Reliability of maximal handgrip strength test in pre-pubertal and pubertal wrestlers

Pediatr Exerc Sci. 2013 May;25(2):308-22. doi: 10.1123/pes.25.2.308. Epub 2013 Mar 15.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the intersession and the intrasession reliability of maximal handgrip strength test in young wrestlers. Twenty-seven prepubertal (9.49 ± 0.96 yrs) and twenty-seven pubertal (14.60 ± 0.50 yrs) male wrestlers performed two assessment sessions separated by one day. Both assessments included a testing protocol consisted of three maximal isometric contractions, on both hands using a hydraulic dynamometer (Jamar). The intersession and intrasession reliability was high for both prepubertal and pubertal wrestlers (ICC = 0.87-0.99). The single trial as well as the best of two and three trials of handgrip strength were slightly less reliable (ICC = 0.87-0.94) than the mean of two and three trials in prepubertal (ICC = 0.95-0.97). The present results indicate that maximum handgrip strength can be measured reliably, using the Jamar dynamometer, in young wrestlers. A single trial as well as the two trials can be used as reliable, less-tiring and less time-consuming methods for the evaluation of handgrip strength than the three trials.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Child
  • Exercise Test / instrumentation
  • Exercise Test / methods*
  • Hand Strength / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Isometric Contraction
  • Male
  • Muscle Strength Dynamometer
  • Puberty / physiology*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Wrestling / physiology*