Galley Proof 30/10/2020; 9:56 File: ies–1-ies202206.tex; BOKCTP/xjm p. 1 Isokinetics and Exercise Science -1 (2020) 1–7 1 DOI 10.3233/IES-202206 IOS Press Upper body strength endurance evaluation: A comparison between the handgrip strength and three body weight tests Ewan Thomas ∗ , Vincenzo Gennaro, Giuseppe Battaglia, Marianna Bellafiore, Angelo Iovane, Antonio Palma and Antonino Bianco Sport and Exercise Research Unit, Department of Psychological, Pedagogical and Educational Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy Received 29 July 2020 Accepted 9 October 2020 Abstract. BACKGROUND: The hand-grip strength test has been widely adopted to evaluate upper limb strength. Other field based tests as push-ups and pull-ups are commonly used for the same purpose. It is however unclear if these may be used interchangeably for upper body strength evaluation. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate strength endurance of the upper body and understand which test could be the most appropriate for upper body evaluation. METHODS: Thirty-eight healthy young male participants were tested with three tests comprised of: 1) push-ups (PS), 2) pull-ups (PL) and 3) parallel dips (PD) performed to exhaustion. Grip strength (GS), total number of repetitions, time-to-complete the test, repetition cadence and rate of perceived exertion (RPE) were also retrieved for investigation. RESULTS: Repetitions, time-to-complete the test and repetition cadence significantly differed across the three tests (p< 0.001). No difference in the RPE was present. No correlation was present between GS and the other tests. No correlation was present between RPE and performance values and time-to-complete the tests. BMI was positively correlated to RPE in all tests. All tests strongly correlate to each other (PS vs. PL r = 0.55; PS vs. PD r = 0.64; PL vs. PD r = 0.70) and to time-to-complete the test (PS r = 0.79; PL r = 0.69; PD r = 0.66). Only the results of the PD correlate to their respective repetition cadence (r = 0.66). CONCLUSIONS: GS is not suitable to evaluate strength endurance. PS, PL and PD are all suitable to evaluate strength endurance. However, PD may be preferred to evaluate the upper body, if velocity also needs to be taken into account. Keywords: Strength endurance, upper body, strength, push-ups, pull-ups, parallel dips 1. Introduction 1 It is well established that strength is one of the most 2 important health related aspects in humans [1,2]. Indeed 3 extensive literature has been carried out over the years 4 * Corresponding author: Ewan Thomas, Sport and Exercise Re- search Unit, Department of Psychological, Pedagogical and Edu- cational Sciences, University of Palermo, Via Giovanni Pascoli 6, Palermo, 90144, Italy. Tel.: +39 3208899934; E-mail: ewan.thomas @unipa.it. in order to understand maximal strength and define neu- 5 romuscular function [3,4]. Nonetheless, an equally im- 6 portant parameter of neuromuscular function is strength 7 endurance, which has received less attention in the lit- 8 erature [5]. 9 Strength endurance is defined as the ability of mus- 10 cles to repeatedly exert muscular force for an extended 11 period [6]. This aspect of strength was also identified by 12 a review from de la Motte et al. [7] as an independent 13 risk factor for musculoskeletal injury. The authors eval- 14 uated the association between strength endurance and 15 ISSN 0959-3020/20/$35.00 c  2020 – IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved