Why Grip Strength Is Worth Measuring, and How to Do It Properly

Grip strength sounds like a narrow measure: how hard you can squeeze. But it reflects your muscle strength more generally, it takes seconds to measure, and in large studies it has turned out to say a lot about health. Here’s what the research found, and how to measure it the same way each time so your numbers can be compared.

This article is general information, not medical advice.

What the Research Found

The best-known study is from the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study, which measured the grip strength of 139,691 adults aged 35 to 70 in 17 countries and followed them for a median of four years. Leong and colleagues found that:

• Each 5 kg lower grip strength went with a 16% higher risk of death from any cause, and a 17% higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
• Grip strength predicted death from any cause and from cardiovascular disease better than systolic blood pressure did.
• It wasn’t linked to diabetes, falls, or fractures.

Like most studies of this kind, it shows an association, not that a stronger grip itself protects you. Grip strength stands in for general strength and health, and illness can weaken it. The useful message is that low strength is worth noticing, and that strength is worth keeping as you age.

How to Measure It

Grip strength is measured with a handheld dynamometer, in kilograms-force (kgf) or pounds-force (lbf). Results vary with posture and technique, so a review by Roberts and colleagues proposed one standard approach, based on the Southampton protocol:

1. Sit in a chair with arms, feet flat on the floor.
2. Rest your forearms on the chair’s arms, elbows bent at a right angle, wrist neutral with the thumb facing up.
3. Adjust the handle to fit your hand.
4. Squeeze as hard as you can for a few seconds, with encouragement if someone is helping.
5. Alternate hands, three attempts each, and keep each hand’s best.

Measure at a similar time of day, with the same dynamometer, and you’ll see real changes rather than differences in method.

Making It Stronger

Grip improves with general strength training: carrying heavy bags or weights (farmer’s carries), dead hangs from a bar, rows, and pull-ups. A grip trainer alone builds the hand, but the studies point to overall strength, so whole-body training is the better aim.

Following It in Kaizora

On the Fitness page, Left Hand Grip Strength and Right Hand Grip Strength are separate metrics, since your hands differ. Log each hand’s best in kilograms-force or pounds-force, whichever you prefer to see, and choose your dynamometer as the device, so a change of dynamometer doesn’t pass for a change in you. A higher grip is better, so each hand’s page shows your personal best. Fitness has other benchmarks in the same way, such as the longest dead hang and the sitting-rising test.

The Short Version

• In a study of almost 140,000 adults, each 5 kg lower grip strength went with a 16% higher risk of death.
• It predicted death better than systolic blood pressure did, though it reflects health rather than causing it.
• Measure seated, elbow at a right angle, three attempts per hand, keeping the best.
• Use the same dynamometer and routine each time.

Sources

• Leong DP, Teo KK, Rangarajan S et al., “Prognostic value of grip strength: findings from the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study,” The Lancet 386, no. 9990 (2015): 266–273. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(14)62000-6
• Roberts HC, Denison HJ, Martin HJ et al., “A review of the measurement of grip strength in clinical and epidemiological studies: towards a standardised approach,” Age and Ageing 40, no. 4 (2011): 423–429. doi:10.1093/ageing/afr051