A hand massage makes your hands flexible and happy. I learned that while making a hand massage video years ago. But I didn’t know it would strengthen my grip. That’s what I learned while making a video called Self-Massage for Hands. It came as a welcome surprise. 

Over the years, my grip had been slipping. I became worried about it when I read that grip strength is a measure of general health. A study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research concluded that grip strength predicts muscular endurance and overall strength. 

If like me, you’ve been having trouble twisting lids off jars or wrestling frisbees from possessive  dogs, you might be worried too. Here’s why: 

• Weak grip strength may predict a loss of mobility as you age.

• Weakening grip correlates with heart attack and strokes.

• A poor grip is a good predictor of cardiovascular disease.

On the other hand, a good grip is crucial for most actions involving your hands. Everything from miniature golf to calf roping can be improved by tightening your grip.

“The ability to stay active and independent often begins with our hands," says Maria Cole, a physical therapist with Harvard-affiliated Spaulding Outpatient Center.  A weak grip can sink a ship, crash a car, or drop a small child off a  cliff. It can also limit life’s fleeting pleasures as time goes by. You need to ensure your hands can always grip and grasp what you need to grab.  

The Fix

Each human hand contains 34 muscles. If  you want your hands to remain fit, you have to exercise them, just like any other part of you. While there are many  tedious exercises you might do to strengthen the muscles in your hands, none are as handy and feels as good as a massage. 

 During the week I was preparing my most recent hand massage video, I probably massaged my hands twenty times a day, while perfecting the massage. I wasn’t surprised that the more I rehearsed the video, the better the massage felt. That pretty much was true by definition. But what did surprise me was how much stronger my grip got during the week.

Conclusion

If you’re worried about your diminishing grip on things, one effective way to increase it is by massaging your hands. Give it a try. Let me know if your grip improves enough  to let you easily slip lids off jars.