Welcome to Living Well Daily, the newsletter serving up tips to help you live a healthier, happier life.
In today’s edition:
💖 Longevity: How grip strength influences longevity and how to train it
😊 Mental / Emotional Health: Less Worry, More Woop
🧠 Inner Reps: Feel grounded and grateful!
📰 Wellness News
👇 And more good stuff!
Today’s Edition
Woah, my eyes are having trouble handling how bright you shine naturally just by being you! Keep being that dazzling and sensational being you are!
Fitness Friday: Grip it 💪
A study of over 140,000 people (Leong, et al. 2015) found that:
“Grip strength was inversely associated with all-cause mortality… cardiovascular mortality… non-cardiovascular mortality… myocardial infarction… and stroke…”
The stronger your grip, the less likely you are to die.
This isn't because the forearms are magic; it is because people with stronger grips tend to have more muscle and be more active.
Some longevity experts have mentioned this online, like Peter Attia, who talks about the importance of doing long farmers' carries (which is walking with a weight in each hand).
But they are comparing apples 🍎 and oranges🍊…
To measure grip strength, this study and others use a Jamar dynamometer. It works by squeezing it as hard as you can for only a couple of moments, not for minutes at a time.
This is the disconnect: maximal grip strength is what is being measured, not endurance grip strength.
This is important because of the SAID (Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands) principle, which means that your training should be tailored for the result you want.
If you are untrained (or have a weak grip), then any grip work will help even longer-duration hanging or farmers carry, but eventually your maximal grip strength will plateau from this type of training. So if you want an iron grip, then train for it.
3 ways to improve your maximal grip strength:
Do very heavy farmers' carries for shorter durations or distances (10 - 30 seconds)
Lift heavy: free weights or machines are both good choices.
If you can hang on a pull-up bar with your bodyweight for 20s, start adding weight. If you can't hang with your bodyweight, start with toes on the ground, slowly adding more weight to your hands.
📝Note: Like all exercises, start by making it a manageable challenge, then try to progress over time
✅Action step: Either add some maximal grip-specific training to your exercise routine or some heavy lifts for lower reps that challenge your grip.
Less Worry, More WOOP
When goals feel stuck, worry creeps in, and chaos follows. It can be tough to break out of paralysis and a worry loop without a simple effective strategy. Enter WOOP: an evidence-based goal-setting method (created by Dr. Gabriele Oettingen) that brings clarity, focus, and calm motivation.
WOOP in 4 steps:
🎯 Wish. What do you really want to accomplish?
🌟 Outcome. What’s the best thing that happens if you achieve it?
🚧 Obstacles. What might get in your way? (Get real here!)
🛠 Plan. Use if/then: “If [obstacle] shows up, then I’ll [take this action].”
Not only can WOOP help you get clarity on how to move forward on your goals, but it can also help you recognize when you’re truly not invested in a goal and want to let it go. When we take an honest look at the obstacles, we can a) figure out the simple next step to move forward or b) decide that we don’t care enough to overcome them and move on to more inspiring goals.
✅ Action Step: Think of one goal you’ve been stuck on. Take 5 minutes to WOOP it out—you might feel calmer and more motivated instantly.
Today’s Mental and Emotional Workout:
Today’s workout will help you feel grounded, grateful, and ready to take on your day!
Growth isn’t always about becoming someone new. It’s about returning to who you were before the world told you otherwise.
🚶 Fast walking can help with longevity (now I have more reasons to be annoyed with slow walkers).
☀️UV Rays: What are they, and what the different levels mean.
🏙️ Walkable cities: The importance of living somewhere walkable.
Thank you for being here!
Before you go, let us know what you thought of today’s edition and if there are any subjects you would like us to cover in the future reply to this email and let us know!
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Lola & Joshua | The Living Well Team