IMPACT OF POSITIONS OF SHOULDER, ELBOW, WRIST, BODY POSTURE AND HAND SPAN ON GRIP STRENGTH - A REVIEW STUDY

Grasping and manipulating objects is one of the most pervasive and perhaps most important activity among all human physical activities. While grasping was necessary in early human development for handling tools and for accomplishing other basic necessities of life, today it is a precursor to more sophisticated tasks and especially in the work place. Activities of daily life like eating, bathing, brushing hair, ironing clothes, getting medicines primarily require holding of any tool in hand. Many daily functions and sporting events require high activity levels of the flexor musculature of the forearms and hands. These are the muscles involved in gripping strength. This review focuses on the relationship of grip strength with different positions of shoulder, elbow, wrist, body posture and hand span. The study was conducted with an objective to find which positions of shoulder, elbow, forearm and wrist yield maximum grip strength. It was concluded that positioning of upper limb, posture and hand span play an important role in measurement of grip strength.