Get a grip…on your health!

Think your handshake is just for first impressions? Think again. It turns out your grip strength might be giving you the upper hand in life. An analysis of 42 separate studies (https://lnkd.in/e32gzKbN) from over 3 million people found that grip strength is tightly linked to living longer — or in technical speak: grip strength was an independent predictor of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular diseases.

While there’s nothing innate about grip strength that will make you live longer, it’s an excellent proxy for overall strength and resilience to frailty. At Bionic Health, we use the Camry Dynamometer (https://lnkd.in/eHmW5n5t) to assess grip strength during our Performance module — we also test VO2 Max too.

I’m going to start tracking my grip strength every few months much like I do blood biomarkers, DEXA metrics, blood pressure and glucose levels (via a CGM). I’ve added a tab for it my Personal Health spreadsheet: https://lnkd.in/e4Ve7Btb. Grip strength tends to decline with age so it’s good to keep an eye on over time.

How do you increase your grip strength? Here are some of my favorite exercises that you can do around the house:

- Farmer carries: walk 25–50 yards with two heavy bags/dumbbells/kettlebells
- Dead hang: hang from a bar for as long as possible. 30 seconds is good, 1–2 minutes is great
- Pull-ups: if you have a pull-up bar, it’s a great overall exercise but especially for grip strength
- Squeeze a Tennis ball: Or use a stress ball or hand gripper
- Hammer curls: Grab dumbbells, palms facing each other, and curl