Grip strength: The test for your chances of living to 100

Curious anecdote:

I've weight trained most of my life.

For a significant portion of it, I used straps for movements like deadlift and lat pulldowns where the muscles doing the movement were stronger than my ability to hold on to the weight.

This led to me having a relatively weak grip compared to the rest of my strength.

I wonder if this would have been a poor measure for me, due to having outsized non-grip strength.

I approached my PCP regarding grip strength, about 15 years ago. The trouble with mine was that I felt it was too strong. In other words, I was gripping small objects much too strongly (mouse, pen), and also having trouble gripping heavy objects; I would cramp up and feel intense pain if I tried to carry a sofa or something. Since that time, I have studiously avoided carrying things in my hands whenever possible: I use backpacks and shoulder bags a lot.

The physician, for his part, seemed to misunderstand me on purpose. He ignored my concerns and he insisted that my grip was stronger even than his own! He held out his index fingers and had me grip them in a manual test. He reluctantly referred me to physical therapy treatments, where I was able to learn a few exercises and a few methods for relief.

It was just another episode that taught me that doctors are not interested in diagnosis for real ailments. If diagnosis had been pursued here, we may have discovered degenerative tendon/muscle issues. What is euphemistically called "tendonitis" is often tendonosis and cannot be treated. The NSAIDs administered for this "false tendonitis" are a placebo and a panacea, just to have the patient purchasing stuff.

I am thankful that my physical therapy specialists were very good and attentive. I really appreciated the time spent with them, also after the second round when I had a shoulder injury. They really believe in direct action resulting in relief and healing.

What I like most about the grip strength meme is that it’s a perfect example of how correlation doesn’t imply causation. I already had to explain to a friend how focusing on improving his grip strength is great but probably won’t help him live any longer. Having a concrete example makes the concept easy to understand.