Is your non-dominant hand stronger?
Conclusion: We concluded that the dominant hand is significantly stronger in right handed subjects but no such significant difference between sides could be documented for left handed people.
What's more, the idea of a “weak” hand is flawed to begin with, because both hands have their own strengths. While your dominant hand excels at precision movements, your non-dominant hand has better stability. That's why someone who's right-handed might hold a package in their left while opening a door with the right.
The purpose of this study was to test the utility of the 10% rule in hand rehabilitation. The 10% rule states that the dominant hand possesses a 10% greater grip strength than the nondominant hand. This rule has been used for many years to assist therapists in setting strength goals for patients with injured hands.
Whether you're right-handed or left-handed, your dominant arm has the advantage of being stronger simply because you use it more often in day-to-day activities. Perhaps you always pick up and hold your toddler on one side of your body. Or maybe you always carry a heavy bag with your right arm.
They found no difference in IQ levels among left- and right-handed people, but left-handers appeared to be more likely to have an intellectual disability. However, this study indicated that people who were intellectually gifted or following typical development were also just as likely to be left-handed.
Natural Dominance. One of the biggest reasons why one arm might be larger than the other is related to your dominant side. When they are lifting weights, almost everybody is going to develop a weaker side and a stronger side, with the weak arm generally being on the left side for most people.
The more repeatedly we use one side, the more efficiently our brain learns to use those muscles. This results in stronger muscles on that side and quite often larger muscles.
For people whose dominant hand has been amputated, these difficulties are twofold. First, they have to get used to doing everything with one hand. Secondly, they also need to train their non-dominant hand to function as well as their dominant one.
What is this? It's also possible your brain “knows” which is your weaker and stronger side because of your hand dominance. So, in order to compensate for this imbalance, it “tries harder” to lift with your non-dominant side. Over time, this has led to an increase in muscular size and strength on your non-dominant arm.
[Results] The side-by-side difference in handgrip strength was 10.2% for the right-handed group, meaning the right hand was stronger. However, the left hand of the left-handed group was 7.8% stronger compared with their right hand.
What is our strongest hand?
Most people would say the dominant hand, and they'd be right. But by how much? The traditional rule was that the dominant hand was 10 percent stronger than the non-dominant hand. But the Journal of Hand Surgery reports found that the 10 percent rule is way too high.
48% of left handed subjects had higher grip values at their nondominant side but this percentage was only 6.9% for right handed subjects. A general rule often used suggests that the dominant hand is approximately 10% stronger than the nondominant hand(10,11).
The muscles in the dominant hand are stronger and easier to use, whereas they're less developed in the less dominant hand. A dominant hand is about 10% stronger when gripping objects than a non-dominant hand. This might be genetic or might come from years of preferred use.
Using your opposite hand will strengthen neural connections in your brain, and even grow new ones. It's similar to how physical exercise improves your body's functioning and grows muscles. Try using your non-dominant hand to write. Use it to control the computer mouse or television remote.
- Write your name and draw straight lines or circles with your left hand.
- Use your nondominant hand for daily tasks like brushing your hair or applying makeup.
- Try buttering your toast, turning on the water or using the mouse with your nondominant hand.
- Practice your handwriting daily.
In fact, one of the more unusual hypotheses to explain the rarity of left-handedness is that a genetic mutation in our distant past caused the language centres of the human brain to shift to the left hemisphere, effectively causing right-handedness to dominate, Alasdair Wilkins explains for io9 back in 2011.