The iron-gripped among us also experience day-to-day health benefits. “Those same people tend to have just better metabolism as well,” Sarah Crawford, a physical therapist and owner of Anchor Wellness in Cincinnati, told Business Insider. “So better blood sugar regulation, better hormonal balance, reduced inflammation.”<\/p>\n
What do these people all have in common (besides giving firm handshakes)? Staying very active, she said. Grip strength is formed by building small muscles in the hands and forearms, which is harder to do than building larger muscles<\/a> like your hamstrings or quadriceps.<\/p>\n “So if you’re keeping smaller, deeper muscles strong, you have to be keeping bigger muscles strong, too,” she said.<\/p>\n Sorry, simply squeezing a stress ball won’t improve your longevity.<\/p>\n Kinga Krzeminska\/Getty Images<\/p>\n This is why squeezing a stress ball throughout an otherwise sedentary day won’t do anything for grip strength.<\/p>\n “Grip strength is really a by-product of living an active lifestyle,” W. Zach Smith, a physical therapist and owner of HIDEF Physical Therapy in Seattle, told Business Insider. He compared it to a person’s walking speed<\/a>, another sign of longevity: “It’s based on all of the things they do in their life to stay healthy.”<\/p>\n Try farmer’s carries and dead hangs<\/p>\n A farmer’s carry, walking with a kettlebell on each side, quickly improves grip strength.<\/p>\n SDI Productions\/Getty Images<\/p>\n The relationship to grip strength and strength training<\/a> is fairly simple: grip strength is vital to progressing in pull-ups or heavy deadlifts, Crawford said. As you challenge yourself in those exercises, your grip strength improves over time.<\/p>\n Smith said popular exercises like bent-over rows<\/a>, kettlebell swings, or sled pulls (where you hold a handle instead of tying the sled around your waist) all naturally build your grip strength because they involve pulling or carrying motions.<\/p>\n “Even rowing on a machine is going to take quite a bit of grip strength, having to pull,” he said.<\/p>\n Crawford said farmer’s carries<\/a> \u2014 holding a heavy kettlebell in each hand and walking \u2014 “build grip endurance, shoulder stability, and core control all at once.”<\/p>\n Similar exercises, such as a suitcase carry (holding only one weight) or using a trap bar (a hexagonal barbell that you can grip on its sides), also boost grip strength, Smith said.<\/p>\n “Even a simple dead hang from a bar is a great grip-builder,” he said, which involves simply holding on to a pull-up bar for as long as you can. <\/p>\n If weight-training isn’t your thing, Smith said other workouts, like bouldering or gymnastics, also build your strength \u2014 including your grip.<\/p>\n Desk accessories can work \u2014 on one condition<\/p>\n Hand grippers are only worth trying if you already strength-train.<\/p>\n Stopboxstudio\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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