These 8 Exercises Will Improve Your Grip Strength

Research links grip strength to better health markers, and these exercises can help you improve yours.

When you think of grip strength, your mind probably wanders to impressing your dad’s friends with a “hell of a handshake” or cracking that pickle jar open for your wife. Grip training is hardly a priority for most people. But if you think about it for more than a few seconds, your grip is one of the most-used aspects of your body. And even though it lacks the visual pop of, say, wide shoulders, you need it to carry groceries, pick up weights, open doors, and generally hold onto stuff — which is why a few exercises to improve grip strength are worth working into your routine.

Research also shows that, oddly enough, grip strength may tell us something about our health beyond how hard we can squeeze. Studies have linked a stronger grip to better heart health, longevity, and cognitive function. Below, you’ll find eight exercises to improve grip strength that you can easily add to your routine, plus why having a strong grip may matter more than you think.

What You Should Know About Grip Strength

Grip strength is your ability to produce force with your hand, usually to “crush” or “pinch” something, or to hold onto an object like a bag of groceries. You can test your grip strength — measured in pounds or kilograms of force — by squeezing a handheld device called a dynamometer.

Researchers use grip strength as a simple marker of overall strength and health. One study of nearly 140,000 adults, published in The Lancet, found that weaker grip strength was associated with a higher risk of heart disease, heart attack, stroke, and death. In fact, grip strength was a stronger predictor of death and cardiovascular death than systolic blood pressure in that study. A more recent study of more than 40,000 people also found that stronger grip strength was associated with better cognitive performance, higher life satisfaction and well-being, and fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety. Researchers also found links between a stronger grip and greater gray matter volume in several brain regions.

Grip strength can also offer some insight into overall muscle strength and bone density. Physical therapists note that grip strength tends to decline with age, along with muscle mass and strength. Other reasons for reduced grip strength may include a specific arm or hand injury, a pinched nerve, and medical conditions such as arthritis and Parkinson’s.

Going Deeper: 8 Grip-Strength Exercises

Grip strength is often associated with your ability to “crush” something in your hand. But many of the muscles that have the greatest impact on your grip aren’t actually in your hands — they’re in your forearms. These muscles contract to flex and extend your fingers and stabilize your wrists, so stronger forearms typically mean a stronger grip.

The exercises below train those muscles in two main ways: Some involve flexing and extending your wrists to more directly target your forearms, while others rely on squeezing, pinching, or holding an object to train your grip more directly. A good starting point is adding two to three of these exercises to your existing strength training routine, two to three times per week. If you don’t follow a training plan, you can still do two to three of them a few times per week, whenever it’s convenient.

Tennis Ball Squeeze

Hold a tennis ball in one hand and squeeze it firmly in your palms with your four fingers, not your thumb. Hold each squeeze for about five seconds, then relax your hand completely before starting the next rep. Do 1 set of 10 reps per hand.

Towel Wringing

Grab a wet towel with both hands in front of you and twist your hands in opposite directions as if you’re wringing out excess water. Reverse directions on each rep so both hands work through the movement evenly. Start with a hand towel and work your way up to a larger one. Do 1 set of 5 reps in each direction.

Reverse Wrist Curl

Sit with your forearms resting on your thighs or on a weight bench, palms facing down, while holding a light dumbbell in each hand. Keeping your forearms still, extend your wrists to raise the weights, then lower them slowly until you feel a stretch through your forearms. Do 2-3 sets of 10-15 reps.

Farmer’s Carry

Hold a heavy dumbbell or kettlebell in each hand with your arms straight at your sides. Stand tall, brace your core, and walk 30-40 yards without letting the weights pull your shoulders forward or your torso to either side. Walk 30-40 yards 3-4 times.

Plate Pinch

Hold a 5- to 10-pound weight plate at your side by pinching it between your fingers and thumb rather than wrapping your hand around it. Keep your arm straight and hold for 10-15 seconds, then set the plate down under control. Do 3-5 holds per hand.

Dead Hang

Grab a pull-up bar with both hands using an overhand grip and let your body hang with your arms straight. Keep your shoulders engaged rather than completely collapsing into the hang, and hold for about 20 seconds or as long as you can maintain a secure grip. Do 5-10 rounds.

Pull-Up

Grab a pull-up bar and start from a dead hang, then pull yourself upward until your chin reaches or clears the bar. Lower yourself under control back to the starting position. Do 1-3 sets of 3-5 reps with the goal of working toward 10-12 reps.

Hand Gripper

Hold a spring-loaded hand gripper in one hand and squeeze the handles together as far as you comfortably can. Hold the closed position for a few seconds, then release slowly instead of letting the handles snap open. Do 1 set of 10 reps per hand.

The Takeaway

Try to train your grip two to three times per week, rotating through two to three of the exercises listed above on different days. If you’re grip training on a workout day, save the exercises until after your weight training. Exercises like deadlifts, rows, and pull-ups already challenge your grip, too, so you may not need much extra work at first. As your grip improves, you can gradually add reps or increase the length of your holds.

Bottom Line

The correlation between a stronger grip and better overall health is well documented, but it is still mostly correlational. That said, grip strength is highly trainable, and dedicated grip work takes only a few extra minutes a couple of times per week. There’s no magic number you need to hit, but if getting stronger may also improve a useful marker of overall health, it’s probably worth the effort. If you have a hand or wrist injury, check with your doctor and/or physical therapist before adding new exercises to your routine.

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