A new study from Finland suggests that men who are born with genes that support stronger muscles may have a lower risk of dying from heart disease—regardless of how much they exercise or what kind of lifestyle they lead.
This research was carried out by the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences at the University of Jyväskylä and published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
We already know that low muscle strength—especially weak grip strength—has been linked to a higher chance of early death. Physical activity can help slow down muscle loss, but this study looked at something different:
What if your muscles are naturally stronger because of your genes? Could that protect you from serious diseases like heart attacks, even if you don’t exercise much?
To find out, the researchers used genetic and lifestyle data from nearly 9,000 Finnish adults, many of whom were twins.
They used something called a “polygenic score,” which combines the effect of many tiny genetic differences to estimate someone’s natural strength potential—specifically in handgrip strength. This score allowed researchers to compare people with naturally higher or lower genetic muscle strength.
The results showed that in men, those who had a higher genetic potential for muscle strength were less likely to die from cardiovascular disease.
This was true even after researchers adjusted for other risk factors like smoking, drinking, body weight, and how much they exercised in their free time. In other words, even men who weren’t very active still seemed to benefit if they had inherited genes that supported stronger muscles.
Interestingly, the study found that having strong genes for muscles didn’t make people more active. So, just because someone was genetically strong didn’t mean they exercised more. This suggests that the protective effect came directly from the strength-related genes, not from lifestyle habits that often go along with being fit.
For women, the story was different. The study didn’t find a clear link between inherited muscle strength and a lower risk of death. The researchers believe this could be because women’s bodies respond differently to aging, hormones, and heart disease risk.
For example, it’s possible that some of the same genetic traits that make muscles stronger in women may also increase the risk for certain heart issues later in life. But they say more research with larger groups is needed to fully understand these gender differences.
While the polygenic score for muscle strength isn’t strong enough to predict health risks on its own, it may still be useful in the future. The researchers believe it could be used alongside lifestyle information to better understand a person’s overall health risk or even to guide personalized fitness or health plans.
This study is part of a larger research project by doctoral researcher Päivi Herranen, who is studying how genes and the environment affect aging, especially the decline in muscle strength and physical ability as people get older.
Her work is gaining recognition—this paper won second prize at the 2024 Helsinki Sports Medicine Days in the Best Research Paper in Sports Medicine competition.
In summary, being born with genes that help you build stronger muscles may lower your chances of dying from heart disease, especially for men. While staying active is still important, your genetic makeup may also play a quiet but powerful role in how your body handles aging and disease.
If you care about muscle, please read studies about factors that can cause muscle weakness in older people, and scientists find a way to reverse high blood sugar and muscle loss.
For more health information, please see recent studies about an easy, cheap way to maintain muscles, and results showing these vegetables essential for your muscle strength.
The research findings can be found in Journal of the American Heart Association.
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