Effects of Repeated Training on Controlled Force Exertion and Retention in Dominant and Nondominant Hands

This study aimed to examine the effects of repeated training on the controlled force exertion (CFE) test and retention in dominant and nondominant hands. The subjects were 10 young males (mean age, 21.8 ± 1.4 years). The CFE test was used as the repeated training task and performed 5 days per week over 3 weeks (a total of 15 times). The exertion value of the subjects’ handgrip strengths was matched to constantly changing demand values for 40 s. Three trials were performed after one practice trial. The difference between the demand value and the grip exertion value was used as the evaluation parameter, referred to as the CFE error, and the mean of the second and third trials was used for analysis. The initial and final values for the dominant and nondominant hands and those taken one month after the repeated training task were used for analysis. A two-way analysis of variance revealed that the final CFE errors for both hands were significantly smaller than the initial CFE errors, and no significant difference was found between the dominant and nondominant hands in the final tests. In addition, after one month, the CFE errors for both hands were significantly smaller than the initial CFE errors and were significantly smaller in the dominant hand than in the nondominant hand. Repeated training in controlled force exertion improves CFE in both the dominant and nondominant hands, but the dominant and nondominant hands differ in retention of the effects.