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USA TODAY

An annual trip to your doctor’s office usually involves an assessment of your vital signs: heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, oxygen level and temperature. It will also include measuring your height and weight and BMI (body mass index).
But a new study adds to the existing available research that doctors should also be assessing their patient’s grip strength.
Read on to learn more about this important but lesser-known indicator of your overall health.
What is grip strength?

At the biomechanical level, grip strength is generated by the forearm muscles. It measures how firmly and with how much stability you can grip heavy items.
We rely on our grip strength, from carrying groceries to opening a jar or lifting a heavy pan off the stove.
For healthy ageing keep moving, stay busy and socially engaged, say experts
Grip strength is also an excellent measure of a person’s overall muscular strength. It is measured with a hand dynamometer – a device which measures the force used to squeeze two handles together.
Researchers found that the grip strength older adults needed to manage heavy tasks were at least 18.5kg for women and 28.5kg for men.
Research links weak grip to disease
A multi-country study of around 140,000 adults between 35 and 70 years old found those with an 11-pound (5kg) decline in grip strength had a 17 per cent higher chance of dying from a heart attack or stroke across a four-year period.

This is a strong correlation. The correlation is that a stronger grip is found in people with more muscle mass. And those with higher muscle mass percentage of their weight usually exercise more and have better overall health.
Grip strength has also been found to correlate to mental health. A study of 27,000 adults over 60 years in India showed a link between low grip strength and depression.
Researchers found a statistically significant ratio between low grip strength and depression.

New data on grip strength and your health
The latest study on grip strength, published in November 2022, looked at a group of 1,275 adults who were 51 years and older. They measured their grip strength with a handheld dynamometer and assessed their epigenetic age – a measurement of biological age, reflecting exposures and disease risks independent of chronological age – from blood samples.
Scientists found those with a weak grip had an accelerated rate of ageing of their DNA in their blood samples. Those with higher grip strength had a slower rate of ageing.

How to boost your grip strength
Any kind of strength training that involves pushing or pulling dumbbells, barbells or cables will increase your grip strength. Body weight training works, too, if you prefer to work out at home.
Here are four of the writer’s favourite exercises:
1. Farmer’s carry (or “Farmer’s walk”): grab a pair of dumbbells at the gym – or buckets with handles at home – and, with your shoulders down, chest out and with a straight back, walk slowly and carefully along a straight line and back.

2. Chin-up holds: stand on a box or bench at the top of the chin-up position. Hold yourself at the top for five to 10 seconds. Slowly progress to adding in holds at the 90-degree angle and then using a dead-hang, where your arms are nearly straight.
3. Finger rolls: grab a light dumbbell at the gym or similar object at home. Slow roll the dumbbell from the tips of the fingers to your hand and squeeze.
4. Stress ball: while watching TV or at work, take a stress ball (or tennis ball) and squeeze with the whole hand for five to 10 pulses, then squeeze with just the thumb and index finger, then squeeze with the thumb and each other finger individually.
Dr Michael Daignault is an accident and emergency doctor in Los Angeles, California, and a former US Peace Corps Volunteer.
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Wellness

Why grip strength is a key health indicator – it’s a measure of overall strength and a marker for your risk of depression and death from heart attack or stroke

Grip strength is a good measure of overall health, doctors say, and a strong grip is linked with a slower rate of ageing. A weak grip is linked with depression and higher risk of death from stroke or heart attack. Photo: Shutterstock

We need good grip strength for many tasks: opening bottles and jars, carrying shopping and lifting heavy pans. Photo: Shutterstock 

Grip strength may be used as a measure of how fast a person is ageing. Photo: Shutterstock

A dynamometer measures grip strength when you squeeze the two handles together. Photo: Shutterstock

Squeezing a strength ball can help you develop a stronger grip. Photo: Shutterstock

You can stand on a box to get into the chin-up hold position. Photo: Shutterstock

How to age well: 20kg weight loss helps Hong Kong mother and ex-teacher slip into clothes once too small – to her family’s delight

Vandana Desai, 48, shed 20kg through dieting and exercise. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Hong Kong former teacher Vandana Desai’s two-year fitness journey left her 20kg lighter. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Vandana Desai, a 48-year-old mother of two, says her self-confidence got a boost during her fitness journey. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Before and after: Vandana Desai in July 2019 (above, left) before she began her weight-loss quest, and now. Photo: Vandana Desai/Jonathan Wong

Mumbai-based dietitian Trupti Majethia. Photo: Trupti Majethia

In addition to eating healthier and exercising more, Desai started drinking more water and going to bed earlier to lose weight. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Vandana Desai, working out at a playground near her home in the Hong Kong neighbourhood of Pok Fu Lam. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Ian Colley, founder of Primal Fitness. Photo: Ian Colley

Desai says that losing the first 10kg inspired her to continue on her weight-loss quest. Photo: Jonathan Wong

How to live longer: 10 diet secrets of people living longest and healthiest – more beans, nuts and sourdough bread, less meat, dairy, eggs and sugar

If you want to live longer and healthier, recipes like Dan Buettner’s stuffed squash halves with blueberry wojapi, from his book “The Blue Zones American Kitchen: 100 Recipes to Live to 100,” might help.

Dan Buettner (right) on the Greek island of Ikaria – a Blue Zone – with a 93-year-old Greek Orthodox priest. Photo: Instagram / @danbuettner

A map of the Blue Zones. Picture: Shutterstock

Plant-powered arepas from “The Blue Zones American Kitchen: 100 Recipes to Live to 100”.

The cover of Buettner’s new book.

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Beans are the fundamental cornerstone of every Blue Zone diet. Photo: Shutterstock

Blue Zones diets include at most seven added teaspoons of sugar a day. Photo: Shutterstock

Sourdough bread contains less gluten than most commercial breads and has a longer shelf life. Photo: Shutterstock

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On average, adults in the US are sedentary for over three-quarters of their waking day – that’s 11 to 12 hours a day. Photo: Shutterstock

Diaz’s team also found that there were mental health benefits to walking for five minutes every half-hour. Photo: Shutterstock

Lifestyle

Health & Wellness

Health

Why does a strong grip matter? It means you will age at a slower rate and it’s an indication of overall strength
Conversely, a weak grip correlates with a higher risk of dying from a heart attack or stroke and having depression. A doctor offers four ways to boost your grip


Grip strength is a measure of overall physical and mental health, and the stronger your grip, the slower you will age. A doctor suggests four exercises to help boost yours.


How to age well

Ageing society

Medicine