Podcast episode 124 (in German)

Muscle as an organ – what your grip strength really reveals

November 1, 2026

Grip strength predicts death better than blood pressure: the sentence comes from a study of 139,000 people in 17 countries and is half true. This episode shows which half, and why the most helpful finding comes from an entirely different study.

What it is about

Muscle is more than mass: it releases messenger substances, and its strength reveals a lot about the rest of the body. The episode begins with grip strength, which predicted mortality well in a large cohort but is useful above all as an indicator, like a good thermometer. A second cohort shows that strength counts, not muscle mass, and for the best-known messenger substance, irisin, the problem lay for years in the measurement. The core is the only randomized study in the episode: training in older people, measured by whether they can still get around on foot on their own. Added to this is what people who train experience themselves, why they stick with it and which worry holds them back.

Key points

In the PURE study of people aged 35 to 70, observed for an average of 4 years, the risk of death rose by 16 percent for every 5 kilograms less grip strength, in poor and rich countries alike.
According to a technical report, grip strength came out ahead for death from any cause, 1.37 versus 1.15; for new cardiovascular disease, blood pressure won, 1.39 versus 1.21.
In the Health ABC study of 2,292 people aged 70 to 79, thigh strength predicted mortality, 1.51 in men and 1.65 in women per standard deviation; muscle size hardly did.
In 6 men, interleukin-6 demonstrably came from the working leg and rose 19-fold in the blood: that muscle releases messenger substances is cleanly documented.
In 2015, two commercial irisin tests differed by a factor of 18 on average, around 165 versus around 3,000; by mass spectrometry it is around 3.6 nanograms per milliliter.
In the randomized LIFE study of 1,635 people aged 70 to 89, after 2.5 years 30.1 percent of those who trained could no longer manage the 400 meters, compared with 35.5 percent; permanently, it was 14.7 versus 19.8 percent.
A review of 14 studies with 1,937 older people names as motives not declining and not falling, plus more alertness and concentration; in 1,327 questionnaires, feeling physically and mentally well came first.

Where the data stop

The large cohorts say who is at risk, not what helps. People who fall ill often lose strength before the disease becomes noticeable, and the PURE authors themselves write that it must first be tested whether more strength lowers mortality. Grip strength did not predict falls with injury, fractures or new diabetes. No randomized trial has so far shown that strength training lowers mortality, and for the messenger substances the chain through to survival has not been closed for a single one.

The reports of people who train are self-reports; those who gave up are less likely to tell their story. Feeling good nevertheless remains a real finding. The worry that training triggers a heart attack does not match the data: in LIFE, almost every second person in both groups had a serious event, with no established difference. It makes sense to measure your hand as a trend against yourself and to train the whole body. Anyone who has paused for a long time starts with guidance, and if grip strength drops for no reason, that belongs in a doctor’s office.

Listen (in German)

Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Amazon Music

Published on November 1, 2026.

The topic in the database

Skeletal muscle is more than a motor: under load it releases messenger substances (myokines), and its strength predicts all-cause mortality better …Muscle as an Organ (Grip Strength & Myokines)

All episodes in the app (German)

Information only, not medical advice and not a usage or dosage recommendation. Prescription-only and unapproved substances belong in the hands of a physician. Last updated: 2026-10-09.