Picture this: you’re at the doctor’s office; she hands you a little device and tells you to squeeze. She is testing your grip strength, because it is a surprisingly good indicator of how someone is aging. Grip strength is one of the best predictors of long-term health and independence. A strong grip isn’t magic. It simply means that you have put in the work over years of lifting and carrying things. This could be from having a physically demanding job, lifting weights in the gym, or just generally staying active. Yes, carrying your baby and groceries count!
I want to introduce you to the term convenience creep. We are subtly doing less daily, and it’s affecting our fitness. Working from home means fewer steps and less carrying. Ordering from the grocery or delivery app means a few thousand fewer steps. Remember when you didn’t have a parking spot? Those steps from your car to your home were a free workout. I’m not going to tell you to give up the things that make your life easier. I will pitch you the idea of working carries into your workout or your daily walk.
In the gym, do a farmer’s carry: grab a weight in each hand, heavy enough that you can carry them for about 30 seconds, and go for a walk around the gym. Increase the weight and distance a little bit weekly. Also try a suitcase carry, which is the same walk with a dumbbell in just one hand; it will challenge your grip strength and your deep core muscles. Stand tall, don’t lean away from the weight, and switch hands each lap. Want to get a little more advanced? Try hanging from a pull-up bar for time, or one-arm hangs if you really want to channel your inner monkey.
In daily life, consider walking to the grocery store and carrying your groceries back. On your daily walk, take a weight, a gallon of water, or a shopping bag full of junk for no reason at all except to work your grip; no one will even know you’re working out! Let your regular life become your workout. Skip the grocery cart and carry the basket at Stop and Shop. Carry your beach chair down to the beach instead of taking a blanket. Nobody decides to get weaker. It happens one convenience at a time, so the hard way has to be something you choose on purpose.
One caution: match the weight to your effort level and build it up over weeks. Check with your doctor if you have had a shoulder injury, hernia, or blood pressure issues, since carrying briefly spikes it like any hard effort.
Become the person people hand the jar to when they can’t open it. Or the “one trip” person carrying all the groceries into the house in one trip. Your future self will give you a firm handshake.
Jamal Khan, MPA, CSCS, is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and a doctoral student in public health at Johns Hopkins University. He trains clients in their homes across the Rockaway peninsula.
