Comparison of Male and Female Maximum Lifting Capacity,
Abstract
A large influx of women into traditionally male fields of employment has drawn much attention to the strength differences between men and women. Two tests of isometric strength (handgrip and upright pull) and two tests of maximum lift capacity (a weight lift machine-IDL 152 and a weighted box lift MLC 132) were administered to 90 male and 107 female soldiers at the end of their Basic Training in order to examine differences in female/male (F/M) strength ratio. Skinfold measurements were made to obtain an estimate of lean body mass (LBM). Females exhibited 63% of the isometric strength and 55-59% of the lifting capacity of males. When the scores were normalized for body weight (BW) females were 75% as strong as males on isometric measures, and were able to lift 66% as much on IDL 152 and 72% as much on MLC 132. Comparison of the two lifting tasks revealed that on the average, males were able to lift 18% more weight and 24% more weight on the free lift than on the machine lift. This would suggest that if a machine lift is used for pre-employment screening purposes, the absolute weight an applicant is required to lift on the machine need not equal the maximum weight to be lifted on the job. As the difference between a machine lift and a free lift task was greater in females, a machine lift test may pose a greater disadvantage to female candidates than would isometric or free weight lift testing.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1985
- Accession Number
- ADA160687
Entities
People
- J. A. Vogel
- J. E. Wright
- M. A. Teves
Organizations
- United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine