Posted on 05/18/2025 9:12:21 AM PDT by ChicagoConservative27
Maybe it’s my age, or maybe it’s the fact that anti-aging and life extension have exploded into a multi-billion-dollar industry over the past two decades, but every time I scroll through social media, I get pitched the latest miracle cure to turn back the clock and slow the aging process.
What is ironic is the best hedge against aging is something I’ve been doing almost daily since I was 15, lifting weights and training for strength.
If you want to age well, you don’t need another supplement, you need to get stronger. I’ve been saying this for years. Now, the research has finally caught up.
A recent 12 year study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research tracked adults over 50 and found that those with low grip strength had a 45% higher risk of death.
(Excerpt) Read more at si.com ...
God bless
Dad was still doing eight hours straight of mounting Big Rig tires with tire bars when he was 78. His mind went long before his health finally declined at 89. And even then he was still physically fit and walked miles everyday, he got bowel cancer that did him in pretty quick.
He pushed himself to physically work hard all his life and that was what preserved his health throughout. I have done the same all my life.
Appreciate the testimony of the importance to keep working. The allure is very strong to sit around and “relax”. Sounds like your Pops overcame that. And the realization is that eventually everyone goes and no one gets out alive.
Kettlebells are great for grip strength. You have to hang on to them or they go flying!
I knew it! I knew they’d try to rope me into exercising . . yecchhh. I don’t feel like it. I just want a pill. I’ll even go so far as to watch other people exercise . . but that’s it. When I get the occasional urge to go for a walk, I lay down until the feeling passes.
.
When Dad filed for SS at 62 someone asked him if he was going to retire now and take it easy. He answered by opening up yet another truck tire wholesale/retail/repair business and doubling his own physical demands... Even at 80 he could physically out work all the young guys he had working for him. And he made it look smooth and easy with a flow, almost physically effortless. He sure made it pretty hard to follow his example. :)
Yep. There are members in my family who exercised and those who did not. There a noticeable difference in overall health and even recovery from health issues as they age.
I'm still tired from last Friday's workout--love that ache in the muscles.
Blood pressure this morning was 122/64, weight 199.25.
Sleep soundly every night.
Not bad for 86 years old.
“I am assuming that this study controlled for sex - “
That counts as exercise too! 😁
I box and pushup on my vibration plate. Balance is great and the body is cleansed.
Strong legs are important in helping to reduce the possibility of falling.
Wow;
Walking on irregular surfaces helps a lot, too. My daily walks always have at least some sandy and/or rocky stretches even on the roads, and I try to do a fair amount of walking in the open desert as well. During the season, I have to admit I don’t chase the quail up into the steep rocky stuff as much as I used to, though.
It’s about four years since I’ve had any sort of fall, and I haven’t hurt myself in a fall for even longer.
If I can do it, ANYBODY can do it.
Greetings alexander_buseks!
Need to see the actual study.
Not sure if this is the study to which we are referring, but you can see from it a similar point and the level of scientific rigor we expect from this publication:
https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/fulltext/2020/04000/mean_combined_relative_grip_strength_and_metabolic.16.aspx
In other words, people with no grip strength aren’t doing anything. This cannot be considered an earth-shattering revelation. However, it may provide some value in diagnostics and therapy. Have your patients squeeze the gadget and then say “Oh my...” If this could get them actually exercising...
oh well,
...never mind.
Lumping together men and women would certainly destroy the
popular theory of ‘exercice, exercice’.
Women exercice much less than men because they are not in most physical professions. They do less strength exercice. They have no grip strength compared to men.
Yet they live much longer than men. Go figure...
You don’t have more muscles. You have the same muscles you’ve always had. Your muscles have (according to what you’re saying) gotten larger and more toned.
What you've written there strongly implies - on two counts - that "grip strength" is merely a proxy for some other (unknown) factor - perhaps "general good health" (which, of course, would tend to stave off dying). Also that the "increased risk of death" is not necessarily directly related to injury due to falls (but rather to "lack of general good health").
I highly doubt, in other words, that an exercise regime that focused solely on grip strength - to the exclusion of all else - would have any significant life-extending effects. (Though it might slightly reduce deaths / injuries resulting from falls.)
I agree with your premise (I am inferring) that the study was using grip strength as a proxy for a multitude of other factors (which might include: high level of vigorous exercise; excellent genes; etc.).
This makes the basic implication - "Improve your grip strength and live longer!" - next to worthless. You could have your hands amputated, and - if you eat right and exercise regularly (things that would ordinarily also enhance grip strength) - you'll live longer.
Regards,
While grip strength might not double or triple as dramatically as leg or arm strength, it can still increase by 30–50% or more with consistent, focused effort.Regards,
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