Fact · Accessibility and health
8-9percent of maximum voluntary contraction
In a 2019 laboratory study, the anterior deltoid muscle in touch typists was more active than in non-touch typists at minutes 40, 80 and 160 of a 240-minute typing task, at 8 to 9 percent against 5.4 to 5.5 percent of maximum voluntary contraction.
Checked against its source on October 16, 2026
In the source's own words
“% MVC of anterior deltoid in the touch typist group was significantly higher than the non-touch typist group (8-9% vs. 5.4-5.5%) at minutes 40, 80 and 160.”
Benefit of touch-typing performance on muscle activity and pain over 4 hours, Thai Journal of Ergonomics, 2019, Abstract.
Open the original- What it measures
- Twenty-one touch typists and 20 non-touch typists, all women, did a continuous typing task for 240 minutes in a laboratory. Muscle activity was recorded with electromyography and normalised to each person's maximum contraction.
- What it does not show
- Muscle activity is not an injury measure. The groups were formed by existing typing skill, not assigned at random, and the study ran for one session.