Grip Force and Muscle Activity Differences Due to Glove Type

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of different types and sizes of gloves on external grip force and muscle activity. Twenty-one male and seven female volunteers served as subjects. Each subject performed two maximum voluntary grip contractions while wearing each of the 10 glove types. Results indicated significant differences in the effects of different glove types on the peak force, ratio of peak force to normalized flexor muscle EMG activity, and the ratio of peak force to coactivity.

Laboratory assessment of the effect of heavy rubber glove thickness and sizing on effort, performance and comfort

“…Previous studies have found that wearing gloves decreases the maximum grip force that can be exerted when compared with the bare hand (Mital et al, 1994;Tsaousidis and Freivalds, 1997;Kovacs et al, 2002;Willms, 2006). A 15e30 per cent decrease in grip force transferred to an implement was illustrated when wearing gloves (Tsaousidis and Freivalds, 1997).…”

“…In addition, manual work requiring high hand forces will promote fatigue and risk of developing MSD (Armstrong et al, 1987;Keyserling et al, 1993;Rock et al, 2001;Kovacs et al, 2002). Many characteristics of gloves could decrease performance, increase loading and enhance the risk of MSD development.…”

“…Requires the muscles to overcome the resistance of the glove to flex or extend the fingers (Kovacs et al, 2002;Willms et al, 2009). Creates greater mechanical interference with the object and surroundings to grip the object in the desired position.…”

“…Because of the high voltages encountered, gloves can be of substantial thickness, up to 3.5 mm thick. This makes work difficult due to the gloves' interference with touch, object manipulation and the substantial resistance offered by the gloves to opening or closing the hands (Kovacs et al, 2002;Willms, 2006).…”

Biomechanical assessment of gloves. A study of the sensitivity and reliability of electromyographic parameters used to measure the activation and fatigue of different forearm muscles

“…EMG measures would also identify which muscles are most affected. Four studies have used EMG measures to assess gloves (Fleming et al, 1997;Kovacs et al, 2002;Mital et al, 1994;Sudhakar et al, 1988). The three studies that evaluated the level of forearm muscle activation used tasks requiring the production of MVCs (Kovacs et al, 2002;Mital et al, 1994;Sudhakar et al, 1988).…”