Hand Grip Strength Testing FAQs

If you wish to test the grip strength of children, not all dynamometers would be suitable. The Camry dynamometer that is sold through this website would accurately measure strength levels throughout the range of the unit, and the grip is adjustable to cater to different hand sizes. However, it may still be difficult for a child's hand to grip it well and the unit may be quite heavy to hold for a child. These are thing so need to consider, and there may well be units specifically designed for measuring the hand grip strength of children

There are several techniques that are commonly used to measure grip strength, with the position of the arm and hand varying depending on the protocol used. The various positions include the elbow being held at right angles, the arm hanging by the side, and the extended arm being swung from above the head to by the side during the squeezing motion. See our detailed description of the hand grip protocols. There is no right and wrong way, you should use one of the commonly used methods, and particularly you should use the method that corresponds to the normative values that you may compare the results to.

We have a norm table that is useful for rating grip strength for a wide range of age groups, males and females. You can also compare results of grip strength tests from some sports people.

Handgrip strength testing is often used as a general test of body strength, generally people with strong hands tend to be strong elsewhere. But this is not always the case - the strength of the forearm muscles does not necessarily represent the strength of other muscle groups. If you wish to measure the strength of a particular muscle group, there are other specific tests that can be performed. See the range of other strength tests.

Grip strength is expected to be different between the left and right hands, and generally the dominant hand will be the stronger. The non-dominant hand usually scores about 10% lower. When you test hand grip strength, you could either test both hands and average the score, or test everyone on the same side, or test everyone on their dominant side. There is no right and wrong way, just whatever method suits your purpose.