Grip strength
Maximum squeeze on a hand dynamometer. The best-studied strength marker in ageing research.
- Method
- Dynamometer · best of 3
- Equipment
- Hand dynamometer
- Attempts
- 3, best counts
- Reference
- Clinical norm
Protocol
Stand, arm by your side, elbow straight, dynamometer in your dominant hand.
Squeeze as hard as you can for 3 seconds.
Three attempts with a minute between them. Enter all three; the app keeps the best.
Safety. Do not hold your breath and strain. Stop if your wrist hurts. Rest 1 min between attempts.
How it is scored
Scored against the Dodds 2014 centiles (pooled British data), by decade of age and by sex. Those studies mostly took the best of both hands; testing both hands and keeping the best matches them more closely.
Clinical norm
Scored against a published reference table for your age and sex.
Reference table
Grip strength across the life course (Dodds 2014)
49,964 people from 12 pooled British studies
Reference data come from hydraulic and spring dynamometers. Digital devices can read several kg higher. Use the same device every quarter.
Known gaps
Where the app’s table or protocol differs from its best source, from our own check of the research.
- The table follows Dodds 2014 by decade, so a percentile can step at 40, 50 and so on. The newer international norms (Tomkinson 2025) come in five-year groups.
- Dodds mostly took the best of both hands over six trials. The app uses the dominant hand, best of three; testing both hands and keeping the best matches the sources more closely.
- Electronic dynamometers read 4–5 kg above the hydraulic and spring devices the norms were collected on.