The StoWicks Conversations
by
Seth and Carolyn Wicks
Today's Key Points:
- Grip Strength Matters
- Walk with Purpose
- Stand Up Independently
Seth: Most people say they want to live a long life. But if you really think about it, what you actually want isn’t more years, it’s better ones. You want to stay strong enough to play with your grandkids, mobile enough to travel, and independent enough to live on your own terms. Longevity without capability isn’t living, it’s existing.
Carolyn: If you’ve ever cooked anything, you know the humbling frustration of wrestling with a jar that just won’t open. You twist, you tap the lid, you try the towel trick, and suddenly you’re rethinking every life decision that led to this moment (this is me with a jar of salsa).
But here’s the thing: it’s not just about opening jars. It’s about holding on—to the railing before you fall, to your luggage as you hoist it overhead, to your independence as you age. All of that…is grip strength.
And believe it or not, grip strength might be one of the most powerful indicators of how long—and how well—you’ll live.
A review published in the British Medical Journal found that people with weaker grips had a 20–30% higher risk of death from any cause.
Another study in The Journal of Gerontology followed middle-aged adults for 25 years and found that those with the weakest grip strength were three times more likely to struggle with basic movements like walking or standing up later in life.
And in one global study published in The Lancet, grip strength predicted the risk of cardiovascular death better than blood pressure. Pretty wild for something that seems so simple, right?
The good news: grip strength is insanely trainable. Try adding farmer’s carries (grab two heavy dumbbells and walk 30–60 seconds), dead hangs from a pull-up bar, or even holding your grocery bags a little longer before setting them down.
Your grip is actually a reflection of your vitality, your neural drive, your resilience. So train it. Because the day you can still twist open that stubborn jar at 80? That’s the day you’ll realize you didn’t just live longer, you stayed capable.
Seth: Another vitality marker is your walking speed. We've all seen someone who is walking extremely slow. Whether it be because of an injury or just simply a lack of muscle/use, there is something in us that knows that this person isn't a model of health.
I hate saying it like that, but hear me out. If you saw someone else breeze by them without any strain, you'd think they were in better health. Well, there is science to back that up. In a study focused on walking speeds of older adults and mortality, they found that "slow walking speed in older people is strongly associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular mortality." Another study actually blew my mind because it concluded that "except for smoking, brisk walkers with an otherwise unhealthy lifestyle have a lower mortality risk than slow walkers with an otherwise healthy lifestyle." I consider myself someone with a healthy lifestyle, so it looks like I need to step up my walking game!
Walking speed is one of the strongest predictors of longevity. This one is easy to action: Prioritize daily walks, and try to increase your speeds.
Carolyn: If you’ve ever watched a toddler squat down, pick something up, and pop right back up without even thinking about it, you know what pure mobility looks like. Then somewhere between childhood and adulthood, we lose it. We sit too long, move too little, and wake up one day realizing that getting off the floor feels like a full workout.
Here’s why that matters: your ability to get up from the floor without using your hands is one of the strongest predictors of independence and longevity. In a study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, researchers followed over 2,000 adults aged 51–80 and found that those who struggled to stand up unassisted were five times more likely to die within six years than those who could.
Mobility isn’t just stretching, it’s about how well your joints move through their full range of motion. It’s what allows you to crouch down to play with your kids, get off the couch with ease, and walk up stairs without bracing on the railing. It’s what keeps you capable.
Actionable:
Mobility is one of those “use it or lose it” things. Start small and make it part of your day:
- Do a 5-minute morning mobility flow—hips, ankles, shoulders, and spine.
- Sit in a deep squat while brushing your teeth or scrolling your phone.
- Add hip openers, ankle circles, and thoracic twists to your warm-ups.
- Try yoga or animal flow movements a few times a week to reconnect your body’s strength and flexibility.
Your flexibility is freedom—the ability to move how and when you want, for as long as you want.
Seth: We don’t think about oxygen much, but it’s the fuel behind everything your body does. Your VO₂ max is basically your engine size. It measures how efficiently your body uses oxygen during intense effort, and it’s one of the single strongest predictors of how long you’ll live.
Shockingly, I'm going to add in another study. This one concluded that after two years of consistent exercise, people’s hearts got stronger and more flexible, and their ability to use oxygen during workouts improved significantly.
Here’s what that means: your heart and lungs are trainable. You can actually raise your VO₂ max at any age through consistent cardio such as sprinting, cycling, rowing, rucking, or even hill walking. The key is intensity. You need to breathe hard enough that you can’t hold a conversation.
Something I'm partial to is the Norwegian 4x4. The workout is simple: You spend 4 minutes at 85–95% of your maximum heart rate, followed by 3 minutes of active recovery. You then repeat that cycle 4 times. The goal is to push your heart and oxygen systems hard enough to force adaptation, but not so hard that you can’t sustain it for the full workout.
I know a lot of us look at cardio as something you do to look better or lose weight, but it’s so much bigger than that. You’re not just improving your endurance, you’re also strengthening your heart’s capacity to deliver life itself.
Carolyn: When you really think about it, all of these “fountains of youth” come down to one thing: capability. It’s about staying able. Able to move, to carry, to explore, to live fully in your own body.
Grip strength, walking speed, mobility, VO₂ max — they’re simply reflections of how well you’ve cared for the one thing that carries you through every season of life: your body.
And while those four steal the spotlight, there are a few honorable mentions we can’t ignore: balance and coordination, being able to catch yourself before you fall is one of the most underrated skills you’ll ever train, and strength and power, The ability to move weight quickly and with control keeps your bones dense, your hormones healthy, and your confidence high.
The truth is, aging well isn’t luck. It’s maintenance and work you have to put in. You have to keep showing up for yourself. Move often. Lift something heavy. Stretch a little longer. The goal should be to stay strong enough to actually enjoy your entire life.
Carolyn: This week, test your own “fountains of youth.”
Can you hang from a pull-up bar for 30 seconds? Get off the floor without using your hands? Walk a mile at a pace that makes you slightly breathless but still smiling?
If not, that’s your homework.
Seth: The main thing I want to stress is don't overdue it this week. This newsletter was packed with information, so if you do apply any of it, take it slow. Work on these fountains of youth, but make sure to avoid injury. Train at your own pace.
Both: Aging is inevitable. Losing capability is optional.
See you next week,
Seth & Carolyn
The StoWicks
Quote of the Week:
"Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live."
Jim Rohn
