CATEGORY: METABOLIC & BLOOD SUGAR
Adults with greater muscle strength were about 44% less likely to develop type 2 diabetes — a condition in which the body struggles to use insulin properly, so blood sugar runs too high — than those with the least strength, a large UK study found. Strikingly, the link held even for people whose genes put them at higher risk, suggesting stronger muscles may be associated with lower diabetes risk regardless of family history.1
How the Study Worked
Researchers followed 141,848 adults in the UK Biobank, a long-running health study, none of whom had diabetes at the start. Each person’s muscle strength was measured with a hand grip test and adjusted for lean body mass, then sorted into low, medium and high groups. The team also calculated each person’s inherited risk using a genetic score built from 138 DNA markers tied to type 2 diabetes. Over a median of about seven years, 4,743 people developed the disease, and the researchers compared how often it appeared across the strength and genetic-risk groups.
What the Numbers Showed
Compared with the weakest group, those with the highest muscle strength had roughly a 44% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The connection was present at every level of genetic risk, though it was somewhat weaker among those with the strongest inherited risk. Even so, people at high genetic risk who also had high muscle strength had a lower estimated chance of diabetes over eight years than some people with lower genetic risk but weaker muscles.1
Why Strength May Matter for Blood Sugar
Muscle is where much of the sugar in your blood gets used for fuel. Stronger, more active muscle tends to pull glucose out of the bloodstream more readily and respond better to insulin, the hormone that ushers sugar into cells. When muscles are weak or underused, sugar is more likely to linger in the blood — which may help explain why greater strength tracked with lower diabetes risk.
What This Means
Because this was an observational study — one that tracks people without assigning them to groups — it can show an association but cannot prove that stronger muscles directly prevent diabetes. It is also possible that early, undiagnosed metabolic problems sap strength, rather than the other way around. Still, the findings add to evidence that muscle health and blood sugar are closely tied.
Key Takeaways
- In a large UK study, adults with greater muscle strength were about 44% less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those with the least strength.
- The link appeared even in people with a higher inherited risk of diabetes, though it was somewhat weaker in that group.
- Building or maintaining muscle strength may be worth discussing with your doctor as part of your overall approach to health, especially if diabetes runs in your family.
- This study shows an association, not cause and effect; talk with your healthcare provider before making changes to your exercise or health routine.
References
- Wang M, Collings PJ, Jang H, et al. Prospective associations between muscle strength and genetic susceptibility to type 2 diabetes with incident type 2 diabetes: a UK Biobank study. BMC Medicine. 2025;23(1):93. link