Words by Emma-Jade Stoddart
This time last year, I switched gyms in a bid to get stronger and fitter in the lead-up to my wedding. I was craving a more considered approach to training – smaller group sessions, personal coaching and classes that prioritised strength over sweat for sweat’s sake. After a year of training three to five times a week, the progress has been tangible. According to my InBody score, I’ve gained 1.1kg of muscle mass while losing 4kg of body fat. On paper, at least, things were moving in the right direction.
And then came the hang. At the end of a personal training session focused on squats, we were instructed to jump up to a pull-up bar. “Brace your core and raise your legs slightly,” the trainer said, setting a timer for one minute. Easy enough, I thought – until around the 20-second mark, when my hands began to burn and my grip started to fail. A minute, it turns out, is a very long time when you’re suspended by your hands alone.
What surprised me most wasn’t just how challenging it felt, but what that struggle seemed to reveal. Hanging isn’t just about upper-body or core strength. It’s a direct test of grip strength, a quality that underpins far more than gym performance. “Grip strength is the gateway to almost everything we do in calisthenics,” explains Lucy Joslin, head coach and calisthenics instructor at Mission E1. “A solid grip gives you stability, allows you to produce force through the upper body and creates a sense of control and connection to whatever you’re hanging from or loading.”
Beyond pull-ups and dead hangs, grip strength plays a role in everyday life – from carrying shopping and opening jars to maintaining balance and independence as we age. Increasingly, it’s also being recognised as a powerful biomarker of health. A growing body of research links grip strength to longevity, cognitive health, bone density and a reduced risk of chronic disease. In some studies, it’s even been shown to predict overall mortality more accurately than traditional markers like blood pressure.
So, why does something as simple as how firmly we can hold onto something matter so much – and what does it really tell us about how well we’re ageing?
Why is grip strength considered a biomarker of health and longevity?
When we think of health markers, blood pressure and cholesterol tend to come to mind. But grip strength is increasingly part of the conversation – not because it measures hand strength alone, but because it reflects how well the body functions as a whole.
Research consistently links grip strength to long-term health outcomes. Lower grip strength has been associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, frailty and earlier mortality, while stronger grip tends to correlate with better physical resilience as we age. In some studies, it has even outperformed more traditional measures when it comes to predicting overall health outcomes.
Part of its power lies in its simplicity. Grip strength draws on muscle mass, nerve signalling, connective tissue health and coordination – systems that naturally decline over time. When grip weakens, it can offer an early clue that functional capacity is beginning to dip, long before more obvious signs appear. This is why grip strength is often used in clinical and research settings as a quick snapshot of functional health, particularly in older adults. It’s easy to assess, requires no complex equipment and offers meaningful insight into how well the body is ageing.
What does grip strength actually reflect in the body?
“Grip often reveals how well someone can organise tension through their entire body,” explains Joslin. “People with strong, coordinated grip usually have better scapular control, better body awareness and smoother pulling mechanics.”
That’s because generating grip strength relies on far more than muscle alone. Tendons, connective tissue and the nervous system all play a crucial role. “Grip improvements are often neural at first,” Joslin says. “Your body learns to switch on more effectively and tolerate load. Over time, the tendons adapt and strengthen, which is essential for long-term progress and injury resilience.”
This combination of muscle capacity, neural drive and connective tissue health is precisely what makes grip strength such a telling health marker. When these systems are working well together, movement tends to feel controlled and efficient. When they’re not, grip is often one of the first things to fail – even in people who appear otherwise strong.
In training, Joslin sees this play out repeatedly. When grip is the weak link, compensations quickly appear – shrugging through the shoulders, over-reliance on the arms, loss of core control or early fatigue. “If you can’t hold onto the bar, you can’t use the strength you already have,” she says. “Grip is the gateway.”
What is ‘good’ grip strength and should we be testing it?
It’s important to flag that grip naturally varies by age, sex and body size, and like most health markers, it’s best understood in context rather than isolation. What matters more than hitting a specific target is noticing change over time.
In research settings, grip strength is often measured using a handheld dynamometer, but outside of a lab, functional tests can be just as informative. “A timed dead hang is my go-to,” says Joslin. “It’s simple, repeatable, and gives you a real picture of usable grip strength under bodyweight.” She also looks at how someone hangs – whether they can maintain shoulder control, avoid excessive swinging and hold on evenly, rather than just how long they last.
That said, grip strength isn’t something most of us need to test obsessively. Instead, it can be helpful to treat it as a check-in rather than a score. Struggling with everyday tasks like opening jars, carrying shopping or holding onto heavier objects for longer periods can all be signals that grip – and broader functional strength – could use some attention.
How can you improve grip strength?
The good news? Grip strength is highly trainable, and it doesn’t require long workouts or specialist equipment. In fact, consistency matters far more than intensity. “Grip responds best to little and often,” assures Joslin. “Frequent, low-threat exposure gives the nervous system and tendons time to adapt without overload.”
Rather than isolating the hands with repetitive squeezing, Joslin favours movements that train grip in a more integrated, functional way. Passive and active hangs, loaded carries and thicker-grip variations all challenge the hands while engaging the rest of the body – mirroring how grip is used in real life.
For those new to hanging work, she recommends starting small. Short, comfortable hangs with the feet lightly supported, building duration gradually before adding more active pulling or load. “The biggest breakthrough usually comes from regular exposure,” she explains. “Not maximal effort.”
If time is tight, even five minutes a day can make a difference. A brief circuit combining hangs, carries and simple forearm mobility is often enough to improve grip endurance, confidence and control over time. And as grip strength improves, many people notice a knock-on effect: pull-ups feel more achievable, lifting feels safer and everyday tasks feel easier.
A five-minute grip-strength circuit
Joslin’s go-to circuit looks like this:
1 minute dead hang, broken into shorter holds if needed1 minute farmer’s carry (using dumbbells, kettlebells or heavy shopping bags)1 minute active hang or scapular pull-ups1 minute towel or thick-grip hold1 minute wrist and forearm mobility
The post Could Your Grip Strength Say More About Your Health Than You Think? appeared first on Hip & Healthy.
