While this research is preliminary, it does suggest that hitting the gym or doing a few push-ups in your living room can turn back the clock and make your cells and self biologically younger, regardless of your current age. It is more likely to be useful for
Why Grip Strength Matters
A wealth of research has already shown that strength is good for us. lower to
Strength can also portend how long we will live. A 2015 study of approximately 140,000 adults in high-, middle- and low-income countries found that poor grip strength is closely associated with mortality in people of all income levels, and premature death. risk is predicted to be higher than for blood pressure. The best indicator of longevity.
“Grip strength is a simple but powerful predictor of future disability, morbidity and mortality,” conclude the authors of an accompanying editorial, noting that its impact is “not only in the elderly, but also in the middle-aged and elderly.” The same applies to young people.”
So how will a firm grip today affect your well-being tomorrow?
“Grip strength is often referred to as a biomarker of aging,” says Mark Peterson, associate professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, who led the new study. “However, the biological background as to why it predicts positive versus negative outcomes during aging was not really clear.
Perhaps Dr. Peterson and his colleagues speculate that epigenetics may be key.
What is your epigenetic age?
Epigenetics involves altering the number and action of specific small molecules that attach to the outer surface of a gene, like mollusks, and affect how and when that gene is turned on. Epigenetic changes occur in response to our diet, exercise habits, and many other aspects of our lives, affecting our DNA and health.
According to recent science, epigenetics may also indicate how rapidly we are aging.
About ten years ago, researchers began analyzing vast data sets of people’s epigenomes, the epigenetic changes unique to each of us, and using that data to estimate our biological age. We have developed what we call an “epigenetic clock”.
Of course chronological age is how old we are according to our birth certificate. Biological age indicates the functional age and health of our cells and bodies. The two numbers can differ significantly.
Epigenetic clocks use algorithms to assess biological age based on different patterns of molecules on genes. If the clock suggests that your biological age is over your chronological age, you are aging faster than normal and, frankly, more rapidly than someone with a younger biological age. Weakness and near death.
Relationship between grip strength and aging
Aware of the latest epigenetic clock research, Peterson and his colleagues wondered whether muscle strength could be associated with epigenetic age, for better or worse.
They began collecting records from 1,275 participants in an ongoing aging study. Participants had already drawn blood and measured grip strength using a compressible device called a hand dynamometer.
The researchers then used three different clocks to determine everyone’s approximate epigenetic age from blood cells. (Multiple laboratories have developed their own epigenetic clocks, which vary slightly.) They also checked death records for up to 10 years after people entered the study, and finally, This data was cross tabulated with people’s grip strength.
They found that people with weaker grip strength generally had a higher epigenetic age. Their DNA appeared less youthful than their stronger contemporaries and may have made them more vulnerable to premature illness and death.
said Guillaume Paré, professor and director of the Institute of Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Pare was working on epigenetics, but he wasn’t involved in the new research.
Another reason to become stronger?
However, this study raises new questions.
“The key issue to address is the causality of these associations,” Pare said.
This study shows that people with smaller muscles are also people with higher epigenetic age, but it cannot be proven that wasting directly caused accelerated aging in someone. Other factors may come into play, such as medical history, or other aspects of someone’s lifestyle.
However, despite its limitations, the results of this study are provocative, suggesting that our muscle strength, or vice versa, can influence the epigenome and, in the process, affect the rate and extent of our aging. It suggests that there is a
If you’re concerned about your current strength, many gyms have hand dynamometers to test your grip strength. You can then look at typical grip strength measurements by age and gender in this 2018 study (see Table 1 of the study for details).
This figure indicates that a typical 40-year-old man weighing 198 pounds has a typical grip strength of about 103 pounds (47 kilograms), and a woman of the same age weighing 167 pounds has a typical grip strength of about 66 pounds. suggests ( 30 km).
If your results indicate a weak grip, you don’t need to focus solely on your hands. In general, getting stronger can improve your grip.
In fact, most of us don’t need to analyze our exact grip strength to realize we can benefit from more strength training. Put it on top,” Peterson said. But I think the strength should be at the bottom. It is the basis of health. ”
Use the gym membership you purchased this month. Prepare dumbbells that you always have on your desk. Try bodyweight training or complete one or three burpees. Not only the epigenomic age, but also the biceps brachii muscle can change.
Have a fitness question? e-mail YourMove@washpost.com I may answer your question in a future column.
