What is Grip Strength and Why Is It Important

As defined by Physiopedia, "Grip strength is a measure of muscular strength or the maximum force/tension generated by one's forearm muscles. It can be used as a screening tool for the measurement of upper body strength and overall strength." 

Why is grip strength important? For a range of athletes, grip strength is crucial to optimal performance. Golfers, baseball players, tennis players, and many others rely on a strong grip to play at their best and prevent strain and injury. Outside of athletics, grip strength has been shown to be an important indicator of muscular endurance and overall strength. Below, we'll walk through two components of grip strength - finger strength and wrist/forearm strength and include a few tools and exercises to help us improve them! 

Fingers

Having strong and dexterous fingers can help us strengthen our grip and prevent many common hand injuries before they occur. If you have had surgery on your hand, you will also likely need to spend some time rehabilitating your muscles. In the video below, we use CanDo TheraPutty to work on finger strength and dexterity.

Wrist and Forearm

In addition to our fingers, our grip strength depends on the strength of our wrists and forearms. In the video below, we use the TheraBand FlexBar to target these areas and improve the strength of both wrist flexors and extensors. 

Try these products and exercises out for yourself and let us know what you think! As an Amazon Associate, Rehabilitation Health and our health professionals/practices earn from qualifying Amazon purchases.