Why is hand strength important?

How well we can grip can make a big difference in the way we enjoy activities and manage our daily living tasks.

When we think about hand strength and the pressure of grip we are able to achieve and sustain, we often think in terms of athletes such as tennis players, climbers and gymnasts, but the strength in our hands can be equally important just for carrying out normal activities in the home or garden.

But aside from making activities easier, a good grip has a much more important function, as it is a key indicator of overall health and fitness for people across any age or background.

Indeed, a BMJ study carried out in 2018 on 500,000 participants found that ‘grip strength was significantly associated with health outcomes across the age range of the UK population.’

The study concluded; ‘The main finding of this study is that lower grip strength was strongly associated with a wide range of adverse health outcomes. The associations observed were consistent between sexes and remained robust after adjustment for deprivation, ethnicity, and several other health, lifestyle, and dietary factors. For several adverse health outcomes, we observed interactions with age, with the risk associated with lower grip strength modestly stronger in younger age groups.’   

The findings of this study will not come as a surprise to many, as it naturally follows that if a person is more physically active across a range of exercise types, even just walking and gentle activities, this will have a positive effect on general health, which will naturally include improvements to hand strength. 

Hand strength can naturally begin to decrease in older age, after injuries or as a factor in some illnesses or disabilities, but certainly with age related grip weaknesses, there are many exceptions where certain individuals maintain excellent grip strength into older age, mainly through keeping up with an exercise or activity regime.

Other people who have used their hands in more physical occupations or as sports participants in their earlier years may have a certain amount of ‘muscle memory’ that may also carry a positive impact on their hand strength into their later years.

How can we improve our hand strength?

Increased hand strength and grip performance can be achieved simply through an increase in any physical activity, which will probably incorporate using the hands to some degree. 

Another good idea to increase hand strength is to isolate the hands and wrists as an area for physical exercise focus, where simply gripping and releasing a tennis ball (or other small ball) can be highly therapeutic. 

Therapeutic putty is also a very good solution for developing and maintaining hand strength. This specialist putty comes in different strength grades, signified usually by the putty colour, that can be used to improve grip as the user starts with the most malleable putty and moves upwards to more stiffer putty grades as the grip strength improves. 

How can I measure my hand strength?

Given the research linking hand strength to indicating our general health and wellbeing, many people naturally ask how they can accurately measure their hand strength with a reliable reading that is simple to obtain?

The answer comes in the form of an electronic hand dynamometer, this easy to use device can accurately measure hand strength and is portable and easy to operate at home or in a professional setting.

The hand dynamometer takes a few initial steps to set up, as in age and gender of the user, before a handle on the device is then gripped and the strength of the grip is measured and recorded in either pounds or kilograms.

The hand dynamometer supplied by Mobility Smart can accommodate up to 19 users, where the hand strength can be stored and recalled and compared across sessions for easy reference of improvements over time.

The hand dynamometer comes with a table of hand strengths linked to a person's age and gender, so results from the dynamometer can be referenced and a user can see if they have either a strong, normal or weak hand strength from the table of values provided.

The other benefit of the hand dynamometer is that as well as being a valuable tool for measurement of hand strength, it is also a device for grip exercise in itself, as the handle can be gripped and released to strengthen grip, as well as for simply measuring.

The benefits of improved grip strength

 

 

The practical aspects of having a strong grip cannot be over emphasised as there are so many tasks and activities at home, in the garden or the workplace where a good firm grip can make life easier, more convenient and comfortable.

Most people will identify with the frustration of not being able to carry out a mundane task due to not having the grip strength, things like opening a jar of food, twisting the cap off a drink, filling a kettle or opening a fizzy drinks container can be so difficult with a weak grip.

So the relatively small investment of time to exercise and a simple gadget to measure the progress of hand strength improvement can be invaluable and make a big difference to the quality of life in general.

This not only applies to physical health, but also for maintaining mental health wellness, as with greater strength of grip come new possibilities for exercise and activities that improve the mental outlook. 

If you would like to check out our own hand dynamometer and to purchase, you can read more here and see all the features, benefits and pricing   

 

 

BMJ Ref: https://www.bmj.com/content/361/bmj.k1651#:~:text=Conclusions,particular%20in%20non%2DBritish%20populations.