Push Up Capacity As A Predictor Of Cardiac Health

Recently we came across a study comparing cardiovascular disease related events and push up capacity versus cardiovascular endurance testing and cardiovascular disease related events.

The study looked at 1,104 Indiana Firefighters, all men between the ages of 21-66 years old, over a ten year period on their physical fitness test.

Here are the findings…

✅Those who could complete 40+ push ups in a row had a 96% less occurrence of a cardiovascular related event in the upcoming year compared to those who could complete less.

✅Those who could only complete between 0-10 push ups in a row had an 15% increased cumulative risk of a cardiovascular related event.

✅Push up capacity also showed to be a greater indictor of a cardiovascular related event than a treadmill stress test. Meaning that those who completed and passed a stress test, but who could not complete 40 push ups still showed to be at an increased risk.

As will all studies there are flaws and this is not to say that simply by being able to do 40 push ups will automatically prevent a cardiovascular event, but the evidence still strongly supports this. And the more push ups you can do the less of a risk.

They used men in the study, but similar results would probably be found among women, but total push up number would be different, the study acknowledges the need for more research on different groups.

Additionally, the ability to do more push ups could be simply due to you being more likely to be at a healthy or lower body weight/ body fat percentage that those who can’t. And being able to run, but not have adequate strength can still put you at an increased risk.

You can read the full study here: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2724778

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