The Effect of Hand Dimensions, Hand Shape and Some Anthropometric Characteristics on Handgrip Strength in Male Grip Athletes and Non-Athletes

• Authors: Ali Fallahi , Ali Jadidian
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

It has been suggested that athletes with longer fingers and larger hand surfaces enjoy stronger grip power. Therefore, some researchers have examined a number of factors and anthropometric variables that explain this issue. To our knowledge, the data is scarce. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of hand dimensions, hand shape and some anthropometric characteristics on handgrip strength in male grip athletes and non-athletes. 80 subjects aged between 19 and 29 participated in this study in two groups including: national and collegian grip athletes (n=40), and non-athletes (n=40). Body height and mass were measured to calculate body mass index. The shape of the dominant hand was drawn on a piece of paper with a thin marker so that finger spans, finger lengths, and perimeters of the hand could be measured. The hand shape was estimated as the ratio of the hand width to hand length. Handgrip strength was measured in the dominant and non-dominant hand using a standard dynamometer. Descriptive statistics were used for each variable and independent t test was used to analyze the differences between the two groups. The Pearson correlation coefficient test was used to evaluate the correlation between studied variables. Also, to predict important variables in handgrip strength, the linear trend was assessed using a linear regression analysis. There was a significant difference between the two groups in absolute handgrip strength (p<0.001) and handgrip/height ratio (p<0.001). The indices of body height, body mass, lean body mass and body fat content (p<0.001) were significantly greater in grip athletes. All hand variables except FS1-4 (p>0.05) were significantly different between the groups (p<0.001). After controlling body mass all hand anthropometric characteristics except thumb length (r=0.240, p=0.135), hand shape (r=-0.029, p=0.858), middle finger length (r=0.305, p=0.056) and forearm circumference (r=0.162, p=0.319) significantly correlated with handgrip strength in grip athletes, but not in non-athletes, except for forearm circumference (r=0.406, p=0.010). The results showed that handgrip strength and some of the hand dimensions may be different in athletes who have handgrip movements with an object or opponent in comparison to non-athletes. Also, there was a significant positive correlation between handgrip strength and most of the hand dimensions in grip athletes. Therefore, these can be used in talent identification in handgrip-related sports and in clinical settings as well.

Keywords

EN

handgrip; hand dimensions; handgrip-related sports

• Publisher: De Gruyter Open
• Journal: Journal of Human Kinetics
• Year: 2011
• Volume: 29
• Pages: 151-159

Dates

published

1 - 9 - 2011

online

4 - 10 - 2011

Contributors

author

Ali Fallahi

author

Ali Jadidian

• Msc of Corrective Exercise

References

• Clerke AM, Clerke JP, Adams RD. Effects of hand shape on maximal isometric grip strength and its reliability in teenagers. J Hand Ther, 2005; 18(1):19-29.[Crossref][PubMed]
• Fool H. Influence of body composition, muscle strength, diet and physical activity on total body and forearm bone mass in Chinese adolescence girls. Br J nutr, 2007;98(6): 1281-1287[WoS]
• Gandhi Meenal, Koley Shyamal and J.S. Sandhu. Association between Anthropometric Characteristics and Physical Strength in School Going Children of Amritsar. Anthropologist, 2010; 12(1): 35-39.
• Grant S, Hasler T, Davies C, Aitchison TC, Wilson J, Whittaker A. A comparison of the anthropometric, strength, endurance and flexibility characteristics of female elite and recreational climbers and nonclimbers. J Sports Sci, 2001; 19 (7):499-505.[Crossref]
• Hager-Ross, C, and Schieber M.H. Quantifying the independence of human finger movments: comparisions of digits, hands and movement frequencies. Neurosci, 2000; 20:8542-8550.
• Koley S, M. and Gandhi A. Effect of hand dominance in grip strength in collegiate population of Amritsar, Panjab, India. Anthropologist, 2010; 12(1): 13-16.
• Koley. S, M. and Gandhi A. Pal singh: Association of handgrip strength with Heigth, weigth and BMI in boys and girls aged 6-25 years of Amritsar, Panjab, India. Int j biological anthropology, 2008; 2 (1).
• Leyk. D W, Gorges D. Ridder M. Wunderlich T. Rüther A. Sievert D. Essfeld. Hand-grip strength of young men, women and highly trained female athletes. Eur J Appl Physiol, 2007; 99:415-421.[Crossref][PubMed]
• Ling, Carolina H.Y., Taekema Diana, Anton J.M. de Craen, Jacobijn Gussekloo, Rudi G.J. Westendorp, Andrea B. Maier. Handgrip strength and mortality in the oldest old population: the Leiden 85-plus study. CMAJ, 2010; 182 (5).[PubMed][Crossref]
• Marques Mário C, Tillaar R v d, Vescovi Jason D, and González-Badillo J J. Relationship Between Throwing Velocity, Muscle Power, and Bar Velocity During Bench Press in Elite Handball Players. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 2007; 2: 414-422.
• Nachon G. and Rouillon, J.d. Influence of the age on self-regulation of static grip forces from perceived exertion values. Neurosci lett, 2002; 325:52-56.
• Nag A, Nag PK, Desai H. Hand anthropometry of Indian women. Indian J Med Res, 2003; 117: 260-269.[PubMed]
• Nicolay, C.W, and A, L. Walker. Grip strength and endurance: influence of anthropometric variation, hand dimention and gender. Int J Ind Ergon, 2005; 35:605-618.[Crossref]
• Okunribido OO. A survey of hand anthropometry of female rural farm workers in Ibadan, Western Nigeria. Ergonomics, 2000; 43:282-92.[PubMed][Crossref]
• Pheasant S. Anthropometry, Ergonomics and the Design of Work. 2nd ed. London: Taylor and Francis, 1996.
• Ruiz JR, España-Romero V, Ortega FB, Sjöström M, Castillo MJ, Gutierrez A. Hand span influences optimal grip span in male and female teenagers. J Hand Surg [Am]. 2006; 31 (8): 1367-72.[PubMed][Crossref]
• Statkevičienė Birutė, Venckūnas Tomas. Athletes' anthropometrical measurements and physical capacity influence on learning competitive swimming techniques. Acta Medica Litunnica, 2008; 15(4):229-234.
• Tillaar den R, Ettema G. Effect of body size and gender in overarm throwing performance. Eur J Appl Physiol, 2004; 91:413-418.[Crossref]
• Visnapuu M, Jürimäe T. Handgrip strength and hand dimensions in young handball and basketball players. J Strength Cond Res, 2007; 21(3):923-9.[PubMed][WoS]
• Wang A, Sanderson John E., Sea Mandy Man-Mei, Wang Mei, Lam Christopher Wai-Kei, Chan Iris Hiu-Shuen, Lui Siu-Fai and Woo Jean. Handgrip strength, unlike other nutrition parameters, predicts circulatory congestion in peritoneal dialysis patients. Nephrol Dial Transplant, 2010; 1 - 7.
• Watts P B, Joubert L M, Lish A K, Mast J D, Wilkins B. Anthropometry of young competitive sport rock climbers. Br J Sports Med, 2003; 37:420-424.[PubMed][Crossref][WoS]
• Wiles CM, Karni Y, Nicklin J. Laboratory testing of muscle function in the management of neuromuscular disease. J Neurol Neurosurg & Psychiat, 1990; 53: 384-387.[Crossref]

Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/v10078-011-0049-2