Grip!

November 29th, 2025| Topic: RaMbLeS | 0

How strong is your hand grip? Is that important, you ask? Yup. Or so declare scientists from Shanghai in “Handgrip Strength and Trajectories of Preclinical Obesity Progression,” published last month in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

They followed a whopping 93,275 folks who met criteria for preclinical obesity at baseline over 13 years, (but excluding those who already had diagnoses like heart failure, diabetes, liver disease, or mobility issues), and found that a stronger midlife grip (40–60) predicted slower disease progression and lower mortality over that time due to obesity-related diseases—all things from sleep apnea and hypertension, to chronic joint pain and diabetes. Each 11.6 kg-increase in grip strength (squeezing force as measured by a hand dynamometer) is linked to a 14% lower risk of a first health problem and a 13% lower risk of death. Apparently muscle strength, as manifested in handgrip, tracks with lower inflammation and better metabolic markers long before symptoms. In short, those with weak grips at the start faced a cascade of health problems as they aged. Those with stronger hands stayed healthier longer.

Study Finds:

Grip strength has emerged as a powerful health indicator in recent years. Unlike BMI, which simply divides weight by height squared, grip strength offers a window into overall muscle function and metabolic health. Previous studies have linked weak grip to higher rates of diabetes, heart disease, and early death. Most focused on people who already had health problems.”

And when researchers divided participants into three groups by grip strength, the differences became stark over the following decade-plus. Men in the strongest group could squeeze harder than 44 kilograms. The weakest group managed 36.5 kilograms or less. For women, the ranges were 26 kilograms or more versus 20.5 kilograms or less. Compared to the weakest group, those in the strongest category had a 20% lower risk of developing initial health problems, a 12% lower risk of progressing from baseline to one health issue to multiple issues, and a 23% lower risk of dying after developing multiple conditions.

The pattern held even after researchers accounted for age, sex, race, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, diabetes markers, physical activity, smoking, alcohol use, and medication use.

The authors:

Our study demonstrated for the first time that increased grip strength significantly mitigates the risk of progression from preclinical obesity to obesity-induced dysfunctions and subsequent mortality.”

So as disease advances over time, greater muscle strength, reflected by greater grip strength, is needed to stay healthy. Since decreased muscle mass usually reflects expanding fatty tissue, that creates problems. Besides, muscular tissue also acts as an endocrine organ, secreting beneficial molecules called myokines, that help regulate blood sugar, insulin sensitivity, and energy metabolism. In other words, what one does to maintain strength in midlife (resistance training, adequate protein intake) could shape one’s health in the decades ahead.

But, above all, don’t forget the handgrip of God!

Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, Yahweh, God of truth.
I hate those who revere worthless idols, but I—in Yahweh I trust.
I will jubilate and be joyous in Your lovingkindness, because You see my affliction;
You know the distresses of my soul.
And You do not give me over into the hand of the enemy;
You stand my feet in a broad place. …
And I—in You I trust, Yahweh; I said, “You [are] my God.”
In Your hand are my times;
rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my pursuers.
Psalm 31:5–8, 14–15

His is the most important handgrip for our welfare!

SOURCE: Study Finds; Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism