Get a Grip! What Grip Strength Can Tell You About Your Health
It’s time for a check-up
When you think about having a health check-up, you might consider visiting your doctor for a blood test, blood pressure and other medical checks. Most of us would be less inclined to think about how our strength reflects our health. However, more and more research is linking muscle strength to risk of death from heart disease, cancer, frailty and more.
As we grow older, we grow weaker. It’s an unfortunate fact, but the reality is that we need to work harder to maintain muscle mass the older we get. Muscle mass starts to diminish as early as our 40s and will get worse the older we get. Luckily, there is plenty that can be done to reverse these effects.
Growing weaker can eventually begin to affect our day-to-day life and our independence. Simple things like lifting groceries and opening jars may become more difficult, usually reflecting a loss of strength generally in the legs, arms and elsewhere.
Grip strength testing is a handy tool
Grip strength testing has been shown to be a reliable indicator of overall strength and a useful tool for assessing and predicting health risks.
Weak grip strength is associated with:
Heart failure https://www.bmj.com/content/361/bmj.k1651
Dying from cancer https://www.bmj.com/content/361/bmj.k1651
Osteoporosis https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/os.12360
Poorer cognitive function https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31322562/
Frailty fractures https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/os.12360
Heart attack and stroke https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/05/150513210142.htm
What does the test involve?
The test is a simple test of hand-grip strength using a device called a dynamometer. The person holds the dynamometer at their side with their elbow at a right angle and squeezes as hard as they can for about 3 seconds. The average is taken from 3 attempts and can be compared to normal ranges for age and gender.
What can I do?
Come in for a FREE strength assessment. My Vitality Physio are offering a free grip strength assessment using our dynamometer. This way you can find out how your strength compares to others and whether you are at a higher risk of poor health as you age.
If your grip strength is below average, there is still hope! Without a doubt, one of the keys to maintaining good health is to stay fit and strong. “Use it or lose it” as they say. Exercising is the key to improving muscle strength. Your MVP physiotherapist or exercise physiologist will be able to guide you to finding a program that you enjoy and that gets you results.
