Why Grip Strength Is Important

Biomarker of Health

Grip strength is an important health biomarker as it is associated with all cause mortality. This is likely due to sarcopenia (muscle loss due to aging), which results in a loss of grip strength, but also a reduction in day to day function. As you age, maintaining activity levels and muscle mass becomes crucial. I have written an in-depth article on the relationship between grip strength and longevity if you would like to explore the topic further.

Sports Performance

There are many sports where grip strength is an important factor for performance, sports like judo, rugby, climbing, Crossfit and many more require high levels of grip strength to perform well. Finding new ways to improve grip strength can unlock better performance in many different sports where it can be a limiting factor.

General Day to Day Life

It is easy to forget how essential grip strength is for day to day life, we use it constantly. Building a base of strong physical characteristics like grip strength will put us in good stead for the aging process later on in life. If you are already well into your 60’s+ and reading this, then it is never too late to start developing your physical characteristics which are essential for day to day life, including grip strength.

5 Methods for Improving Grip Strength

Walking With Heavy Objects

Walking with heavy and moderately heavy objects is one of the best ways to improve both grip strength and grip endurance. For improving grip strength, the go to option is hex bar carries. When done with very heavy weights, these will be very effective at improving grip strength. When attempting to improve grip endurance, walking with kettlebells or dumbbells can be extremely effective. Remember, if you do not have the space to walk, standing in place will be just as effective for developing grip strength.

Hanging Variations

Hanging is one of the most well known ways to increase grip strength, this is because it is one of the most effective. Hanging can be done in many forms and variations, meaning it is a very versatile group of exercises that people of any ability can use to improve their grip and upper body strength.

My go to beginner variation of the hang, for those who are not able to take their bodyweight, is the feet supported hang. This involves loading the shoulders and hangs with as much weight as they find possible without actually lifting the feet off the floor. Another variation for improving grip strength and upper body strength is the lat pull down without straps. For individuals who are overweight this is an amazing grip strength development exercise, but also a perfect vertical pull variation. For advanced individuals, hanging from fat bars, performing single arm hangs or weighted hangs can all be excellent ways to improve grip strength.

General Resistance Training

During a typical resistance training session, we pose stress on our grip strength very regularly, Meaning we can create a base of good grip strength adaptations through performing typical resistance training, with horizontal pulls, vertical pulls, deadlifts carries etc. This sort of non-specific training will be less effective than providing a full on stimulus, but will be very effective at creating a base of strength that you can build upon.

Grippers: Grip Strength Specific Repetitions

Grippers are the traditional grip strength trainer. Make sure you purchase the correct tension, training endurance and training strength are not the same, a gripper that you can perform 20+ repetitions on will improving you grip endurance, whereas a very challenging gripper will work on grip strength. I think adding these into your grip strength training protocol is a great idea, as you might notice, all the other exercises require gripping an object, which is a form of isometric training. Whereas grippers involve moving the muscles in the forearm through their full range of motion, which is much more typical of other forms of resistance training.

Plate Holds

Plate holds are a very challenging way to improve grip strength and finger strength in the gym. This exercise is very similar to walking with heavy objects, it just changes the position of the hand in such a way that it makes it far more challenging. Once your able to hold a 25kg plate for more than 30 seconds, your grip strength is on the right track!