dynamometer, dead hang, or gripper · benchmark by age & sex · track over time
How did you test your grip?
Pick whichever method matches what you have on hand — a dynamometer isn't required.
Squeeze a hand dynamometer, elbow bent at 90°, and enter your best reading per hand.
Hang from a pull-up bar with both hands, arms straight, and time how long you can hold on before your grip gives out.
Enter the heaviest gripper resistance (in pounds) you can fully close, tested per hand if you have one gripper to swap between hands.
Your grip strength result
Right hand
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kg
Left hand
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kg
Dominant hand vs. your age & sex group —
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Your grip strength history
How to test each way
1Dynamometer: sit upright, elbow bent at 90°, forearm neutral, and squeeze as hard as you comfortably can for 2–3 seconds. Repeat 2–3 times per hand and use your best reading.
2Dead hang: grab a pull-up bar with an overhand grip, hang with straight arms and feet off the ground, and time until you have to let go.
3Hand gripper: using a spring-loaded gripper, find the heaviest resistance you can fully close (handles touching) with good form, one hand at a time.
4Whichever method you use, stay consistent between tests so your saved history reflects real progress, not measurement differences.
Why grip strength matters
Grip strength is more than just how hard you can squeeze something. Research in aging and sports science has repeatedly found it correlates with overall muscular strength, functional independence in older adults, and general physical resilience — which is why it's used as a simple, low-cost screening measure in frailty and longevity research.
For athletes and lifters, grip strength is also a practical limiting factor in exercises like deadlifts, pull-ups, and farmer's carries, so tracking it over time can be a useful training metric on its own.
One reading is just a snapshot — it doesn't diagnose any condition. If your strength has dropped noticeably and unexpectedly, that's worth mentioning to a doctor.
Average grip strength by age
General population benchmarks compiled from normative studies and common training references. Individual results vary by build, training history, and measurement method.
Age group
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Above Avg
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Age group
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Three ways to test your grip
Dynamometer: the standard clinical/research tool. Most precise, but not something most people own.
Dead hang: hang from a pull-up bar with straight arms and time how long you last. A practical proxy for grip endurance if you have access to a bar.
Hand gripper: spring-loaded grip tools rated by resistance (commonly in lb) — use the heaviest one you can fully close. Widely available and cheap, popular in strength-training communities.
These three methods measure related but not identical things (peak force vs. endurance vs. closing strength), so benchmarks are method-specific — that's why this calculator scores each one separately rather than converting between them.
Frequently asked questions
It depends on age and sex — grip strength peaks in the late 20s to 30s and gradually declines with age. Enter your reading above to see where you fall relative to typical population averages for your age and sex, or check the full reference table on this page.
No — this calculator also supports a dead hang test (timing how long you can hang from a pull-up bar) and a hand gripper test (the heaviest spring-loaded gripper you can fully close), so you can benchmark your grip with whatever equipment you actually have.
Use a hand dynamometer, sit with your elbow bent at 90 degrees and close to your body, and squeeze as hard as you can for 2–3 seconds. Test each hand 2–3 times and use the best reading. Standing, arm position, and device calibration can all affect results, so try to stay consistent between tests.
Research has repeatedly found that grip strength correlates with overall muscular strength, functional independence, and general health markers as people age, which is why it's used in aging and frailty research as a simple, low-cost measure. A single reading doesn't diagnose anything on its own — it's one data point among many.
Yes, some difference is normal, especially between your dominant and non-dominant hand — commonly around 5–10% stronger on the dominant side. A much larger gap can sometimes reflect an old injury, overuse, or an area worth mentioning to a doctor or physical therapist if it's new or worsening.
Yes — grip strength responds well to training, including deadlifts, farmer's carries, dead hangs, and dedicated grip tools like hand grippers or stress balls. Like other strength adaptations, consistent training over weeks to months typically produces measurable improvement.
Yes — after calculating your result, save it to build a private history stored on your device. You'll see a trend chart of your dominant-hand grip strength across saved tests, which is useful for tracking training progress.
Not a diagnostic tool: This calculator gives a general comparison against population averages for educational and training-tracking purposes. It does not diagnose sarcopenia, frailty, neurological conditions, or any other condition. If you've noticed a sudden or unexplained drop in strength, talk to a doctor.