Push-Ups and Heart Health-The Pushup Test

Stefanos N. Kales, MD, MPH, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School co-authored a recent study that suggested that the number of push-ups a middle-aged man can perform might be a strong indication of his overall heart health. He found that men who can do more than 40 pushups in one minute have a 96 percent reduced risk of heart attack, stroke and heart disease compared with men who could muster fewer than 10. He also noted that push-up capacity appears to be a better and obviously less costly measurement of heart health than the standard treadmill test routinely used by cardiologists.