Firefighters who did 40+ push-ups had fewer heart events, but push-ups were not shown to predict risk independently
Does doing 40 push-ups mean a lower risk of heart disease?
The finding
Compared with 0–10 push-ups, the incidence rate ratio for cardiovascular events was 0.36 for 11–20, 0.16 for 21–30, 0.25 for 31–40 and 0.04 for 41 or more, the last based on a single event. Adjusted for age and BMI, the 41+ hazard ratio was 0.14 (0.02–1.22), which is not significant.
- Authors
- Yang J, Christophi CA, Farioli A, et al.
- Published
- JAMA Network Open 2(2):e188341 · 2019
- Evidence
- Read in the primary source; numbers checked.
- Source
- doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.8341
How it was studied
Retrospective cohort of Indiana male career firefighters: 1,104 with push-up data, mean age 39.6, mean BMI 28.7. 37 cardiovascular events over 8,601 person-years. Push-ups were paced by a metronome at 80 beats per minute, stopping at 80 reps, 3 missed beats or exhaustion.
The numbers
Confidence intervals for the rate ratios: 11–20, 0.14–0.92; 21–30, 0.06–0.42; 31–40, 0.10–0.62; 41 or more, 0.01–0.36.
What it does not show
The authors state the results do not support push-ups as an independent predictor of cardiovascular risk. Men only, mostly white and occupationally active; no correction for multiple comparisons. The metronome protocol is not a max-reps test, so the "40" does not transfer.
What Longstanding does with it
The app does not use 40 push-ups as a line or quote it as a target. The push-up test is a strict max-reps set, which is a different test from this one.