Short answer
Your scale gives you a BMI. It doesn’t tell you whether you can still open a jar, carry your groceries or get up from a chair. Your grip strength, on the other hand, predicts the risk of death surprisingly well in large cohorts.
Grip strength is a simple, reproducible functional marker associated with the risk of death. In the PURE study, involving nearly 140,000 adults aged 35 to 70, each 5 kg decrease was associated with a 16% higher risk of all-cause mortality and a 17% higher risk of cardiovascular mortality, after adjustments.
But “better than BMI” is too broad a conclusion. PURE notably compared the prognostic value of grip strength with that of systolic blood pressure, not in a universal showdown against BMI. Grip strength and BMI measure different dimensions. The former tells you about neuromuscular function. The latter roughly describes body size without distinguishing muscle from fat.
The right approach is to add grip strength to the assessment, not drop the other markers. A strong grip doesn’t make you immune to high blood pressure, diabetes or visceral fat. A weak grip doesn’t predict your individual fate; above all, it warrants looking for the cause.
Why grip strength is informative
Squeezing a dynamometer engages the muscles of the hand and forearm, but the result also depends on overall muscle mass, joint and nerve integrity, pain, nutritional status, illness and the ability to produce maximal effort.
It is precisely this broad scope that gives it prognostic value. Low strength can reflect several accumulated vulnerabilities. That doesn’t make it a direct test of mitochondria, white matter, testosterone or “biological age.” These mechanisms are sometimes associated with strength, but a dynamometer doesn’t measure them.
The association with mortality doesn’t prove that gaining 5 kg on the dynamometer automatically reduces risk by 16%. PURE is an observational cohort study. An emerging illness can reduce strength before it is diagnosed, and some factors are never perfectly adjusted for. The authors themselves called for trials to determine whether improving grip strength changes cardiovascular outcomes.
What BMI sees—and what it misses
BMI divides weight by height squared. It is inexpensive and useful for describing populations. At the individual level, it can classify a muscular athlete as overweight and miss sarcopenia in someone of normal weight. It doesn’t locate fat or measure cardiorespiratory fitness or strength.
That doesn’t make it “wrong.” A very high or very low BMI remains associated with risks in many populations. Its interpretation benefits from adding waist circumference, body composition when needed and metabolic factors.
A 2025 meta-analysis covering 398,716 observations examined cardiorespiratory fitness and BMI together. People who were overweight or obese but fit did not have a statistically different mortality risk from the normal-weight, fit reference group. Unfit groups had a higher risk regardless of BMI category. This finding highlights the importance of function without proving that excess body fat has no consequences.
Cardiorespiratory fitness is not grip strength, either. Resist the temptation to merge every functional marker into a single number.
How to measure correctly
Values vary with the dynamometer, handle, posture and instructions. To track a trend, repeat the same protocol rather than comparing your home device with a table you found online.
Use this simple procedure:
- same dynamometer and same handle setting
- same seated or standing position at every session
- stable shoulder, elbow positioned according to the chosen protocol and neutral wrist
- two to three attempts per hand with a short recovery
- best score or average, but always use the same rule
Don’t measure after a pulling workout, climbing or substantial fatigue. Hand pain, osteoarthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome or a neurological condition can lower the score without reflecting overall fitness.
PURE data on 125,462 healthy adults show large differences by age, sex and region. Among people under 40 in Europe and North America, the reported median reached 50 kg for men. Among women over 60 in Southeast Asia, it was 18 kg. Imposing 50 to 60 kg on all men and 30 to 40 kg on all women therefore has no clinical basis.
Clinical threshold or training target
The European EWGSOP2 consensus places low strength at the center of identifying sarcopenia. It uses grip strength thresholds below 27 kg for men and 16 kg for women. These thresholds are intended to screen for low strength, mainly in older adults. They define neither optimal performance nor life expectancy.
Low strength needs to be confirmed and interpreted. Diagnosing sarcopenia also requires assessing muscle quantity or quality, while low physical performance indicates a more severe form. Your doctor may also investigate undernutrition, inflammatory disease, a neurological condition or a medication effect.
Should you train your grip directly?
Yes, if it limits your activities, pull-ups, loaded carries or independence. No, if the goal is simply to manipulate a biomarker. Practicing the test can improve your score through learning without improving everything it is supposed to reflect.
A comprehensive plan can include the following:
- two full-body strength sessions per week
- pulling exercises, lifts or loaded carries suited to your level
- light to moderate direct squeezing or holding work if needed
- recovery days for fingers, wrists and elbows
Start with two or three sets without pain or going to failure. Dead hangs aren’t suitable for everyone, especially if you have shoulder or hand pain. Heavy-resistance hand grippers can irritate tendons if training volume increases too quickly.
For long-term health, combine this strength work with endurance, balance and daily activity. The longevity training guide offers a breakdown based on public health recommendations rather than a single score.
What the score can usefully prompt
A gradual, confirmed decline deserves more attention than a single poor measurement. First check the protocol, pain, recent sleep and training. If the decline persists, especially alongside unintentional weight loss, general weakness, a fall, numbness or new asymmetry, seek medical advice.
Sudden weakness in one hand accompanied by trouble speaking, facial asymmetry or loss of function on one side is an emergency. You don’t need a dynamometer to act.
The Verdict
Grip strength is an excellent signal of function and a useful screening tool. It tells you more than BMI about strength and muscular vulnerability, but not about every dimension of health. The “best indicator” headline becomes misleading the moment it encourages you to ignore waist circumference, cardiorespiratory fitness, blood pressure or symptoms.
Measure it consistently, interpret it using appropriate reference values and train your whole body. Longevity doesn’t fit in one hand.
