For healthy aging, maintaining muscle strength is likely just as important as getting enough aerobic activity. That’s according to the findings of a recent study of more than 5,000 women with a mean age of about 77. It found that women with higher levels of grip strength and those who completed five unassisted chair stands in the fastest amount of time had a significantly lower death risk over an eight-year follow-up.

The lower mortality rates were evident even after accounting for physical activity and sedentary behavior, as measured by accelerometer data; gait speed (an indicator of cardiovascular fitness); and C-reactive protein, a blood biomarker of inflammation believed to be a major driver both of losing muscle function and premature death.

In fact, for every 7 kilograms of grip strength, there was, on average, a 12% lower mortality rate. When it came to sit-to-stand movements, moving from the slowest time to the fastest time in 6-second increments, researchers saw a 4% lower mortality rate.

Grip strength and chair stands are two tests commonly used to determine strength levels among older patients in a clinical setting.

Even among women who did not meet current physical activity guidelines for adults — 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic activity — those with higher muscular strength had significantly lower mortality

“Muscular strength, in many ways, enables one to move their body from one point to another, particularly when moving against gravity,” said study lead author Michael LaMonte, PhD, research professor of epidemiology and environmental health at the University at Buffalo, New York.

“Healthy aging probably is best pursued through adequate amounts of both aerobic and muscle-strengthening physical activities,” he added. “When we no longer can get out of the chair and move around, we are in trouble.”

To read the full article, published in JAMA Network Open, click here