Grip strength is a reliable biomarker of biological age
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My presence at social gatherings and parties is somewhat dreaded by the hosts (even if friends) due to the “scary stories” I tend to tell. One of the scariest stories I have been telling for the last couple of years is that there are no young people any more. Of course, what I mean by that is in terms of biological age. Over the last 5-8 years numerous studies have demonstrated that people in their 20s and 30s have rates of serious chronic diseases rivaling those of people in their 50s and 60s. Cancer, and especially colon cancer, is perhaps the most striking example since its rates have grown almost exclusively in the under-40 crowd over the last 10 years while the rates have been declining in the over-50 crowd. This is the exact opposite situation of what was experimentally observed up until 10-15 years ago, which is why the official guidelines for conducting a colonoscopy were to do the first one at age 50. Add to that the rising rates of strokes and heart attacks in the under-40 crowd, the close to 50% infertility, close to 50% mental illness in young women, the ~70% decline of male testosterone levels since the 1970s, the highest suicide rate (and rising) ever recorded in the young, diminishing physical strength, etc and it becomes scarily obvious just how much the quality of human life has declined in just 1-2 decades. Speaking of physical strength, frailty has always been associated with poor physical and mental health, however direct studies tying physical condition to biological age are rare partly due to the difficulty of coming up with a measure of general frailty. The study below shows that a simple measurement of hand grip strength is a very reliable biomarker of a person’s biological age, and given its simplicity and ease of measurement, it may become one of the most widely used biomarkers of health in the years to come. So, to ruin the party once again, grip strength in young people (both men and women) has been steadily declining over the last 30-40 years and currently sits at an all-time (since record keeping began) low. This not only corroborates the favorite millennial phrases that “40 is the new 20” and “50 is the new 30”, but…it makes the reverse also true – i.e. twenty is indeed the new forty and thirty is fifty, and not in a good way.
https://doi.org/10.1002/jcsm.13110
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/lack-of-grip-strength-may-indicate-premature-aging
“…Chronological age is different from biological age since it encompasses the amount of time that has passed between birth and a given date. Biological age refers to the rate at which your body is actually aging, which may depend on a host of variables, including genetics, behavior, the environment in which you live, and your demographic identity. Rather than focusing on age in terms of how many years have passed since birth, experts are investigating aging biomarkers that can help assess more accurately how an individual is aging. The goal is to gain clearer insights to help people, where possible, proactively manage their current or imminent health issues and predict longevity. A new study from researchers at the University of Michigan’s Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor, MI, provides new evidence that grip strength in a person’s hands is one such biomarker of biological age. The study found an association between low grip strength weakness and accelerated DNA aging.”
“…The researchers analyzed data from 1,275 individuals participating in the longitudinal Health and Retirement Study(HRS). Participants were 50 and over in 2006 and 2008 when data collection began, followed for 8–10 years by the HRS. Interview transcripts, grip strength data, and biological measurements were available for all of them. Methylation values were collected from 4,018 of these participants in the 2016 Health and Retirement Venous Blood Study. The analysis revealed that decreasing grip strength aligned strongly with all three of the clocks (PhenoAge, GrimAge, DunedinPoAm), although there were differences between men and women**.** “The association between muscle strength and epigenetic aging is likely related to the mechanisms regulating general health,” Dr. Sillanpää said. Dr. Peterson noted: “We have recently also demonstrated that muscle weakness and testosterone deficiency were highly correlated and independently associated with multi-morbidity in young and older men.”
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Nice simple article. I will be going around gatherings with a grip strength meter now.
Add to that the rising rates of strokes and heart attacks in the under-40 crowd, the close to 50% infertility, close to 50% mental illness in young women, the ~70% decline of male testosterone levels since the 1970s, the highest suicide rate (and rising) ever recorded in the young, diminishing physical strength, etc
I think it's time to at least add pregnenolone to the water-supply. Maybe some T3. Quite a depressing state of affairs and does not seem to be getting better for the majority.
I recall a Korean study on BMR and grip strength that's my go to article for explaining this phenomena of high metabolism link with strength and longevity.
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On the topic of grip strength, I find it interesting that this climber, someone who does concentric exercises in a fun way, goes and breaks records and overall does very decently at a strongman grip strength competition:
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@haidut said in Grip strength is a reliable biomarker of biological age:
My presence at social gatherings and parties is somewhat dreaded by the hosts (even if friends) due to the “scary stories” I tend to tell.
I've never been a big party attender, but I've never went to a party where I didn't probably offend most of the people there by talking about what I'm interested in.
(Raymond Peat) -
@Luke It is highly Peaterian to offend people at the few parties we attend.
@CO3 It seems that one get's better grip strength with age if one trains for it. Here is another interesteing video. It seems hard to add weight to grip strength excersises. People who tend to do weighted chin ups regularly use other body parts than the grip to carry the extra weights.
Also some great thinkers like Alvin Plantinga and Arne Næss are/were great climbers.
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I do 'dead hangs'. Gripping a bar and supporting my weight seems to work for me.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dead+hang+benefits
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I have over the last year gotten a grip on superior health. I have religiously trained grip strength every Sunday a year straight and returning to moonkey has improved every major aspect of my life.
Bitch, superior grip strength was an absolute game-changer. It’s one of those things you don’t realize you’re neglecting until you start pressing your fist around a woman's breast, and then suddenly, everything in life feels more erect. Grip strength is the key to superiority. It’s involved in every physical thing you do, and when you improve it, it’s like unlocking a cheat code for life. I feel like I’ve got lobster claws for hands. Pull-ups? Gavity is just a debunked theory now. I’m basically a human forklift. It’s insane how much my sex appeal has improved by having superior fists. Women completement my fists all the time. Being fisted by me is a bragging right at the town hall.
My hands are no longer hands, they’re weapons of mass destruction. It’s like I’m investing in my own survival, one hand squeeze at a time. There’s something primal and satisfying about having a superior grip. It makes you powerful. I now walk into rooms knowing I could rip the door off its hinges if I wanted to. Handshakes aren’t just greetings anymore, they’re power moves. Grown adults wince when I grip their hand, and I’m not even trying. I am the alpha moonkey in all social situations, because my grip radiates dominance. People feel it. They know. They know.
If you’re not working on your grip, you’re just mastrubating your life away. I am now a Swiss Army knife of human capability, and it’s all thanks to my relentless grip training. My forearms look like they were sculpted by Michelangelo himself. Veins popping, muscles rippling. I catch people staring at my forearms in public, and I don’t even blame them. They’re mesmerizing.
But here’s the craziest part: grip strength has made me spiritually awakened. Every time I squeeze, I feel connected to my ancestors. Those ancient humans who had to climb trees, carry Pyramids, and wrestle saber-toothed tigers just to stay handsome. I’m tapping into primal sexual energy, channeling the raw (doggystyle), unbridled power of evolutionary design itself. I’m not just training my grip; I’m honoring the legacy of human moonkeys.So yeah bitches, grip strength is a spiritual revolution. It’s the key to unlocking your true potential and ascending to a higher plane of existence. If you’re not training your grip, you’re not just mastrubating, you’re sleeping on the greatest upgrade of your life.
