Longitudinal cohort study
Do men lose grip strength faster with age than women?
LayMed Simplified Version
Purpose:
This study followed a large group of Japanese adults for 10 years to see how quickly grip strength declines with age, and whether that decline happens differently in men vs women.
Importance:
grip strength is a simple way to track overall strength and physical function as people get older. Knowing who loses strength faster and when can help people (and clinicians) catch problems earlier and prioritize strength training—especially in age ranges where decline tends to accelerate.
Researchers followed 648 men and 598 women in Japan who were 40–79 years old at the start of the study for 10 years.
Every 2 years, participants had their grip strength tested using a dynamometer.
To keep the comparison simple, the researchers grouped people based on how old they were at the start (people in their 40s, 50s, 60s, or 70s).
They then compared how much grip strength changed over the 10 years in each age group for men vs women.
Average grip strength loss, by age decade at the start of the study
(These are 10-year averages, shown as both total % loss over 10 years and the average % loss per year.)
| Age at start | Men: total loss over 10 yrs | Men: avg loss per year | Women: total loss over 10 yrs | Women: avg loss per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40s | ~10% | ~1.0%/year | ~11% | ~1.1%/year |
| 50s | ~12% | ~1.2%/year | ~11% | ~1.1%/year |
| 60s | ~16% | ~1.6%/year | ~11% | ~1.1%/year |
| 70s | ~21% | ~2.1%/year | ~12% | ~1.2%/year |
What this means in plain language
Men lost grip strength faster as they got older, with the biggest drop in people who started the study in their 70s (about 2% per year, on average).
Women’s grip strength declined at a fairly steady pace across all decades (about ~1.1% per year on average).
So the main “sex difference” wasn’t just that strength declined — it was that men’s decline sped up more with older age, while women’s decline stayed more consistent.
Men’s grip strength tends to drop faster with age (especially in older decades), so staying consistent with strength-focused training becomes increasingly important as men get older.
Key Figures
Disclaimer: This simplified version is LayMed’s own interpretation of the original article’s text, and may or may not accurately reflect the beliefs, views, or findings of the authors. The article was published in the Journal of Physical Fitness and Sports Medicine, and the copyright is owned by the authors.