How many pushups can you do in a row? Two? Ten? Fifteen? Forty? One Hundred? Well, if you can do 40 pushups in a row, you could have a 96% lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) than those who can do less than 10 pushups, according to a 2019 JAMA Network Open study. But what do pushups and heart health really have to do with each other? Here’s what you need to know.
READ MORE: New Study Finds Poor Mental Health Linked With Heart Attack Symptoms
What Does The Study Say About Pushups And Heart Health?
For 10 years, researchers followed over a 1000 firefighters with the mean age of participants being just less than 40 years old and mean BMI being 28.7.
At the start of the study the participants’ pushup capacity and sub-maximal treadmill exercise tolerance were measured. They would then complete annual physical exams and health and medical questionnaires.
There were 37 CVD-related incidents during the 10 year period. All but one of them occurred in men who did 40 or less pushups during the baseline test.
“Participants able to perform 11 or more pushups at baseline had significantly reduced risk of subsequent CVD events,” explained senior author Stefanos Kales.
READ MORE: Live, Laugh, Longer: This Easy Therapy Could Help Your Heart
The State Of South Africa’s Hearts
Here are some sobering stats from the SA Heart and Stroke Foundation to keep in mind:
- 30% of the population has some form of cardiovascular disease.
- Heart disease is one of the biggest causes of mortality in SA – more than all cancers combined.
- Every day, 225 South Africans are killed by heart diseases.
- Every hour, 10 people in SA suffer a stroke.
How Can This Study Help?
“Our findings provide evidence that pushup capacity could be an easy, no-cost method to help assess cardiovascular disease risk in almost any setting,” said on of the study’s authors, Dr Justin Yang.
‘Surprisingly, pushup capacity was more strongly associated with cardiovascular disease risk than the results of sub-maximal treadmill tests,’ he says.
Having a cost-effective test that can be used anywhere and by anyone is major for a country like South Africa.
“Although good performance on accurate and objective CRF assessment tools such as exercise tolerance tests has been inversely associated with future CVD, these examinations are expensive, time-consuming, and often require professional facilities and trained personnel to administer,” the authors explain.
READ MORE: Take Our 3-Minute Fitness Test to Find Out How Fit You Really Are
Take The Test At Home
So now you know the science, but how can that help you? Set a timer for one minute and see how many pushups you can do in a row. Then record it on a piece of paper or your Notes app.
Not hitting that magic number 40? We’ve got a three minute pushup challenge that will get your results in no time (plus, some form tips) right here.
The Bottom Line
Ultimately, pushups and heart health have more in common than you think. Middle-aged men who could do more than 40 pushups in one go had a 96% reduced risk of cardiovascular disease events compared with those able to do fewer than 10 pushups. Time to drop and give us 40!
