A firm handshake and brisk walk could be indicators of a longer life expectancy, it has been claimed. Scientists at the Medical Research Council analysed the results of 33 studies into the link between ability to carry out simple physical tasks and age of death. They found people who performed better at tasks including gripping, walking, rising from a chair and balancing on one leg tended to live to a riper age. Tens of thousands of men and women across the globe took part in the studies, some of which followed participants for 43 years. Of the 14 studies dealing with grip strength, it was found that those with the strongest hand grasps tended to live longer than those with feeble ones.