The test for estimating physical working capacity at the fatigue threshold (PWCft), previously validated for young men, was evaluated for use with elderly men and women. A sample of 27 volunteer subjects (67.6 +/- 5.6 years, 11 male, 16 female) was divided into three matched groups: (1) controls (n = 10), (2) low intensity (70% PWCft) training group (n = 10) and (3) high intensity (85% PWCft) training group (n = 7). The subjects were tested for PWCft before and after 10 weeks of exercise training on cycle ergometers (30 min/day, 3 days/week). Controls did not exercise but met once a week for a health lecture. No significant pre-test to post-test change was noted in the mean PWCft of the control group (78.8-78.5 W); low intensity training resulted in 29.8% improvement in PWCft (81.0 to 105.0 W); and the high intensity group realized an improvement of 38.4% (83.6-115.7 W). One-way ANOVA indicated that the gains made by each of the groups were significantly different (p less than 0.01). Post hoc analysis revealed that the gains made by each exercise training group were significantly greater than controls (p less than 0.05) with no significant difference between high and low intensity groups. Reproducibility of the PWCft was excellent (R = 0.976). Since RPE averaged 14.2 at PWCft and 64% of subjects provided useful data, this test appears to be useful for evaluating the fitness of the elderly.

No abstract

Physical fatigue has been identified as a risk factor associated with the onset of occupational injury. Muscular fatigue developed from repetitive hand-gripping tasks is of particular concern. This study examined the use of a maximal, repetitive, static power grip test of strength-endurance in detecting differences in exertions between workers with uninjured and injured hands, and workers who were asked to provide insincere exertions. The main dependent variable of interest was power grip muscular force measured with a force strain gauge. Group data showed that the power grip protocol, used in this study, provided a valid and reliable estimate of wrist-hand strength-endurance. Force fatigue curves showed both linear and curvilinear effects among the study groups. An endurance index based on force decrement during repetitive power grip was shown to differentiate between uninjured, injured, and insincere groups.

No abstract

No abstract