The Connection Between Grip Strength and Longevity

Pierce Reiten
Jun 18
5 min read

Grip strength is essential, but it isn’t always something that crosses our minds in daily life. For example, the ability to carry in some bags of groceries or open a jar might not seem like a lot since those are routine tasks. However, beginning to lose grip strength can have a significant impact. Reduced capability in those daily functions could lower your entire sense of well-being.

The crucial role of grip strength is why many clinical studies use it as a health marker, and an increasing amount of research over the years has shown that handgrip strength could be used as a predictor of longevity, wellness, and quality of life in old age.

How are handgrip strength and longevity linked? Read on as we discuss all the details.

The Research Connecting Grip Strength and Longevity

Let’s start by reviewing some of the research connecting grip strength as an indicator of longevity.

PURE Study

The Prospective Urban-Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study is one of the most substantial clinical trials on this topic. It was conducted across 17 countries using over 140,000 participants aged 35-70 from different income ranges and sociocultural settings.

Data from an initial grip strength measurement and follow-up 4 years later showed a strong association with mortality rates. The higher the measured grip strength was, the less likely death of any cause was to occur within that 4-year timespan.

Research from the PURE study also showed that grip strength was a stronger indicator of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality than systolic blood pressure. [1]

Grip Strength and Age Acceleration

A study published in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle assessed the association between grip strength and age acceleration.

Researchers measured age acceleration using a process called DNA methylation (DNAm) age acceleration. Essentially, it involves analyzing DNA samples to determine the difference between someone’s biological age and their actual age. Therefore, if someone’s DNAm is higher than average, it means they’re aging faster than normal.

Based on that data and a grip strength measurement with an 8-10 year follow-up, there was a strong inverse association between handgrip strength and the rate of age acceleration. Those with higher grip strength measurements typically exhibited much lower age acceleration rates. [2]

Review of Grip Strength as a Biomarker for Health and Well-Being

A review published in the Journal of Clinical Interventions and Aging analyzed hundreds of studies to determine the efficacy of using grip strength as a biomarker for health and well-being.

The review found adequate evidence that grip strength can be used as a biomarker for current and future health outcomes. That included:

Bone mineral density
Cognition
Depression
Disease status
General strength and physical function
Mortality
Nutritional status
Risk of falls and fractures
Sleep quality

The data showed that higher grip strength was associated with improvements in each of these categories. [3]

Quality of Life in Old Age

A study published in January 2025 measured the handgrip strength of adults aged 50-90 against perceived social and environmental quality of life. The findings suggested that better grip strength correlated with better quality of life in both domains.

The study specifically mentioned that grip strength was an effective measurement for muscle mass retention and general physical fitness in older adults. Better physical capabilities are usually associated with a higher perceived quality of life. [4]

Can You Increase Longevity with Grip Strength Exercises?

The review from the Journal of Clinical Interventions and Aging suggested that grip strength’s relation to longevity was its ability to measure elements like total body strength, bone density, and nutritional quality. It's not necessarily related to targeted grip strength training on its own, such as purely doing exercises for your forearms and hands to improve grip. [3]

Think of good grip strength as a sign of healthy habits and good overall well-being. Doing positive things for your overall health will indirectly improve grip strength while directly impacting longevity. For example:

Exercise

A study in 2022 found that strength training 2-6 times per week, combined with regular aerobic activity, decreased mortality rates in adults aged 65+ by approximately 20%. [5]

Then you can combine that with a study from the Journal of Isokinetics and Exercise Science, which found that general strength training that involved training the arms at least three times a week for eight weeks led to noticeable increases in handgrip strength. [6]

That means you could use grip strength to measure if someone exercises and strength trains regularly to get those benefits for health and longevity.

Balanced Diet

Another study from the Journal of Mechanisms of Ageing and Development showed that a diet with enough vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats was associated with better grip strength. That included consuming enough oily fish (containing healthy omega-3s), retinol, and magnesium. [7]

You can combine those findings with several studies on diet and longevity:

One in 2021 from the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute showed a positive association between omega-3s in the bloodstream and increases in longevity [8]
Another study in 2021 found that higher serum retinol levels were associated with lower overall mortality rates, including death from heart, cardiovascular, and respiratory diseases [9]
Research from the Journal of Nutrients suggests that healthy amounts of magnesium intake throughout one’s lifespan may lead to better aging and quality of life in old age [10]

Therefore, eating a balanced diet consisting of healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals can improve health and longevity while at the same time contributing to grip strength.

Final Thoughts on Grip Strength and Longevity

Grip strength can be an effective biomarker to showcase healthy habits that lead to a longer lifespan and better quality of life. The research shows that a well-rounded approach to health and well-being is the most important. The focus doesn’t have to be building strong forearms and fingers, but making healthy choices that indirectly improve your grip will help overall well-being.

It’ll be interesting to watch continued research using grip strength as a biomarker and how these readings can help us make positive choices that improve health status.

References

Leong, Darryl P, et al. “Prognostic Value of Grip Strength: Findings from the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) Study.” The Lancet, vol. 386, no. 9990, July 2015, pp. 266–273, doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(14)62000-6. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25982160/
Peterson, Mark D., et al. “Grip Strength Is Inversely Associated with DNA Methylation Age Acceleration.” Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle, 9 Nov. 2022, doi:10.1002/jcsm.13110. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jcsm.13110
Bohannon, Richard W. “Grip Strength: An Indispensable Biomarker for Older Adults.” Clinical Interventions in Aging, vol. 14, no. 1, 1 Oct. 2019, pp. 1681–1691, www.dovepress.com/grip-strength-an-indispensable-biomarker-for-older-adults-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-CIA, doi:10.2147/CIA.S194543. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6778477/
Kaczorowska, Antonina, et al. “Hand Grip Strength and Quality of Life among Adults Aged 50–90 Years from South West Poland.” Scientific Reports, vol. 15, no. 1, 6 Jan. 2025, doi:10.1038/s41598-024-84923-x. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-84923-x
Schwenk, Thomas. Is Muscle Strengthening Associated with Lower Mortality in Older Adults? NEJM Journal Watch, 27 Oct. 2022, https://www.jwatch.org/na55427/2022/10/27/muscle-strengthening-associated-with-lower-mortality-older
Thomas, Elin Magnusson, et al. “The Effect of Resistance Training on Handgrip Strength in Young Adults.” Isokinetics and Exercise Science, vol. 16, no. 2, 25 June 2008, pp. 125–131, doi:10.3233/ies-2008-0307. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286969359_The_effect_of_resistance_training_on_handgrip_strength_in_young_adults
Gedmantaite, A., et al. “Associations between Diet and Handgrip Strength: A Cross-Sectional Study from UK Biobank.” Mechanisms of Ageing and Development, vol. 189, July 2020, p. 111269, doi:10.1016/j.mad.2020.111269. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0047637420300658
“Higher Levels of Omega-3 Acids in the Blood Increases Life Expectancy by Almost Five Years: A 1% Increase in This Substance in the Blood Is Associated with a Change in Mortality Risk Similar to that of Quitting Smoking.” ScienceDaily, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210722113004.htm
Huang, Jiaqi, et al. “Association between Serum Retinol and Overall and Cause-Specific Mortality in a 30-Year Prospective Cohort Study.” Nature Communications, vol. 12, no. 1, 5 Nov. 2021, doi:10.1038/s41467-021-26639-4. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26639-4
Dominguez, Ligia J., et al. “Magnesium and the Hallmarks of Aging.” Nutrients, vol. 16, no. 4, 1 Jan. 2024, p. 496, doi:10.3390/nu16040496. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10892939/

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