ABSTRACT
Human hands, as one of the most complex musculoskeletal structures, have the most delicate dexterity, tactility, and ability of manipulation. In everyday life people use hands for grasping or carrying things. The exerted force for these activities does not require maximal musculoskeletal strength, but submaximal strength, because the amount of effort exerted is usually determined by levels of loads and psychomotor coordination. When grasping, people usually overexert at the start and gradually reach a stable exertion level in order to minimize muscle fatigue. This can be regarded as a natural biological effort to minimize the energy cost function. Grasp strengths tend to change with such factors as weight of load lifted, types of gloves, surface friction of gloves, handle types, handle orientation, and individual safety perception. How these factors affect the submaximal strength grasp will be discussed.
