How long could you hang from a bar?
30 seconds? A minute? Five seconds before your fingers start to give way?
It might sound like a bit one of those cringy gym challenges, but your ability to hold on could tell you more about your physical condition than you might think.
A recent article in Health looked at the dead hang and how long people should be able to maintain it at different ages. What is a dead hang? Well it’s simply holding onto a bar with your feet off the ground for as long as you can.
The really interesting part isn’t whether you can hang for 20, 40 or 60 seconds.
It’s grip strength.
Because as we get older, maintaining our grip may be much more important than most of us realise.
Your Grip Is About More Than Your Hands
When we talk about grip strength, it’s easy to imagine that we’re simply measuring the muscles in your hands and forearms.
But grip strength is increasingly used by researchers as a simple indicator of overall physical strength and function.
A large review of the evidence described grip strength as a potential biomarker of ageing, with associations found between grip strength and overall strength, physical function, bone health, falls, nutrition, quality of life and several other measures of health.
European experts on sarcopenia (age-related loss of muscle strength and mass) also use grip strength as one of the measurements for identifying low muscle strength.
In other words, your grip isn’t just about whether you can open a stubborn jar.
It can provide a small window into how well your body is functioning more generally.
Grip Strength Naturally Declines as We Age
Like many areas of physical performance, grip strength tends to decline as we get older.
Research using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing found that grip strength decreased systematically in adults aged 50 and over, although the rate of decline differed between men and women.
Some decline with age is normal but that doesn’t mean we should simply accept becoming progressively weaker.
That’s an important distinction.
Ageing happens. How we age can be influenced.
Regular resistance training, physical activity, good nutrition and continuing to challenge our bodies can all help us retain more of the strength and physical capacity we have built throughout life.
And that’s one of the reasons we talk so much at DMC Fitness about strength for life, rather than simply exercising to look better.
What Can Your Grip Strength Indicate?
Researchers have found associations between lower grip strength and a number of poorer health outcomes.
An umbrella review of systematic reviews found particularly strong evidence linking lower grip strength with increased risk of disability and higher all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.
Closer to home, researchers from the University of Glasgow examined data from more than 500,000 UK Biobank participants aged 40–69.
They found that lower grip strength was associated with a higher risk of several adverse health outcomes, including all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. The researchers also stressed that these associations do not necessarily mean that weak grip itself causes these conditions.
That’s important.
Having a weak grip doesn’t mean you’re unhealthy, and having a strong grip doesn’t guarantee good health.
Grip strength can be affected by your age, sex, body size, injuries, arthritis, neurological conditions and numerous other factors.
Think of it more like a warning light on the dashboard of your car.
If someone’s strength, including their grip, is declining noticeably then it might be worth paying attention to the bigger picture.
Are they losing muscle?
Have they become less active?
Are everyday jobs becoming harder?
Are they struggling to carry shopping?
Is getting out of a chair becoming more difficult?
Are they becoming less confident physically?
Those changes matter and shouldn’t be dismissed.
Why Grip Strength Matters in Everyday Life
Grip strength becomes particularly relevant when you stop thinking about the gym and start thinking about daily life.
You need your hands and forearms to:
- Carry shopping bags
- Lift suitcases
- Carry grandchildren
- Open jars and bottles
- Use tools
- Garden
- Move furniture
- Hold onto a handrail
- Pick up and carry objects around the house
But there’s another side to it.
Many exercises that help us maintain whole-body strength also require us to hold onto something.
Rows, Deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts, Pull-ups, Kettlebells, Dumbbells, Farmer carries etc. all require you to grip something. Your grip is quite literally the connection between you and the weight.
So, if your grip becomes a weak link, it can start restricting what the rest of your body is capable of doing.
How Long Should You Be Able to Hang From a Bar?
This is where the recent Health article gets interesting.
It suggests some informal dead-hang benchmarks for adults over 50:
Beginner: 10–20 seconds
Intermediate: 20–45 seconds
Advanced: 45+ seconds
However, these shouldn’t be treated as medical standards.
There isn’t currently much standardised data defining a “normal” dead-hang time, and your result can be influenced by bodyweight, shoulder mobility, training experience, bar thickness and other factors.
Someone who weighs 100kg is also asking their grip to do something very different from someone weighing 60kg.
So it’s important not to turn it into another number you need to obsess over.
Instead, use it as a simple question:
Can I comfortably support and control my own body?
For some people, particularly those with shoulder, elbow, wrist or hand problems, hanging from a bar might not be appropriate at all.
There are plenty of other ways to work on grip and we’ve got some examples below.
How Can You Improve Your Grip Strength?
The good news is that you don’t necessarily need complicated grip-training equipment.
Some of the best exercises for grip strength are already excellent exercises for the rest of your body.
Farmer Hold / Walk
Pick up a suitable dumbbell or kettlebell in each hand and either stand still or walk while maintaining good posture.
Simple.
But extremely effective.
You’re training your grip, forearms, shoulders, core and entire body while performing one of the most fundamental human movements, carrying something.
Dead Hangs
If your shoulders tolerate them well, hanging from a bar can be a simple way to challenge grip endurance.
You don’t have to start with your entire bodyweight either.
Keep your feet partially supported and gradually increase the amount of weight going through your hands.
Rows
Dumbbell, cable and barbell rows all require you to maintain your grip while strengthening your back and arms.
Deadlifts and Romanian Deadlifts
These movements allow you to train your legs, hips, back and grip simultaneously.
Bench Assisted Overhand Grip EZ Bar Forearm Curl
Again, the important word is appropriate.
You don’t need to lift enormous weights.
You need a resistance that is challenging enough for you and that can be progressed safely over time.
Don’t Just Train Your Grip
Here’s the bigger message.
We don’t want you leaving this blog post thinking you need to spend the next six months squeezing stress balls until they pop.
Grip strength is useful partly because it can reflect something bigger: your overall physical capacity.
That’s why a well-designed strength programme becomes increasingly valuable as we get older.
Train your legs.
Train your hips.
Train your back.
Train your shoulders.
Push.
Pull.
Carry.
Squat.
Move.
And, of course, hold onto things.
Because the goal isn’t simply to have stronger hands.
The goal is to maintain a body capable of doing the things you want it to do for as long as possible.
Strength Is About Maintaining Your Independence
We often associate strength training with younger people trying to build muscle or improve how they look.
But the older we get, the more valuable strength becomes.
Strength helps us continue doing everyday jobs. It helps us stay active. It allows us to lift, carry and move with confidence, and it gives us more physical capacity in reserve for the inevitable challenges life throws at us.
Grip strength is just one piece of that puzzle.
So next time you’re in the gym and you’re carrying a pair of heavy dumbbells or holding onto a bar, remember:
You’re not simply training your hands.
You’re investing in your ability to remain strong, capable and independent in the years ahead.
That’s what we mean by “Strength for Life”.
Davie
Davie McConnachie
Davie McConnachie is an award-winning coach, entrepreneur, speaker and founder of DMC Fitness. Since 2005, he has helped thousands of people transform their health, build strength, improve performance and develop a lifelong relationship with fitness.
Through his own experiences of adversity, recovery and personal growth, Davie has developed a coaching philosophy centred on resilience, self-mastery and sustainable progress. His mission is simple: to help people become stronger, healthier and more capable in every area of life while falling in love with fitness along the way.
Strength for Life.
