Do you want to strengthen your grip? It is a good decision indeed! A strong grip is not only essential for sportspersons. It also helps common people in performing day-to-day activities. With your strong forearms, you can open the tight knob of your door, unscrew the stubborn lid of the container, and carry a heavy grocery bag. If you are a player, i.e. a rock climber, golfer, or tennis player, you must have a strong grip on both hands.

However, we are not always blessed with a firmer grip or lost our strong grip due to ageing, continuous stress and regular wear and tear. If you want to maintain a good grasping ability till old age, you must put in some effort. These efforts not only increase your grasping ability but also improve your overall health condition.,

Now you may ask how to increase grip strength?

Here you get multiple solutions across the internet. However, you can choose the easiest method. Use a hand gripper to develop grip strength gradually.

Before pen down its application, we would like to give you an overview of the hand grip. A firm hand grip involves flexion of the finger joints, extensor muscles, and flexor. Experts have reviewed that grip strength depends on multiple factors such as muscle strength, Nutritional status, fatigue level, gender, the dominance of hands ( Left/ right hands), and time of the day: associated disease and condition, age, and restricted movements. And last but not the least cardiovascular condition.

A scientific study has been performed in Acta Medica Indonesiana, and they reviewed that elderly patients with age 75+ with malnutrition have significantly reduced grip strength.

The occupation therapist or hand therapist measures grip strength using a hand gripper, which is a hand dynamometer. Hand gripper measures your hand strength, finger strength, stress level & blood circulation around your hands. Experts at Harvard University suggest measuring the optimum strength at which one can squish both handles together, and it is the perfect way of evaluating grip strength.

How do you use a Hand gripper perfectly & train your hands?

When you buy a hand gripper, you will get an instruction manual or instructional video along with it. The manufacturing company demonstrate the proper usage of hand grippers to develop grip strength. Here you have to put effort into squeezing and relaxing in a simultaneous way. Start with turning a knob to adjust the resistance according to o your present hand condition.

There are multiple ways to position and adjust the hand gripper, such as:

• Hold your thumb on the side of the hand gripper, keep your index and middle finger on another side; Then squeeze with your whole potential
• Then hold your gripper in an upside-down position. Then have your palm on one side and pinkie ring finger on another side. Then squeeze strongly
• Remember you have to squeeze only with your index finger and thumb, then squeeze through your thumb and middle finger
• Next, push through your thumb and keep your four fingers closed around the lower handle of the grip. Reverse the condition and do this again with the rest of the four fingers held around the top.
• Then finally, place the hand strengthening equipment inside one hand, then squeeze it. It is a whole hand exercise. Do it with the reverse condition. Now the opposite side of the gripper must face upward.

Some of the alternative hand exercises you can perform if you don’t have hand grippers

Use rubber band exercise.

Take a rubber band and weave it around your fingers. Then open and close your fingers as much time as possible. You can do it whenever you want, either at your home or your office cubicle during work break. It also releases your stress.

Squeeze tennis ball instead of hand grippers

You can use a moderately soft tennis ball if you do not have hand grippers, perform as many reps as you can. Then take 90-second rest, then do it again.

Fingertip push-ups

Regular push-ups strengthen your core, and your finger pushes up to strengthen your finger joints. Do a standard push-up. Avoid your hands being flat on the floor. Use only your fingertips as the touch point. Do as many fingertips push-ups as you can.

Harvard Health publishing reviewed that grip exercises not only strengthen the forearm muscles but also endure the thumb and rest of the fingers and also increase wrist flexibility and range of motions.

Benefits of having a strong grip

• Reduced mortality risk; It means a firmer grip won’t make you immortal but can expand your lifespan.
• Improve the quality of life, and improve performance in high-intensity exercises like weight lifting, farmer’s carry, and even in rock climbing.
• Performing hand exercise on a regular basis keeps your heart muscles stronger, improves heart function, and reduces the risk of cardiovascular anomalies. A weak grip is strongly linked with strokes and developing cardiovascular disease.

Grip trainers help you in multiple ways. Performing isometric exercise with it make you eligible to lead high quality life with full of activities. So, include a grip trainer in your fitness regime.