🦍Handgrip Strength Predicts Testosterone levels?
What is one of the STRONGEST predictors of Testosterone levels & androgen status?
Is it height? Do taller people tend to have more Testosterone?
Or is it penis size? Do people with more testosterone tend to have bigger penises?
Or could it be weight? Could it be that the bigger you are, the higher your testosterone levels on average?
What about Handgrip strength? Do people with stronger grips tend to have more testosterone?
Well, if you chose Handgrip strength, you chose correctly.
A study by Chiu et Al analyzing over 7000 men added to the body of evidence that confirms that Handgrip strength (HGS) is one of the strongest independent predictors of Testosterone levels, even after adjusting for cofounding factors (PMID 31267800).
The correlation between handgrip strength and testosterone was SO strong, that the beta coefficient in the analysis came out to a whopping 6.24.
This finding (the link between testosterone and grip strength) has also been reported in several studies, so this isn’t an isolated incidence.
What makes handgrip strength an even better proxy for androgen status, is that it also accounts for your testosterone to cortisol ratio, as well as other hormones that may tilt your body towards anabolism or catabolism.
This gives you a much better snapshot than taking a single saliva or blood test to “see” what your Testosterone levels are, since there are many things that a testosterone blood test doesn’t account for (such as androgen receptor sensitivity, intracellular testosterone levels, as well as the other hormones you couldn’t afford to test for).
Now this does not mean that training your handgrip strength will increase your Testosterone levels. Rather, increasing your Testosterone levels will directly increase your grip strength EVEN if you don't train for grip strength.
I wrote in much more detail about the relationship between Testosterone and grip strength in this article (click here), so check it out if you want to find out more.
To conclude, track your handgrip strength daily using a dynamometer as a free or cheap method to track your Testosterone levels and net androgen status.
🛒If you want the BEST No B.S, science-based, all-in-one training program, meal plan, testosterone guide, fat loss guide, and more, purchase my HSP Training Nucleus Overload® eBook here.
It combines the latest science and my roughly 20 years of experience in NATURAL Testosterone, Muscle, Self-Improvement, and Fat loss optimization to answer EVERY single critical question you may have about training, nutrition, fat loss, and testosterone boosting, using a SIMPLE, NO-BS approach, and at a HUGE discount (limited time -40% off if you’re subscribed to my YouTube channel).
You will also get unlimited FREE updates to ANY future editions of the eBook as a courtesy for supporting the channel and movement. Buy it now 👇
🤵Join my social media accounts here:
📱YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@team3dalpha
📱Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/team3dalpha
📱Discord: https://discord.gg/A29dDVXVcg
📱Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/team3dalpha
📱Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@team3dalpha
📱Threads: https://www.threads.net/@team3dalpha
🔗Link tree: https://linktr.ee/team3dalpha
Watch my YouTube video on the topic 👇
SOURCES
Morton RW, Sato K, Gallaugher MPB, Oikawa SY, McNicholas PD, Fujita S, Phillips SM. Muscle Androgen Receptor Content but Not Systemic Hormones Is Associated With Resistance Training-Induced Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy in Healthy, Young Men. Front Physiol. 2018 Oct 9;9:1373. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2018.01373. PMID: 30356739; PMCID: PMC6189473.
Mitchell CJ, Churchward-Venne TA, Bellamy L, Parise G, Baker SK, Phillips SM. Muscular and systemic correlates of resistance training-induced muscle hypertrophy. PLoS One. 2013 Oct 9;8(10):e78636. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0078636. PMID: 24130904; PMCID: PMC3793973.
Chiu HT, Shih MT, Chen WL. Examining the association between grip strength and testosterone. Aging Male. 2020 Dec;23(5):915-922. doi: 10.1080/13685538.2019.1632282. Epub 2019 Jul 3. PMID: 31267800.
Page ST, Amory JK, Bowman FD, Anawalt BD, Matsumoto AM, Bremner WJ, Tenover JL. Exogenous testosterone (T) alone or with finasteride increases physical performance, grip strength, and lean body mass in older men with low serum T. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2005 Mar;90(3):1502-10. doi: 10.1210/jc.2004-1933. Epub 2004 Nov 30. PMID: 15572415.
Auyeung TW, Lee JS, Kwok T, Leung J, Ohlsson C, Vandenput L, Leung PC, Woo J. Testosterone but not estradiol level is positively related to muscle strength and physical performance independent of muscle mass: a cross-sectional study in 1489 older men. Eur J Endocrinol. 2011 May;164(5):811-7. doi: 10.1530/EJE-10-0952. Epub 2011 Feb 23. PMID: 21346095.
Schaap LA, Pluijm SM, Smit JH, van Schoor NM, Visser M, Gooren LJ, Lips P. The association of sex hormone levels with poor mobility, low muscle strength and incidence of falls among older men and women. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2005 Aug;63(2):152-60. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2265.2005.02315.x. PMID: 16060908.
Shin MJ, Jeon YK, Kim IJ. Testosterone and Sarcopenia. World J Mens Health. 2018 Sep;36(3):192-198. doi: 10.5534/wjmh.180001. Epub 2018 May 11. PMID: 29756416; PMCID: PMC6119844.
Sun B, Chen HG, Duan P, Tu ZZ, Chen YJ, Meng TQ, Xiong CL, Wang YX, Pan A. Association of handgrip strength with semen characteristics: a study with repeated measurements among healthy Chinese men. Asian J Androl. 2022 Nov-Dec;24(6):594-600. doi: 10.4103/aja20221. PMID: 35381698; PMCID: PMC9809492.
Gürlek Demirci B, Sezer S, Tutal E, Çolak T, Uyanık S, Haberal M. Hand-Grip Strength Is Associated With Serum Testosterone and Albumin Levels in Male Kidney Transplant Recipients. Exp Clin Transplant. 2018 Mar;16 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):75-79. doi: 10.6002/ect.TOND-TDTD2017.O31. PMID: 29527997.