A Comparative Study on the Correlation Between Hand Grip Strength, Fatigue Time, Electromyography and Body Mass Index in a Group of College Students and a Group of Laborers

Hand grip strength (HGS) is a reliable indicator of upper body strength and muscular capacity. This is a comparative study of the various anthropometric variables between college-going students and manual laborers. This study attempts to establish the interrelationship between Hand Grip Strength, Electromyogram, Body Mass Index, age, and fatigue time and lifestyle by examining a group of young college students and a group of young and middle-aged manual laborers. Twenty-five laborers in the age group of 20–60 and 26 college-going students in the age group of 20–30 were randomly selected from BIT Mesra, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India, to assess and compare their HGS and endurance in terms of fatigue time. The HGS and EMG were recorded using the BIOPAC MP45 2-channel data acquisition system along with an SS25LB hand dynamometer (0–50[Formula: see text]kg), in EMG-02 Mode of BIOPAC Student Lab Software. BMI shows weak correlation with HGS in students, but the interconnection between higher HGS and dominant arm, as well as male sex, was re-established in this study. No relationship could be established between EMG and HGS. The relationship between HGS and age is strong, with maximum HGS observed in laborers who were in their late 30s and early 40s. While the effect of lifestyle differences didn’t reflect in the case of HGS (clench force), as both groups had practically the same HGS, however, in the case of hand grip endurance (fatigue time), the laborers pulled ahead of the students by a significant margin.