Your Guide to Grip Strength: What It Is, How to Measure It, and 10 Exercises to Improve It

In the fitness world, grip strength is a vital yet often overlooked aspect of strength training. While it plays a key role in everyday tasks like opening a jar or carrying groceries, good grip strength also enhances your workouts, helping you use a rowing machine effectively or perform a strong bicep curl.

Moreover, grip strength can be a key indicator of your overall muscle endurance, athletic performance, and even long-term health. 

If you’re just starting to pay attention to this area of fitness, there’s good news: Grip strength is trainable! With the right approach, you can improve your grip and enhance your performance in strength training, sports, exercise, and daily life. 

Looking to learn more about grip strength? This article will cover: 

• What is grip strength?

• Why grip strength is important

• How to measure grip strength

• 10 exercises to improve grip strength

Let’s dive in! 

What is grip strength?

Grip strength refers to the force your hand muscles can exert while holding onto an object. It encapsulates the muscles in your fingers, hands, wrists, and forearms. Additionally, there are three primary types of grip strength:

1. Crush grip: This is your ability to squeeze something with force, like gripping a kettlebell or shaking someone’s hand.

2. Pinch grip: This refers to your ability to hold an object between your fingers and thumb, such as picking up a coin. 

3. Support grip: This grip refers to your ability to sustain holding something for an extended period, such as gripping a pull-up bar or the handle of a rowing machine.

To achieve a balanced training approach, you should incorporate all three types of grips to improve your overall grip strength and endurance.

Why grip strength is important

Improving your grip strength provides numerous benefits to your health and wellness:

1. Lift heavier: Grip strength enhances total-body strength, helping you perform exercises like deadlifts, pull-ups, and rows. 

2. Compete harder: A strong grip gives you an edge in sports like rowing, rock climbing, and tennis, improving control and endurance.

3. Handle more: Everyday tasks like opening doors, carrying groceries, and picking things up become easier with better grip strength.

4. Stay injury-free: Stronger hands and wrists reduce the risk of strains and injuries, particularly from high-impact activities.

5. Perform at your best: Whether in workouts or daily life, improving grip strength helps you move with more power and confidence.

How to measure grip strength

You can measure grip strength using a hand dynamometer, a device that assesses how much force you can generate when squeezing it. To use one, complete the following steps:

1. Hold the dynamometer in one hand and squeeze as hard as possible for a few seconds.

2. Record the reading.

3. Repeat the process for the other hand.

4. Compare your results to a standardized grip strength chart based on your age and sex.

If you don’t have access to a dynamometer, you can estimate your grip strength by timing how long you can hang from a pull-up bar or testing how many heavy objects you can comfortably grip and carry. While training specifically for a stronger grip, you should be able to observe an improvement in these tasks.

10 exercises to improve grip strength

Strengthening your grip involves a combination of exercises and habits that target your hands, fingers, wrists, and forearms. The following exercises will help you build better grip strength:

1. Dead hangs

2. Farmer’s carries

3. Towel grip pull-ups

4. Hand grippers

5. Wrist curls and reverse wrist curls

6. Plate pinches

7. Rice bucket training

8. Rope climbing

9. Thick bar training

10. Rowing machine workouts

1. Dead hangs

This exercise involves hanging from a pull-up bar with your arms fully extended. It builds endurance and supports grip strength by forcing your fingers and forearms to sustain tension for an extended period of time. By gradually increasing your hang time, you can also improve muscular endurance and resilience.

2. Farmer’s carries

For this exercise, hold heavy dumbbells or kettlebells in each hand and walk a set distance. This process improves grip strength by challenging your hand’s ability to sustain a hold under load while also engaging your core and stabilizer muscles. It will also prepare you for that homestead lifestyle should you adopt a barn-full of animals.

3. Towel grip pull-ups

Loop a towel over a pull-up bar and grip it instead of the bar. The unstable nature of the towel can increase your grip activation by forcing your hands and forearms to work harder to maintain a secure hold, improving both crush and support grip strength.

4. Hand grippers

These are small, spring-loaded devices that you’d probably associate with a “Rocky”-era bodybuilder. By squeezing it repeatedly, you can target crush grip strength, training maximal squeezing force in a controlled way. 

5. Wrist curls and reverse wrist curls

You can perform wrist curls by kneeling in front of a weight bench and gripping a set of light dumbbells. Lay your arms across the bench with your wrists pointing up and gently curl the weights only using your wrists. 

For reverse curls, simply turn your hands over and perform the action backwards, tilting your knuckles upward. Both exercises strengthen the forearm muscles, fortifying better grip strength and wrist stability. 

6. Plate pinches

Hold two plates together between your fingers and thumb as long as possible. This exercise strengthens pinch grip and thumb muscles, both of which are important for activities requiring fine motor control and sustained gripping power.

7. Rice bucket training

Fill a bucket with dry rice and submerge your hands in the bucket. Perform squeezing, twisting, and opening motions to build endurance in your fingers and wrists. This can also improve your dexterity and grip endurance.

8. Rope climbing

Climbing a rope requires intense grip engagement, as you must support your body weight using only your hands and arms. This exercise is an exceptional way to build full-hand grip strength and endurance.

9. Thick bar training

Using thick-handled barbells, dumbbells, or grip sleeves forces your hands to work harder to maintain a solid grip. Ultimately, these exercises increase grip activation and strength development by engaging your fingers through force application.

10. Rowing machine workouts

We would be remiss if we didn’t tout the benefits that rowing offers! Rowing, whether on the water or your Hydrow rowing machine, requires a sustained grip on the handle throughout the workout, naturally strengthening your hands, fingers, and forearms.

Learn more: Can Rowing Improve Your Grip Strength?

Get a grip!

Grip strength plays a critical role in fitness, athletic performance, and everyday life. Strengthening your grip can help prevent injuries, improve overall strength, and even contribute to better long-term health outcomes. Whether you’re an athlete, fitness enthusiast, or just looking to improve your daily coordination, incorporating grip-strengthening exercises into your routine is a beneficial, lifelong investment. 

If you’re looking to develop your grip strength and simultaneously smash calories through low-impact cardio, consider investing in a Hydrow rowing machine. These indoor rowers offer a total-body workout, targeting 86% of your muscles in each rowing stroke

On top of offering incredible rowing workouts, Hydrow rowing machines also offer an extensive library of workout content such as strength training, Pilates, yoga, and circuit training workouts.

Learn more about the benefits of rowing and a Hydrow rowing machine today!