What is a hand gripper?
Hand gripper; Commonly known as gripper or hand grip strengthener. Physiotherapists and occupational therapists primarily use it to measure the grip strength of your hand. Basically hand grippers measure grip strength with the help of crushing grip; where you need to move only four fingers instead of your thumb. Gripper comes in multiple resistance levels. Therefore, it is suitable for everyone ranging from beginner to muscular sports person.
There are plenty of benefits using a hand gripper. Let’s mention here:
- Help you increase endurance: If you use a hand gripper, it will develop muscular strength of the forearm and arm, and also improve endurance.
- Increase pain resistance power: With aging we start losing our resistance power because of reduced muscle mass. This is the indicator that our body is aging. It is especially applicable for people suffering from arthritis. With hand grip strengthening they gradually develop resistance power, and overcome pain.
- Boost arm strength: Hand grip strengthener increases arm strength. Workout with a hand gripper directly engages your forearm muscles, indirectly engages shoulder muscle. The chronological extension and contraction of both muscles strengthen your upper extremity.
- Improve mental health: More than one research study has shown grip strength directly linked with mental health. Even it is a strong indicator of human mental health. However, it is not a replacement of mental health treatment.
- Improve dexterity: It is a very important factor for writers, typists, hairdressers, musicians, and masons who use both of their hands with 10 fingers to accomplish their task. A spring loaded hand-held dynamometer helps you build up strength in each finger, also increasing their flexibility.
Types of Hand Gripper
- Traditional Hand Gripper
- Advanced Smart Hand gripper
Traditional or Manual Hand Gripper
Manual hand gripper is the first hand-held equipment to measure grip strength which was discovered in the 20th century. OT and CHT used this grip strengthener to measure and assess the grip strength. Manual Hand grippers measure grip strength by crushing the grip where you need to engage all four fingers, while your thumb will be at rest.
It is still available in the market. Different brands modify this product to some extent, however, the working process remains the same. The common feature of a basic hand heldstrengthening is it consists of a torsion spring which is attached with two handles of the gripper. The dimension of a hand gripper varies as per its challenges. Price of the dynamometer increases according to its material. Here spring is very important, it can be made up of aluminum, plastic, or steel. Springs made up of steel and aluminum are the best.
Let’s see how to use it:
- Keep your thumb aside one side of the gripper, then your middle finger and index finger will be on the other side; then squeeze.
- While grippers at upside down position, place your palm at one side and ring finger, pinkie fingers at another side; then squeeze with its full potential.
- Next squeeze with your index finger and thumb.
- Squeeze with mid finger and thumb.
- After working with all fingers, you only need to push your thumb, here all four fingers must wrap around the hand gripper. After that, reverse the steps with your fingers wrapped around the top.
Bluetooth enabled Smart hand gripper
It is the modern version of the hand gripper. Squegg is the company who have launched a blue-tooth enabled dynamometer which helps a person to evaluate, measure, and boost grip strength. It is smarter than a hand held analog hand gripper. Also significantly light weight, and portable. Developers integrate multiple engaging applications, fun exercises and games to make your grip strong along with flexible fingers. With smart hand grippers improving grip strength will be fun.
Features:
The smart dynamometer is made up of silicone, so it is pleasant to touch. You can clean it easily. Does not absorb sweat. It comes in a perfect human palm size which is 68*45*45 mm. Therefore, it easily fits into our grip. You can carry it within your pocket. Weight is very light, only 26 gms.
The device uses Advanced Bluetooth 4.0 technology, with 3.7 V Lithium ion battery. Offers 150 days standby time.
How do you benefit from it?
- Easily evaluate and train hand grip
- Perform isometric exercise in proper way
- Spontaneous squeezing regulates blood pressure
- Track grip counts
- Good for hand therapy exercises
- Grip strengthening activity has become engaging with exciting games.
Bluetooth VS Manual Hand gripper
Bluetooth enabled hand gripper is an advanced form of manual hand gripper. Obviously smarter than the latter one. Bluetooth enabled smart hand gripper comes with a companion application. This application tracks and measures your grip, and offers grip training exercises. It is as a whole training equipment. With advanced smart hand gripper hand strengthening exercise has become too easy; and super engaging. Blue-tooth enabled hand grip strengthening ball is recently used by hand therapists, physical therapists, and occupational therapists for hand therapy exercises. Therapists are loving it because of its advanced features which make their treatment super easy.