmaceutical University, Kyoto, Japan

²Graduate School of Natural Science & Technology, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan

Cite this paper

Yoshinori Nagasawa and Shinichi Demura. Effect of Grip Strength on Controlled Force Exertion in Different Strength Exertion Phases in Young Men. American Journal of Sports Science and Medicine. 2019; 7(2):40-44. doi: 10.12691/AJSSM-7-2-3

Abstract

It is important to develop a method for the accurate measurement of controlled force exertion (CFE). The CFE test requires subjects to exert force while coordinating submaximal grip strength; therefore, grip strength may affect the CFE value. This study examined the differences in measured values in low and high phases of demand value in the CFE test and the relationship between the measured values and grip strength using 54 healthy young males aged 19-23 years. On the basis of standard values of grip strength related to age (455.7 ± 67.6 N), participants were divided into the following three groups: G1, with low grip strength (n = 13, mean age, 19.9 years, standard deviation (SD) = 0.8 years); G2, with medium grip strength (n = 33, mean age, 20.6 years, SD = 1.3 years); and G3, with high grip strength (n = 8, mean age, 21.6 years, SD = 0.7 years). The participants adjusted the submaximal grip strength of their dominant hands according to changes in the demand values, which were displayed as a sinusoidal waveform with a frequency of 0.1 Hz on a computer screen. The test, which lasted for 40 s, was performed three times, with one-minute intervals, after one practice trial. The sum of the differences between the demand value and the measured grip exertion value in the low demand value phase [5%-15% maximum voluntary contraction (MVC)] and high demand value phase [15%-25% MVC] for 30 s was used as the evaluation parameter. Significant differences were found in the measured CFE values of the three groups only in the low demand value phase (F = 3.43, p < 0.05), and the values for G3 were lower than those for G1 and G2, but the effect size (η²) was low (η² = 0.12). The CFE values showed significant low correlation with grip strength only in the high demand value phase (r= −0.32, p < 0.05). We inferred that the difference in maximum grip strength has a negligible effect on the measured value in both low and high demand value phases of the CFE test in young males.

Keywords

force output, grip strength, psychomotor performance, tracking paradigm, visuomotor processing

Copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References

[1]	Ofori, E., Samson, J. M., and Sosnoff, J. J. (2010). Age-related differences in force variability and visual display. Explain Brain Research, 203, 299-306.
[2]	Deutsch, K. M., and Newell, K. M. (2001). Age differences in noise and variability of isometric force production. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 80, 392-408.
[3]	Galganski, M. E., Fuglevand, A. J., and Enoka, R. M. (1993). Reduced control of motor output in a human hand muscle of elderly subjects during submaximal contractions. Journal of Neurophysiology, 69, 2108-2115.
[4]	Sosnoff, J. J., and Newell, K. M. (2008). Age-related loss of adaptability to fast time scales in motor variability. Journal of Gerontology B: Psychological Science and Social Science, 63, 344-352.
[5]	Henatsch, H–D., and Langer, H. H. (1985). Basic neurophysiology of motor skills in sport: a review. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 6, 2-14.
[6]	Nagasawa, Y., and Demura, S. (2002). Development of an apparatus to estimate coordinated exertion of force. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 94, 899-913.
[7]	Brown, S. W., and Bennett, E. D. (2002). The role of practice and automaticity in temporal and nontemporal dual-task performance. Psychological Research, 66, 80-89.
[8]	Nagasawa, Y., Demura, S., Yamaji, S., Kobayashi, H., and Matsuzawa, J. (2000). Ability to coordinate exertion of force by the dominant hand: comparisons among university students and 65- to 78- year-old men and women. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 90, 995-1007.
[9]	Shechtman, O., Sindhu, B.S., Davenport P, W. (2012). Using the “visual target grip test” to identify sincerity of effort during grip strength testing. Journal of Hand Therapy, 25, 320-329.
[10]	Kubota, H., and Demura, S. (2015). Adjustment errors in ascending and descending phases of target level in controlled force exertion. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 121, 613-620.
[11]	Demura, S., Yamaji, S., Goshi, F., and Nagasawa, Y. (2001). Lateral dominance of legs in maximal muscle power, masculer endurance, and grading ability. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 93, 11-23.
[12]	Bemben, M.G., Massey, B.H., Bemben, D.A., Misner, J.E., and Boileau, R.A. (1991). Isometric muscle force production as a function of age in healthy 20- to 74-yr.-old men. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 23, 1302-1310.
[13]	Ahrenfeldt, L.J., Scheel-Hincke, L.L., Kjærgaard, S., Möller, S., Christensen, K., and Lindahl-Jacobsen, R. (2018). Gender differences in cognitive function and grip strength: a cross-national comparison of four European regions. European Journal of Public Health. 2018 Dec 24.
[14]	Demura, S., Sato, S., and Nagasawa, Y. (2009). Re-examination of useful items for determining hand dominance. Gazzeta Medica Italiana – Archives of Science Medicine, 168, 169-177.
[15]	Society for Physical Fitness Standards Research in Tokyo Metropolitan University. (Ed.) (2000). [New Physical Fitness Standards of Japanese People]. (pp. 20-85). Tokyo, Japan: Fumaido. [in Japanese]
[16]	Walamies, M., and Turjanmaa, V. (1993). Assessment of the reproducibility of strength and endurance handgrip parameters using a digital analyzer. European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology, 67, 83-86.
[17]	Skelton, D. A., Greig, C. A., Davies, J. M., and Young, A. (1994). Strength, power and related functional ability of healthy people aged 65-89 years. Age and Ageing, 23,371-377.
[18]	Nagasawa, Y., Demura, S., and Nakata, M. (2003). Reliability of a computerized target-pursuit system for measuring coordinated exertion of force. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 96, 1071-1085.
[19]	Nagasawa, Y., and Demura, S. (2009). Age and sex differences of controlled force exertion measured by a computer-generated sinusoidal target-pursuit system. Journal of Physiological Anthropology, 28, 199-205.
[20]	Nagasawa, Y., Demura, S., and Kitabayashi, T. (2004). Concurrent validity of tests to measure the coordinated exertion of force by computerized target-pursuit. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 98: 551-560.
[21]	Nagasawa, Y., and Demura, S. (2016) Effect of Short-Term Exercise on Controlled Force Exertion in Young and Middle-Aged Adults. American Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 4, 78-82.
[22]	Gorassini, M., Yang, J. F., Siu, M., and Bennett, D. J. (2002). Intrinsic activation of human motoneurons: possible contribution to motor unit excitation. Journal of neurophysiology, 87, 1859-1866.
[23]	Romaiguere, P., Vedel, J. P., and Pagni, S. (1993). Comparison of fluctuations of motor unit recruitment and de-recruitment thresholds in man. Experimental Brain Research, 95, 527-522.
[24]	Kimura, T., Yamanaka, K., Nakazawa, K., Miyoshi, T., Akai, M., and Ohtsuki, T. (2003). Hysteresis in corticospinal excitability during gradual muscle contraction and relaxation in humans. Experimental Brain Research, 152, 123-132.
[25]	Choi, K-H., Kim, D-M., Lee, S-Y., Lee, J-H., and Kong Y-K. (2017). Evaluation of the controlled grip force exertion tasks associated with age, gender, handedness and target force level. International Journal of Occupatinal Safety and Ergonomics, May 23: 1-9.
[26]	Bemben, M.G., Massey, B.H., Bemben, D.A., Misner, J.E. and Boileau, R.A. (1996). Isometric intermittent endurance of four muscle groups in men aged 20-74 yr. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 28, 145-154.
[27]	Voelcker-Rehage, C., and Alberts. J.L. (2005). Age-related changes in grasping force modulation. Experimental Brain Research, 166, 61-70.