Why Grip Strength is the Ultimate Fitness Test

The Power of Grip Strength: Why We Test It at Unbound Athletic

At Unbound Athletic, we believe in building a strong foundation—and that starts with grip strength! It’s not just about hanging onto a bar, it’s about improving your overall strength, endurance, and athletic performance. In this post, we’ll dive into why grip strength matters, what our testing involves, and how it can elevate your fitness.

Why Grip Strength Matters

Research from powerlifting, bodybuilding, and climbing shows that grip strength directly correlates with improvements in overall muscle strength, endurance, and body composition. A strong grip enhances your performance in key movements like pull-ups, deadlifts, and even Olympic lifts. In fact, grip strength is so important that elite athletes use it as a baseline to measure their progress.

Key Benefits of Grip Strength:

Improved muscle endurance: A stronger grip means less fatigue when lifting or holding positions.
Better body composition: Grip strength is linked to lean muscle mass and fat loss.
Enhanced overall performance: From deadlifts to pull-ups, a strong grip gives you an edge.

What Are We Testing?

Our grip strength test, a max-effort dead hang, is simple but effective. It’s one of the foundations we use to assess strength and endurance, and here’s what you should aim for:

Males:
- Intermediate: 60–90 seconds.
- Advanced: 2–3 minutes.
Females:
- Intermediate: 45–60 seconds.
- Advanced: 1.5–2 minutes.

These benchmarks are based on evidence showing that grip strength is a key indicator of your overall fitness level. The better your grip, the more you can progress in strength-based movements like the deadlift or squat cleans.

Periodization & Consistency: The Secret to Success

It’s not just about hanging on as long as you can—it’s about staying consistent! If you can’t string together 10 weeks of solid training, it won’t matter how much weight you lift or how long you can hold the bar. Our training cycles are designed with periodization in mind, meaning we carefully plan out your progress over time, incorporating grip strength as a key element in your growth.

Remember: success is a marathon, not a sprint. Showing up regularly and following the plan is the key to long-term gains.

How to Improve Grip Strength

Incorporating grip-specific exercises into your training can dramatically improve your dead hang time. Here are a few exercises to help:

Farmer’s Walks: Carry heavy dumbbells or kettlebells over a distance.
Wrist Curls: Strengthen your forearms with this targeted movement.
Active Hangs: Hang from the bar while maintaining tension throughout your body.

Why It’s Part of Our Foundations

At Unbound Athletic, we include grip strength as part of our foundational testing because it’s a universal indicator of your fitness level. Whether you’re looking to improve your gymnastics skills or increase your deadlift PR, your grip strength sets the stage. We test it at the start of each training block to set a baseline and track your progress.

Ready to Test Your Grip?

Get ready to hang tough—our next training block will incorporate this foundational test to challenge your grip and overall strength. Aim for those benchmarks, stay consistent, and let’s make some serious progress!

Stay strong,
Unbound Athletic Team