New FREE Cardiac Risk Assessment!

There are a ton of laboratory measurements that can shed light on health and risk for future events, particularly in the cardiac arena. I have a new favorite – Pushups!

A new study looked at the ability to complete pushups and the risk for a cardiac event, are you ready to see if you can pass the test?

In this 10-year longitudinal study, participants able to complete more than 40 push-ups were associated with a significant reduction in incident CVD event risk compared with those completing fewer than 10 push-ups, which may be explained by significant differences in recognized CVD risk factors at baseline among the groups. The findings suggest that being able to perform a greater number of push-ups at baseline is associated with a lower incidence of CVD events among active adult men. Thus, results from this study suggest that it is reasonable for clinicians to assess functional status during clinical evaluations by using basic questions regarding activity. Further research is warranted to determine the association of push-up capacity with CVD risk in the general population and the potential use of push-ups as a clinical assessment tool.

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Here is how the data looked graphically:

So, the more the better. Happy to see this and know that I can cross the 40 mark even in TRX straps, but it I wasn’t there a couple years ago (maybe ~20ish in TRX?). For those who don’t know the pain of TRX straps, here is a visual:

We have a large number of people that struggle with physical exertion. It really isn’t a good state of affairs when the national weather service needs to warn people about the dangers of shoveling snow.

Big strain or not, we should prioritize a physical condition that allows for pushups and shoveling snow without governmental caution; and this study shows that the correlation is a life and death matter.

If you, or someone you know, is in the <10 camp, improvement can be achieved. However, an individualized plan should be evaluated. We will want to evaluate how the diet supports training and even look at mediations that may hinder performance. Please reach for a free intro call if you would like a consult!

How many pushups can you do?

1. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2724778
2. https://cdn.jamanetwork.com/ama/content_public/journal/jamanetworkopen/937802/zoi180340f1.png?Expires=2147483647&Signature=bNTEW16M9d6IRDYxnzd1e0198LIOsVKPRqrgJzB~VbR8Fje5sLYl2jCvTCqoj~E8RZvgOxkj07VdrmgPdy7-FEPPECyeff1WlothQNREqJ8yaXvMrFKXigWda4ax~xuy4WKd~dM8PxiuznGuo028bNe5rPFhSee7VWbowec0Ab6u2fCyCsrLEOaYtTuWcjGK62epifWsX~tny38-o48UuJI5N3Wiy6jEWZxbcMu9CTf6xKlL0ETAyH9E~F3YZLckllKzXy9Vdh8OrVPklOtxbkUuUrEoW1RBddBMEcyk-fJoDopObeo2q3ftkt~FZ4jHZvEBtq38Eed1cbg6UQC24A__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAIE5G5CRDK6RD3PGA