Millennials Aren’t As Strong As They Think They Are.
EVERY GENERATION THINKS the one that comes after them is softer and snowflakier than their hearty, bad*** selves. But a few years ago a team of researchers at Winston-Salem State looked at the grip strength of millennials ages 20 to 34 and compared the data with that of people in the same age bracket in the 1980s, and you will never guess what the researchers discovered. They found grip strength—a good indicator of overall strength—had dropped by up to 22 percent in men, proving that millennials are, in fact, weaker than their parents. Gen Z is likely even weaker. These declines in strength matter because you need a reserve of muscle to maintain a high quality of life in your 70s, 80s, and beyond. So what’s causing this millennial strength crisis, and what can we do about it?
Modern life is less physically demanding for many. This starts in school, where daily PE is no longer the norm, and continues in the workplace. In 1950, about 30 percent of Americans worked in high-activity occupations (think farmers, laborers, construction workers); by 2000, that proportion had dropped to 23 percent, according to research from the Saint Louis University School of Public Health. Conversely, the percentage of people working in low-activity jobs (think managers, teachers, scientists) rose from 23 percent to 41 percent.