title: Gender differences in muscle strength & endurance in young Indian adults.
abstract: Muscle strength was studied in 70 males and 53 females between the ages of 17-30 yr, using a handgrip dynamometer. In a subset group of 31 males and 20 females, muscle endurance during sustained isometric contraction was studied using a load cell based handgrip dynamometer coupled to a polygraph. The males had a significantly greater muscle mass and lower body fat as compared to the females. Males had close to twice the handgrip strength of females in absolute terms (P < 0.01) and this difference persisted after correction for forearm muscle area (P < 0.05). In contrast, the rate of decline of muscle strength during sustained isometric contraction was lower in females as compared to males (P < 0.05), suggestive of greater skeletal muscle endurance in females. Physical activity patterns were not a determinant of skeletal muscle function. These findings are consistent with gender specific muscle fibre characteristics reported in literature in other racial groups.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, St. John's Medical College, Bangalore.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Padmavathi
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Bharathi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vaz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009119:Muscle Contraction; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D012737:Sex Factors