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Grip-Strength Percentile

How Strong Is Your Grip?

Find out exactly how your handgrip strength compares, by age and sex, against large population studies, with your grip 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. It peaks at about 54 kg for men and 34 kg for women between ages 30 and 45, then declines roughly 0.3 to 0.5 kg per year after 50. Below 27 kg (men) or 16 kg (women) counts as clinically low (EWGSOP2).

years

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.

Your result

Enter your age and grip strength to see your percentile, where you land on the curve, and your row in the table below.

Men: grip strength percentiles by age (kg)

Age10th25thMedian75th90th
203035404652
253641485561
303844515864
353945515864
403844505763
453642495661

Source: Dodds 2014 (British). All values in kilograms (kg). "Median" is the 50th percentile, half of people are above it, half below.

Not medical advice

This tool provides general health information, not medical advice, a diagnosis or a treatment plan. A grip-strength percentile is a fitness and screening signal, not a clinical assessment. Talk to a physician or physiotherapist before starting a new training program, especially if you have arthritis, a recent injury, joint pain or a chronic condition. It is not a medical device. Do not use this result to start, stop or change any medication or treatment, or any specific training or diet program, on your own.

Read our full medical disclaimer
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 1.16 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). In the German normative data it rises into the 30s and 40s and then declines by roughly 0.3 to 0.5 kg a year (Steiber 2016), and the decline tracks training, so it is partly in your hands. 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 is taken the standard way. The clinical reference is the Southampton / ASHT protocol with a Jamar hydraulic dynamometer (Roberts 2011).

  1. 1Sit in a chair with back support, feet flat on the floor, shoulder relaxed and down by your side.
  2. 2Bend the elbow to 90 degrees, forearm and wrist in a neutral position, with the dynamometer held just clear of the chair arm.
  3. 3Squeeze as hard as you can for 3 to 5 seconds while someone encourages you ("squeeze, harder, harder"), then relax.
  4. 4Take three measurements on each hand, alternating sides, with a short rest between squeezes.
  5. 5Record your single highest value, the best of all attempts on either hand. That is the number to enter above.

Device and protocol matter as much as the number. A Jamar (hydraulic) and a Smedley (spring) dynamometer are not interchangeable, and standing with a straight arm reads a few kg higher than sitting with a bent elbow. Cheap consumer dynamometers can be off by several kg. Use the same device and protocol each time, and compare against the German (Smedley) or British (mixed-device) table accordingly.

How to improve your grip strength

Grip is mostly a window onto your whole-body strength, so the biggest gains come from training everything, with a little dedicated grip work on top. Expect early neural gains in 2 to 4 weeks and clear strength changes by 6 to 12 weeks.

Whole-body training

Grip strength mostly reflects total muscle and general strength, so whole-body progressive resistance training is the highest-leverage area. In a network meta-analysis, every resistance program outperformed doing nothing for strength and size (Currier 2023).

Heavy pulling movements

Deadlifts with a double-overhand grip, barbell and chest-supported rows, and pull-ups or lat pulldowns load the hands hard while building the whole posterior chain; grip tends to improve as a side effect.

Loaded carries

Farmer's carries, roughly 15 to 40 m for 4 to 8 rounds a few times a week, are among the most direct grip and total-strength builders described in training practice.

Dead hangs

Hanging from a bar with straight arms, for example 3 to 5 sets of 10 to 20 seconds and building toward 30 to 45 second holds, is a common way to train isometric grip strength and endurance.

Grippers and wrist curls

Hand grippers and wrist curls are commonly used as low-fatigue accessory work, typically a few sets in a moderate rep range with some effort kept in reserve early on (general resistance-training practice, ACSM 2009).

Progressive loading

Gradually adding a little weight, a rep, or a few seconds of hold as sets get easier is the core idea of progressive overload, described as the main driver of training adaptation (ACSM 2009).

Protein and muscle

Reviews of training studies describe roughly 1.6 to 2.2 g of protein per kg of body weight per day as the range associated with supporting muscle (Morton 2018); needs vary by person. Training plus protein, not protein alone, is what the research links to strength gains.

Consistency and time

Training studies typically have people work each major muscle group 2 to 3 times a week, roughly 10 to 20 hard sets per muscle weekly, over months. Progress tends to track consistency, sleep and recovery, and naturally slows over time.

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 default 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 British data to within about 2 kg, but still an estimate. The British table (Dodds 2014) shows the actual published percentiles. The two use different devices and sit a few kg apart, which is why they are kept separate rather than averaged. Finally, the mortality links are associations from observational cohorts, not proof of cause. If you have arthritis, a recent injury or joint pain, get medical clearance before training grip and never push through sharp pain.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good grip strength for my age?

It depends on age and sex. In German data (Steiber 2016) the average man peaks around 54 kg in his early 40s and the average woman around 34 kg, declining to roughly 33 kg and 21 kg by age 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?

Across adult life the average (median) handgrip is about 40 to 54 kg for men and 28 to 34 kg for women, depending on age, peaking in the 30s and 40s (Steiber 2016; Dodds 2014). Values fall steadily after about age 50.

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, usually a Jamar, while seated with the elbow bent to 90 degrees. You squeeze maximally three times per hand and record your single best value. Standing with a straight arm, or using a different device, can change the number by several kg, so always match your reading to the right reference table.

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. Grip is a marker of overall strength and health, though, not a guaranteed cause of a longer life.

Why do the German and international results differ?

They come from different studies with different equipment. The German SOEP norms (Steiber 2016) used a Smedley dynamometer and the maximum of up to four squeezes across both hands; the British norms (Dodds 2014) pool several devices. The two sit about 2 to 4 kg apart at every age, so we keep them as separate, switchable tables rather than averaging them.

Can I improve my grip strength?

Yes. Because grip mostly reflects whole-body strength, the best results come from progressive resistance training (heavy pulls, loaded carries and dead hangs) plus enough protein (about 1.6 to 2.2 g/kg/day). Expect early gains in a few weeks and clear changes within a few months.

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

Measure both hands three times each and enter your single highest reading (your maximum). That matches how the reference tables and the sarcopenia cut-offs are defined.

Is 50 kg grip strength good?

For a man, 50 kg grip strength is about average (the median) in the early 50s, slightly below average from age 25 to 50, and above average past 55. For a woman, 50 kg is well 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 average near age 70 and below average when younger. For a woman, 40 kg is excellent, above the 90th percentile at every adult age (Steiber 2016).

Is 100 lbs grip strength good?

100 lbs is about 45 kg. For a man that is around average in the early 60s and above average past 65; for a woman it is well above the 90th percentile at any age.

Sources

Every number on this page traces to a peer-reviewed primary source. Each link goes to the original paper, and every reference below was independently verified.

Strength is a longevity skill

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Created by Maurice Lichtenberg, Founder, Longevity Cities · Updated