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The Ergonomic Properties of Outdoor Fitness Equipment with Respect to the Anthropometric Characteristics of Iranian Women: A Case Study of Chest Press Machine and Pull Chairs

Maryam Mohammadi, Heydar Sadeghi, Hassan Sadeghi Naeini, Lila Sabbaghian Rad Roza Ghavam Bakhtiar

Anthropometrics is an important area in ergonomics. Perhaps the main reason for physical injuries in fitness training is anthropometrically and ergonomically non-standard equipment. The purpose of the present research is to identify the ergonomic properties of outdoor chest press machine and pull chairs with respect to the anthropometric characteristics of Iranian women. Certain anthropometric indices of 140 women as well as the dimensions of chest press machine and pull chairs were measured. Then, the dimensions of these machines were evaluated taking into account the related percentiles and the position of body on the machines. The results showed that there is a significant difference between the horizontal hip-handle distance and the dimensions of the bench press machine for the 95th percentile of female users (
 0.05). However, the difference was not significant for the vertical hip-handle distance (
 0.85). There was also a significant difference between the horizontal and vertical hip-handle distance and the dimensions of the pull chairs for the 95th percentile of female users (
 0.05). Moreover, in both machines, there was a significant difference between the hip width and the seat width and between the popliteal height and seat height for the 95th percentile of female users (
 0.05). Based on the findings, it can be concluded that the horizontal seat-handle distance in the chest press machine is small for the female users and that the vertical distance is appropriate. It was also revealed that the horizontal and vertical seathandle distance in the pull chairs is too large for the female users. The results of the present research suggest the mismatch between the dimensions of the chest press machine and the pull chairs and the anthropometric characteristics of Iranian women, thus highlighting the necessity to follow ergonomic standards in design and production of fitness equipment.