Your grip is what keeps the bar in your hands. It's also one of the easiest strength numbers to measure. Researchers have people squeeze a handheld dynamometer, a small gauge that reads force in kilograms, and then follow them for years.
In two very large studies, with more than 640,000 people between them, a weaker squeeze was linked with a higher risk of death over the next few years. Your hands don't hold some secret. The research does say a lot about how much strength matters, and strength is what we train at our studio in Concord, Vaughan.
Please read first. This post is general information, not medical advice. A grip number on its own can't tell you about your health. If you have a heart condition or another medical condition, talk to your doctor before you start a new training plan. If you feel chest pain or unusual shortness of breath while you train, stop and get medical care.
What big studies link grip strength with
The PURE study measured grip in 139,691 people in 17 countries and followed them for a median of 4 years. Every 5 kg lower grip was linked with a 16% higher risk of death from any cause and a 17% higher risk of cardiovascular death, meaning death from heart and blood vessel disease. It was also linked with a 7% higher risk of heart attack and a 9% higher risk of stroke. Grip predicted death from any cause and cardiovascular death better than systolic blood pressure did (Leong et al., 2015).
Grip wasn't linked with everything. In PURE it showed no clear link with new cases of diabetes. Fractures and falls that caused injury showed no clear link either, and neither did hospital stays for pneumonia or COPD, a long term lung disease. The cancer finding was mixed. In high-income countries, a stronger grip was linked with higher cancer incidence, an unexpected finding the authors said needs confirming. That link was not found in middle-income or low-income countries (Leong et al., 2015).
What a weaker grip was linked with in the PURE study
Higher risk for every 5 kg lower grip strength. 139,691 people in 17 countries, median 4 years. Pick a view.
Source: Leong et al., 2015, The Lancet. Read the abstract. An observational study, so it shows a link, not cause and effect. In high-income countries a stronger grip was linked with higher cancer incidence, an unexpected finding the authors said needs confirming. That link was not found in middle-income or low-income countries.
A UK Biobank study of 502,293 people, followed for an average of 7.1 years, found the same pattern. Every 5 kg lower grip was linked with a 20% higher risk of death from any cause in women and 16% in men. The link with death from respiratory disease was stronger, at 31% in women and 24% in men. The link with death from COPD was 24% in women and 19% in men. Adding grip to a standard office risk score made it a little better at predicting death (Celis-Morales et al., 2018).
The same pattern in half a million people
UK Biobank: 502,293 people, followed for an average of 7.1 years. Higher risk of death for every 5 kg lower grip strength. Pick a group.
Source: Celis-Morales et al., 2018, BMJ (numbers from the study abstract). Read the abstract. An observational study, so it shows a link, not cause and effect. Each percentage is the higher risk of death from that cause, not of getting the disease.
What these studies can't tell you
These are observational studies. They show a link, not cause and effect. Someone with a weak grip might already be unwell, and studies can only adjust for so much. The PURE authors called for further research to test whether improving strength lowers the risk of death and heart disease (Leong et al., 2015).
So grip is not the only goal. Researchers use it as a quick measure of muscular strength (Leong et al., 2015), and that's how we read it too.
Lifting is linked with lower risk too
A review of 16 cohort studies looked at muscle strengthening activities directly. Doing them was linked with a 10 to 17% lower risk of death from any cause, and with a 10 to 17% lower risk of heart disease, all cancers, diabetes and lung cancer. The biggest drop came at about 30 to 60 minutes a week, and past that the picture for death from any cause was less clear (Momma et al., 2022). These were observational studies too.
Canada's 24 Hour Movement Guidelines ask for muscle strengthening activities using major muscle groups at least twice a week, plus at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic activity a week (Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology, n.d.; Ross et al., 2020). Two studio sessions a week covers the strength part.
Training can raise your grip
A 2019 review pooled 24 exercise trials with 3,018 healthy people living independently. The trials used several kinds of exercise programs, not resistance training alone. In the studies they pooled, people were mostly in their 70s. Exercise training raised grip strength by a meaningful but small amount (standardized mean difference 0.28, 95% CI 0.13 to 0.44). Training that loads the grip directly, and programs that mix different kinds of training, looked like the best fit for grip (Labott et al., 2019).
A review on grip testing, based on a small number of studies, treats a change of about 5.0 to 6.5 kg as a tentative estimate of a meaningful change. The author says better studies are still needed (Bohannon, 2019).
How we train grip in the studio
You don't need a special grip day. Most of it comes from holding heavy things, with a coach setting the weight.
- Deadlifts. The bar has to stay in your hands for the whole rep. As your legs and back get stronger, your grip has to keep up.
- Carries. Walking with a heavy dumbbell or kettlebell in each hand trains your grip and your trunk at the same time.
- Rows. Pulling a dumbbell works your back, and your hands hold on the whole time.
- Dead hangs. Hanging from a bar trains a long hold. A coach sets the time, and you build up from there.
- Kettlebell swings. The bell wants to fly away from you, so you have to hold on.
Pick a lift below to see how it loads your grip.
Where your grip works in a studio session
Pick a lift to see how it loads your hands and what a coach watches for.
In the studio, your coach sets the weight and the time for each one.
Grip is one piece of staying strong. Our post on lifting weights for osteoporosis covers bone strength. For steadier feet, read about balance exercises that cut falls.
Train your grip in Vaughan
Our small group classes are capped at 16, so a coach can see your hands on the bar and set the weight for each carry. We're open weekdays 5:45 AM to 8 PM and weekends 8:30 AM to 4 PM at 11-411 Confederation Pkwy, 2nd floor, with parking on site.
If you'd like a plan set just for you, look at personal training in Vaughan. We also offer one on one training focused on balance and strength.
Try the $30 seven day trial (+ HST). Join by day 5 and your $30 is credited toward your membership. Call (289) 536-8066 or email g-squad@innerg.ca to book your first class. When you come in, ask your coach to start you on carries.
References
- Bohannon, R. W. (2019). Minimal clinically important difference for grip strength: a systematic review. Journal of Physical Therapy Science, 31(1), 75-78. https://doi.org/10.1589/jpts.31.75 | PubMed
- Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology. (n.d.). Canadian 24 Hour Movement Guidelines (official title shortened). https://csepguidelines.ca/guidelines/adults-18-64/
- Celis-Morales, C. A., Welsh, P., Lyall, D. M., Steell, L., Petermann, F., Anderson, J., Iliodromiti, S., Sillars, A., Graham, N., Mackay, D. F., Pell, J. P., Gill, J. M. R., Sattar, N., & Gray, S. R. (2018). Associations of grip strength with cardiovascular, respiratory, and cancer outcomes and all cause mortality: prospective cohort study of half a million UK Biobank participants. BMJ, 361, k1651. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k1651 | PubMed
- Labott, B. K., Bucht, H., Morat, M., Morat, T., & Donath, L. (2019). Effects of exercise training on handgrip strength: a meta-analytical review (official title shortened). Gerontology, 65(6), 686-698. https://doi.org/10.1159/000501203 | PubMed
- Leong, D. P., Teo, K. K., Rangarajan, S., Lopez-Jaramillo, P., Avezum, A., Jr., Orlandini, A., Seron, P., Ahmed, S. H., Rosengren, A., Kelishadi, R., Rahman, O., Swaminathan, S., Iqbal, R., Gupta, R., Lear, S. A., Oguz, A., Yusoff, K., Zatonska, K., Chifamba, J., ... Yusuf, S. (2015). Prognostic value of grip strength: findings from the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study. Lancet, 386(9990), 266-273. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(14)62000-6 | PubMed
- Momma, H., Kawakami, R., Honda, T., & Sawada, S. S. (2022). Muscle-strengthening activities are associated with lower risk and mortality in major non-communicable diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 56(13), 755-763. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2021-105061 | PubMed
- Ross, R., Chaput, J. P., Giangregorio, L. M., Janssen, I., Saunders, T. J., Kho, M. E., Poitras, V. J., Tomasone, J. R., El-Kotob, R., McLaughlin, E. C., Duggan, M., Carrier, J., Carson, V., Chastin, S. F., Latimer-Cheung, A. E., Chulak-Bozzer, T., Faulkner, G., Flood, S. M., Gazendam, M. K., ... Tremblay, M. S. (2020). Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines: an integration of physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and sleep (official title shortened). Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 45(10 Suppl. 2), S57-S102. https://doi.org/10.1139/apnm-2020-0467 | PubMed