Men’s Push-Up Prowess May Predict Their Heart Disease Risk | By Benjamin Ryan | Pharmative.com at Pridenation.com
Men who can bang out a greater number of push-ups have a lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease health events over a 10-year period than the low-push-up-capacity crowd. This finding from a study of firefighters could provide a simple, free test that clinicians can use to help predict an individual’s long-term health prospects.
Publishing their findings in JAMA Network Open, researchers conducted a retrospective longitudinal cohort study between 2000 and 2010 of 1,562 male firefighters in Indiana. The men underwent an initial physical examination that included a test of how many push-ups they could do at once as well as their exercise tolerance on a treadmill.
There was push-up data available for 1,101 men, so this group was included in the study’s analysis. They had an average age at the study’s outset of 39.6 years old and had an average body mass index (BMI) of 28.7. (A BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight; 30 and up is obese.)
During the 10-year follow-up period, the men, who were followed for a cumulative 8,601 years, were diagnosed with 37 cardiovascular-related health outcomes. Compared with the group that could do zero to 10 push-ups, the men in each of the four higher categories of push-up capacity—each successive group could do an additional 10 push-ups; the last group could do more than 40—all had a lower risk of a cardiovascular health event. Compared with the bottom group, the 40-push-up–plus group had a 96 percent lower risk of such a negative health outcome.
After adjusting the data for age and BMI, the study authors found that push-up capacity remained an independent predictor of cardiovascular health events. However, the only comparison that was statistically significant was between the 21- to 30-push-ups group, which had a 75 percent lower risk of such a health outcome compared with the zero- to 10-push-ups group.
More research is needed to validate these findings in other groups of men, especially considering the study group included middle-aged men who are active as a part of their profession.
How many push-ups can you do?
Sources:
1) https://www.eurekalert.org/emb_releases/2019-02/htcs-pcl021219.php; 2)https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2724778
