Push-up Capacity Linked to CVD Risk

A US retrospective longitudinal cohort study revealed that higher baseline push-up capacity is associated with a lower incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) events. The study was conducted between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2010. There were 1562 participants underwent baseline examination, and 1104 with available push-up data included in the final analyses. Mean (SD) age of the cohort at baseline was 39.6 (9.2) years, and mean (SD) body mass index was 28.7 (4.3). During 10-year follow up, 37 CVD-related outcomes (defined as incident diagnosis of coronary artery disease or other major CVD event, such as heart failure, sudden cardiac death; 8601 person-years) were reported in participants with available push-up data. Significant negative associations were found between increasing push-up capacity and CVD events as well as most of baseline risk factors. Participants able to complete more than 40 push-ups were associated with a significantly lower risk of incident CVD event compared with those completing fewer than 10 push-ups (incidence rate ratios, 0.04). Push-up capacity may be a useful, objective, and simple measure for evaluating functional capacity and CVD risk. Source: https://jamanetwork.com/