Get a grip

A visit to your primary care physician for an annual physical or a physical therapy evaluation for hip pain typically wouldn’t warrant a grip strength test. Or does it? A recent article posted by Medscape, a website for medical news, clinical reference and education, argues grip strength testing should be considered a vital sign along with blood pressure and heart rate.1 And I agree!

More and more studies have been published with the correlation between grip strength and overall health. Grip strength has been found to be a good indicator of overall muscle strength.2 Overall muscle strength is correlated with general health including quality of life, functional mobility, functional ability and fall risk. A weak grip has been shown to correspond with co-morbidities such as type 2 diabetes3, heart disease4, cancer, dementia & Alzheimer’s disease5, depression6, and osteoporosis7. Grip strength is a great indicator of mental and physical health as well as all-cause mortality (check out nearly any study or article cited below).

How to test it

The clinical way to test your grip strength is with a hand dynamometer (see the picture). These can be purchased on Amazon for fairly cheap. You squeeze the handle as much as possible and a screen will provide a number in either pounds or kilograms. A non-clinical approach to test grip strength is a timed dead hold on a bar (i.e., hanging onto a bar with your full body weight as long as possible).

What to aim for

What to shoot for depends on your age, gender, lifestyle and individual goals. A quick Google search for basic age-gender grip strength norms will reveal many similar charts. I like the LiveStrong chart.9 Medscape recommended a formula for grip strength norms (in kgs) which takes into account body mass, however “generally accepted cutoffs for low grip strength are 26 kg for an adult male and 16 kg for a female”.1 For more athletic populations, a great time to aim for a dead hold is 60-90 seconds depending on your weight.8

How to improve it

The easiest way to improve your grip strength is to hold heavy things! Specific exercises like farmer’s carry, pull ups and weight lifting with a barbell, dumbbells, and kettlebells will help. Build up your dead hang endurance by adding a little time - try for 5-10 seconds - each day or week. Doorway pull-up bars are easy to install, affordable, and convenient. Some good news is a general strength and conditioning program has been shown to increase grip strength. Make sure your nutrition is in check too. A recent systematic review revealed vitamin D supplementation increased grip strength in post-menopausal women.10

Grip strength is an excellent indicator of full-body strength which gives insight into overall health. It’s quick and easy to test and you can improve it with general strength and conditioning, or bar-specific exercises.

If you’re looking for guidance, I’m happy to test your grip strength, evaluate the data for you, and set individual goals with you as a comprehensive strength program. Reach out for more info or just to talk grip!

1. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/995121?icd=login_success_email_match_norm#vp_1

2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0261561410001834

3. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/dmrr.3365

4. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(14)62000-6/fulltext

5. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1568163716302392

6. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/9/4823

7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7297622/

8. https://www.spartan.com/blogs/unbreakable-training/dead-hang-benefits#:~:text=But%20hanging%20from%20an%20overhead,might%20just%20save%20your%20life.

9. https://www.livestrong.com/article/468905-hand-grip-strength-test/

10. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35721712/