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Grip Strength Test: How Strong Is Your Grip?

Find out exactly how your handgrip strength compares, by age and sex, against large population studies, with how far you are from the typical value for your age and the clinical weakness threshold.

What is a good grip strength by age?

A good grip strength is above the median for your age and sex. In the German norms used here (Steiber 2016, SOEP), the median peaks at ages 40 to 44 at about 54 kg for men and 34.5 kg for women, then falls steadily after 50. Below 27 kg (men) or 16 kg (women) counts as clinically low (EWGSOP2).

Grip Strength Calculator: your percentile by age, sex and height

years

Enter an age between 17 and 90.

Enter your best (maximum) squeeze, measured with a hand dynamometer. Switch to lbs if your device reads in pounds. Not sure how? See "How to measure" below.

cm

Optional. Grades you against people your height and age from the German tables instead of your age group alone.

Your result

Pick male or female first. Grip norms are far apart between the two, so there is no honest answer without it.

Men: grip strength percentiles by age (kg)

Age10th25thMedian75th90th
17–19364248.55561
20–24404550.55661
25–294247525863
30–344348535964
35–39414752.56066
40–444248546066

Source: Steiber 2016 (SOEP). All values in kilograms (kg). "Median" is the 50th percentile, half of people are above it, half below. For the German dataset the 10th, 25th, 75th and 90th percentiles are modelled from the published mean and standard deviation (assuming a normal distribution); the median is the published value.

Women: grip strength percentiles by age (kg)

Age10th25thMedian75th90th
17–19242731.43639
20–242629323639
25–29263033.53741
30–342629333741
35–392630343842
40–44263034.53943

Source: Steiber 2016 (SOEP). All values in kilograms (kg). "Median" is the 50th percentile, half of people are above it, half below. For the German dataset the 10th, 25th, 75th and 90th percentiles are modelled from the published mean and standard deviation (assuming a normal distribution); the median is the published value.

Grip strength norms at a glance

Grip strength peaks at ages 40 to 44 in the German norms this page grades against (Steiber 2016, SOEP): a median of about 54 kg for men and 34.5 kg for women. At 50 it is about 50.5 kg and 32 kg, at 70 about 42 kg and 26 kg, falling by roughly 0.33 to 0.55 kg a year after 50. Below 27 kg for men or 16 kg for women is the European threshold for clinically low strength (EWGSOP2). Each 5 kg less grip is linked to about 16% higher all-cause mortality (PURE).

  • Median grip strength peaks at about 54 kg for men and 34.5 kg for women, at ages 40 to 44 (Steiber 2016, German SOEP data).
  • By age: at 30 the median is 53 kg (men) / 33 kg (women); at 50 it is 50.5 kg / 32 kg; at 70 it is 42 kg / 26 kg; at 80 to 90 it is 33 kg / 21 kg.
  • After 50 the median falls by roughly 0.33 to 0.55 kg a year.
  • Height counts as well: within one age group, the shortest and tallest bands of the German height tables sit about 9 kg apart for men in mid-life and up to about 12 kg apart at the oldest ages (Steiber 2016, Tables 1 and 2).
  • Clinically low ("probable sarcopenia"): below 27 kg for men and 16 kg for women (EWGSOP2). Asia (AWGS): 28 / 18 kg. US (FNIH): 26 / 16 kg.
  • Each 5 kg lower grip strength is linked to about 16% higher all-cause mortality (PURE study, 139,691 adults).
Background & science

Why grip strength predicts how you age

Grip strength is a cheap, fast proxy for whole-body strength, and one of the most consistent predictors of healthy aging we have. It is part of the Fried frailty definition and the entry test for sarcopenia (EWGSOP2).

  • In the PURE study of 139,691 adults, each 5 kg drop in grip strength was linked to a 16% higher risk of all-cause death and a 17% higher risk of cardiovascular death, and grip out-predicted systolic blood pressure (Leong 2015).
  • In UK Biobank (502,293 adults), lower grip tracked higher all-cause, cardiovascular, respiratory and cancer mortality, with hazard ratios of roughly 1.10 to 1.31 per 5 kg less grip (Celis-Morales 2018).
  • Grip is a recognised marker of frailty and the screening test for "probable sarcopenia": below 27 kg for men or 16 kg for women flags low muscle strength (EWGSOP2 2019).
  • Low grip strength is also associated with faster cognitive decline and dementia, and with slower recovery and worse outcomes after surgery.
  • Grip is widely studied as an observational health biomarker (Bohannon 2019), and has been discussed as a candidate biomarker of ageing since a 2015 Lancet comment (Sayer 2015). In the German normative data it rises into the 30s and 40s and then declines by roughly 0.33 to 0.55 kg a year (Steiber 2016). The link with mortality is observational, not proof that raising your grip lowers your risk.

How to measure grip strength correctly

A percentile only means something if your reading was taken the way the readings in the table were taken. Hand strength, handgrip strength and grip strength all describe the same measurement. The German norms on this page come from the SOEP: measured standing, with a Smedley spring dynamometer, 25,285 measurements from 11,790 people (Steiber 2016). The clinical variant, the Southampton protocol with a hydraulic Jamar dynamometer, is done seated instead (Roberts 2011). The steps below describe the SOEP protocol, because that is where the table comes from.

  1. 1Stand upright. Where standing is not possible, the field protocol treats sitting with the arm supported as the documented exception.
  2. 2Set the handle of the dynamometer so that it sits centred across all four fingers, then lock it in place.
  3. 3Keep the upper arm against your torso and the forearm at a right angle. The arm stays down during the squeeze, it is not raised.
  4. 4Squeeze as hard as you can for a few seconds, then let go. Practice guides put that at 3 to 5 seconds.
  5. 5Alternate right and left, two attempts per hand, so four readings in total. Reset the pointer to zero before each attempt.
  6. 6Note your single highest reading out of all four attempts. That maximum is what the norm values are built on, and it is the number to enter above.

A common trip-up: some instructions have you average three attempts per hand, others take the best single one. The German norms (Steiber 2016) and the EWGSOP2 cut-offs both refer to the maximum, not the mean. An average sits systematically lower and produces a percentile against this table that is too weak. The device matters just as much. Measured on the same people, a Jamar read about 3.5 to 4 kg higher than a Smedley, roughly 15 percent (Benton 2022), and the German table was recorded on a Smedley, so a Jamar reading lands flattered here. Use the same device and the same protocol every time, otherwise you are no longer comparing your own trend cleanly.

Measuring grip strength without a device: what substitute tests show

Without a dynamometer there is no number in kilograms, and therefore no percentile. What there is are hold tests that training practice describes as rough stand-ins for grip endurance. They measure something other than a hand dynamometer does, so their result cannot be carried over into the table above.

Dead Hang

What is measured is the time spent hanging freely from a pull-up bar. Fitness writing treats under 30 seconds as room to improve and over 60 seconds as a good showing. Those are rules of thumb from training practice, not validated thresholds, and no published validation against a dynamometer exists. The test also leans heavily on body weight: at the same hand strength, a lighter person hangs longer.

Plate Pinch Hold

A weight plate is held between thumb and fingers and the hold time is recorded. The test loads the pinch strength of the fingers, which only partly overlaps with the crushing grip a dynamometer measures. Published pinch norms exist in their own right, but no conversion into grip kilograms does.

Farmer's Carry

A fixed weight is carried over a set distance or time. What that mainly describes is grip endurance together with trunk and back strength, not the maximum instantaneous force the norm table is built on. Timed carries have been reported to show no clear relationship with dynamometer grip strength.

A real percentile needs a hand dynamometer. Simple home models cost roughly 20 to 40 euros and scatter by several kilograms. Hydraulic Jamar devices are the clinical standard, while the German norms rest on a Smedley spring dynamometer.

What the research describes about training grip strength

Worth saying up front: in meta-analyses, general training moves grip strength only a little. Pooled across 24 studies with about 3,000 older adults, the effect was a standardised mean difference of 0.28, which the authors themselves call small (Labott 2019). Larger gains of several kilograms are reported mainly where the starting value was low.

Whole-body strength training

Grip strength reflects general muscle strength, but only partly. In a network meta-analysis, every form of resistance training outperformed doing nothing for strength and size (Currier 2023). That finding is about strength and muscle in general, not about grip specifically.

How large the gains were in studies

In older adults with sarcopenia, reviews report roughly 2.7 to 3.0 kg more grip strength for resistance training than for control groups. A dose-optimised model estimate in the same population landed at 7 to 8.6 kg, at about three sessions a week over 19 weeks (Li 2025). That is a best-case model value in a group starting from a low baseline, not a typical result.

What the studies actually had people do

The programmes included in these reviews feature heavy pulling movements, loaded carries, hangs from a bar, hand grippers and wrist curls, usually two to three sessions a week over 8 to 26 weeks with rising load (Li 2025, ACSM 2009). That describes what was studied. It is not a training plan for you.

Protein and muscle

Reviews of training studies describe roughly 1.6 g of protein per kg of body weight per day as the point beyond which extra intake brought no further strength gain in resistance-training trials (Morton 2018). Needs vary by person, and what these studies link to strength gains is the combination of training and protein, not protein alone.

When a change is real

The measurement itself is noisy. For readings above 20 kg, a standard error of measurement of about 1.8 kg and a smallest detectable change of about 5 kg have been reported (Bai 2019). On top of that comes the daily rhythm: afternoon and evening readings typically come out 5 to 6 percent higher than morning ones. A gain of one or two kilograms over the last measurement therefore sits inside the measurement spread rather than above it.

How long the studies ran

The training studies evaluated here mostly ran 8 to 26 weeks. Shorter windows report measurable changes less often.

An honest note on what this can and can't tell you

A single squeeze is one snapshot of one proxy for whole-body strength, and the percentile depends entirely on entering your true maximum on a properly calibrated device. The German reference table (Steiber 2016) publishes means, standard deviations and medians but not deciles, so its 10th, 25th, 75th and 90th percentiles here are modelled from a normal distribution, validated against the published British percentiles (Dodds 2014) to within about 1 kg, but still an estimate. The mortality links are associations from observational cohorts, not proof of cause. If you have arthritis, a recent injury or joint pain, a doctor or physiotherapist can say what a grip test means in your case, and pushing through sharp pain is never part of a measurement. Height matters as well: within a single age band the shortest and tallest groups in the German height tables sit about 9 kg apart in mid-life and up to about 12 kg apart at the oldest ages, which is what the optional height comparison accounts for. The 27 kg and 16 kg weakness cut-offs come from British data, and a 2023 analysis of over 200,000 adults in the German National Cohort puts the German equivalents about 2 kg higher, so a value just above the line is borderline rather than comfortably safe.

Compare other values

Frequently asked questions

What is a good grip strength for my age?

It depends on age and sex. In the German norms this page grades against (Steiber 2016) the median peaks at ages 40 to 44: about 54 kg for men and 34.5 kg for women, falling to about 33 kg and 21 kg by ages 80 to 90. A "good" grip is anything above the 50th percentile for your age and sex; the 75th to 90th percentile is strong, and the 90th and above is excellent. Enter your value above for your exact percentile.

What is the average grip strength for men and women?

There is no single number that holds across adult life, because the median falls steadily after 50. In the German norms this page grades against (Steiber 2016) the male median runs from about 54 kg at ages 40 to 44 down to 33 kg at 80 to 90, and the female median from about 34.5 kg down to 21 kg. Enter your age above to see the median for it.

What grip strength is considered weak?

The European EWGSOP2 consensus flags grip below 27 kg in men and 16 kg in women as clinically low strength ("probable sarcopenia"). The Asian AWGS uses 28 kg and 18 kg; the US FNIH project uses 26 kg and 16 kg. These are fixed thresholds, not percentiles, and were designed mainly for older adults.

How is grip strength measured?

With a hand dynamometer. The German norms on this page were recorded standing, upper arm against the torso and forearm at a right angle, with a Smedley spring dynamometer and two squeezes per hand; the single highest of the four readings is the value that counts. The clinical Southampton protocol measures seated with the elbow bent to 90 degrees on a hydraulic Jamar instead (Roberts 2011), and a Jamar reads about 3.5 to 4 kg higher than a Smedley (Benton 2022). Match your reading to the table you compare it against.

Does grip strength predict longevity?

It is strongly associated with it. Each 5 kg lower grip was tied to about 16% higher all-cause mortality in the 140,000-person PURE study, where grip out-predicted blood pressure, and UK Biobank found similar links to heart disease, cancer and respiratory death. A meta-analysis of prospective cohorts put the weakest grip group at about 41% higher all-cause mortality and about 63% higher cardiovascular risk than the strongest (Wu 2017). Grip is a marker of overall strength and health, though, not a guaranteed cause of a longer life.

Can I improve my grip strength?

Grip strength does change with training, though in meta-analyses less than is often assumed. Pooled across 24 trials with about 3,000 older adults, the effect of exercise training on grip strength was a standardised mean difference of 0.28, which the authors themselves call small (Labott 2019). Gains of several kilograms are reported mainly where the starting value was low. Measurement noise sets the floor for what you can even see: above 20 kg, the smallest change that can be told apart from noise is about 5 kg (Bai 2019).

Which hand should I measure, and which value do I enter?

Measure both hands, two attempts each, alternating sides, and enter your single highest reading (your maximum). That matches how the German reference table and the sarcopenia cut-offs are defined.

Is 50 kg grip strength good?

For a man, 50 kg grip strength is the median at about age 54 in the German norms this page uses (Steiber 2016), slightly below it from 25 to 50 and above it from the mid 50s on. For a woman, 50 kg is far above the 90th percentile at any adult age. Enter your age above for the exact percentile.

Is 40 kg grip strength good?

For a man, 40 kg grip strength is around the median at about age 75 in the German norms this page uses (Steiber 2016) and below it at younger adult ages. For a woman, 40 kg is very strong: around the 80th to 90th percentile in mid-life and above the 90th from about age 50. The female 90th percentile sits at 41 to 43 kg between 25 and 49.

Is 100 lbs grip strength good?

100 lbs is about 45 kg. For a man that is around average in the mid 60s and above average past 65 in the German norms this page uses (Steiber 2016); for a woman it is well above the 90th percentile at any age.

Why do grip strength tables online differ?

Because they mix different populations, devices and ways of reading the result. The figures on this page come from the German SOEP: Smedley dynamometer, measured standing, best of four attempts, 25,285 measurements from 11,790 people (Steiber 2016). International pooled tables often put men aged 30 to 39 at about 49 to 50 kg, because averages across many countries and protocols run together there. The German median for the same age group is 52.5 to 53 kg. For placing yourself against a German population, the German table is the closer reference.

Is 70 kg grip strength good?

Yes, clearly. For men, 70 kg sits between the 95th and the 99th percentile of the German norms (Steiber 2016) in every age band, including the strongest years around 40. For women it is above the 99th percentile at every adult age. For comparison, the median of the strongest male age band is 54 kg.

What grip strength is normal at what age?

The median rises into the early 40s and falls after that. In the German SOEP norms (Steiber 2016) the male median is 50.5 kg at ages 20 to 24, 53 kg at 30 to 34, 54 kg at 40 to 44, 49 kg at 55 to 59, 42 kg at 70 to 74 and 33 kg at 80 to 90. For women the same bands read 32 kg, 33 kg, 34.5 kg, 30 kg, 26 kg and 21 kg. The full table with the 10th, 25th, 75th and 90th percentiles is further up this page.

How can I test my hand strength?

A hand dynamometer gives you a number in kilograms that can be compared against the norms: standing, upper arm against the torso, a few seconds of maximum effort, two attempts per hand, and your single best reading is the one that counts. Without a device you are left with hold tests such as a dead hang or a plate pinch, which describe grip endurance rather than maximum force and produce no percentile. The section "Measuring grip strength without a device" sets out what those tests do and do not show.

What is the grip strength world record?

There is no Guinness world record for grip strength. The highest publicly documented dynamometer reading is held in a grip-community register (GM150) at 177.9 kg by Nikita Yurkovets on 3 October 2025, which is a community list rather than a federation record. Clinical devices could not display such a value at all: a Jamar dynamometer ends at 200 lbs (about 90 kg), and the Smedley device behind the German norms at 100 kg. The Captains of Crush gripper No. 4 is rated at around 365 lbs (about 165.6 kg), but that is the spring force of a gripper, not a dynamometer reading. Six people have been certified for closing it.

Keep reading

Sources

Every figure and threshold on this page traces to a peer-reviewed primary source, linked below. The training section describes what those studies typically did, not a single cited protocol.

Strength is a longevity skill

Want to go deeper? Our protein calculator breaks down how much protein the research supports, and the community is open to anyone interested in healthspan.

Created by Maurice Lichtenberg, Founder, Longevity Cities · Updated