Elbow-Height Handle and Staggered Stance Exhibited Greatest Force in Pushing and Pulling: A Study among Malaysian Adults

@#Introduction: Pushing and pulling activities are common in daily life and industrial workplaces. These activities are potentially contributing to muscle fatigue in the back and shoulder if not managed ergonomically. Therefore, this study aimed to quantify the maximum strength of Malaysian adults in horizontal symmetrical two-handed pushing and pulling with different handle heights and stances. Methods: Forty-seven participants of 24 males and 23 females were recruited in pushing and pulling experiments. The participants were assistant engineers and postgraduate students of a technical university. The dependent variable was the magnitude of push/ pull force. The independent variables consisted of action, handle height and stances. The experimental design was set for 2 actions, 3 handle heights and 2 stances, yielding 12 variables combinations. Results: Key findings of this study revealed that combination of pull action, handle height at elbow level and staggered stance exhibited greatest force. On the contrary, combination of push action, handle height at knuckle level and parallel stance resulted in lowest force. In pushing test, both male and female participants obtained greatest force of 233.3 N and 121.7 N, respectively, when the handle height was at elbow level and staggered stance. Similarly, in pulling test, males and females obtained highest force of 242.9 N and 152.4 N, respectively. Conclusion: This study concluded that handle height at elbow level and staggered stance exhibited greatest force in pushing and pulling activities. This study provides information to individuals who involved in pushing and pulling tasks with least force exertion to minimize muscle fatigue in the back and shoulder. Future studies should consider the following recommendations: 1) Participants of study should involve manufacturing industry workers. 2) To study the effect of pushing and pulling tasks on muscle activity.

Investigation On Young Adult Hand Grip Strength

@#It is believed that exposure to whole-body vibration (WBV) may increase seated occupant drowsiness and seated. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the strength of the hand grip among the young adults in Malaysia. Also, to examine the correlation between anthropometry factors such as hand length (HL), hand breadth (HB), wrist circumference (WC) and body mass index (BMI) with average full hand grip strength of young adults. 40 Malaysian young adults with equal females and males and the range age of 23 to 28 years old voluntarily basis participated in this study. Three experiments were conducted in sitting position according to American Standard Hand Therapist (ASHT) with 45º, 90o and 135o of hand flexion using dynamometer. The results show the significant different full hand grip strength between Malaysian young adult females and females, the difference full hand grip strength for different hand flexion angles in sitting position and difference correlations between anthropometry factors and full hand grip strength for both young adult males and females.