What Grip Strength Really Tells Us About Aging

You may have heard that grip strength is correlated to “All-Cause Mortality” in adults. Today we are going to elucidate WHY this is the case, and we will start with defining what “all-cause mortality” is in the first place. 

All-Cause Mortality is death from anything, from cardiovascular events and diseases to car accidents. It is used as a metric by researchers to paint the “big picture” of what a factor is or is not important to our daily lives. Researchers use population-level statistics of death and control them to a low or high value of a particular factor. In the case of grip strength, having a low level of grip strength is related to higher all-cause mortality in the following ways: 

Metric	Impact on Mortality Risk
Every 5kg (11 lbs) Decrease	Associated with a 16% increase in all-cause mortality.
Cardiovascular Link	Every 5kg decrease corresponds to a 17% increase in heart-related deaths.
Comparative Power	Studies suggest grip strength is a better predictor of death than systolic blood pressure.
Bone Health	Individuals with normal grip strength have a 56% lower risk of all-cause mortality compared to those with low grip strength in populations with decreased bone mass.

Why such a major impact? It turns out that grip strength isn’t necessarily the direct correlation that it sounds like it is. Grip strength is a measurable outcome as a result of higher muscle mass, a focus on resistance training in general physical activity routine, and is also an indicator of neurological readiness. 

To elaborate: 

• Higher muscle mass: More muscle = more force; this is why we focus so much on producing lots of force in the gym, as the equation goes both directions. If we get you stronger, you build more muscle in the long term. If you have more muscle, in general, you also are likely to have a higher grip strength.

  
  

  Having more muscle is more likely to keep you alive longer because you are more likely to have a higher bone density, higher tendon strength, and generally more capable of surviving accidents that might otherwise cause catastrophic or life altering changes in your life. Car accidents, falls, etc. are all more survivable when you have more muscle. We do this by staying in the weight room for our whole lives!

  
  

• Neurological Readiness: As we age and reduce activity level overall, the body reduces the output of force to match what we generally do in our daily lives. If you have a weak grip but a modest amount of muscle, the brain has decided it doesn’t need to use the muscle you have. As a result, the brain stops maintaining the muscle that isn’t being used, and you eventually lose it, furthering the point above. 

So, it's not that you need to be able to crush an apple in your hand at 80 years old, it's that you need to be consistently training your body to withstand the forces of a more strenuous life, not the life of luxury most of us live in the modern era. Stay in the gym, stay at Method, and we will keep you stronger for longer :)