{"id":9889,"date":"2026-05-31T12:11:41","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T12:11:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/?p=9889"},"modified":"2026-05-31T12:11:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T12:11:41","slug":"the-exact-number-of-push-ups-that-can-slash-the-risk-of-heart-problems-by-96","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/?p=9889","title":{"rendered":"The exact number of push-ups that can slash the risk of heart problems by 96%"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">It&#8217;s a grueling exercise that many try to avoid.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">But scientists now say that the number of push-ups you can do may indicate your risk of developing heart problems.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">In a study, researchers from Harvard tracked 1,100 middle-aged men over a 10-year period.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">At the start, participants were asked to perform as many push-ups as possible, stopping either when they reached exhaustion or 80 push-ups.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Over the following decade, they were asked to report<a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.com\/health\/article-15846505\/heart-disease-deadly-women-simple-fiX.html\"> any cardiovascular events<\/a>, such as a coronary artery disease diagnosis or heart failure.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The results were revealing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Overall, for those who could do 11 or more push-ups, they had a 64 percent lower risk of a cardiovascular event compared to those who could do 10 push-ups or fewer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">People able to do 21 push-ups or more were found to have a 75 percent lower risk of suffering a cardiovascular event over the next decade compared to those who could do fewer than 10.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">And those who could do 40 or more push-ups had a 96 percent lower risk of any heart problems.<\/p>\n<div class=\"artSplitter mol-img-group\" style=\"\">\n<div class=\"mol-img\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-b6dee5294f2205b8\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/05\/28\/20\/108940979-15855621-image-a-1_1779998223240.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Former US President Barack Obama is pictured above performing a push-up on the South Lawn of the White House in April 2012\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Former US President Barack Obama is pictured above performing a push-up on the South Lawn of the White House in April 2012\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><iframe data-xpmodule-iframe-resizable=\"\" scrolling=\"no\" name=\"xp-iframe-mptqic93fr3saiucv2d\" class=\"iframe-creator \" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/html_modules\/Annie\/tests\/240905-healthsubheading\/240905-healthsubheading\/index.html\" allow=\"clipboard-write\" height=\"45\" style=\"border: 0; width: 0; min-width: 100%; \" id=\"xp-iframe-mptqic93fr3saiucv2d\"><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>    <\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Push-ups are traditionally a measure of upper body strength, but the researchers said they also reflected the ability of the cardiovascular system to sustain effort &#8211; making them a potential indicator of overall heart health.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">People who can perform more push-ups also tend to have lower BMIs, better blood pressure and be more active, which also lowers their risk of heart disease.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Writing in the 2019 <a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jamanetworkopen\/fullarticle\/2724778\">paper<\/a>, the researchers said: &#8216;Push-up capacity, a simple, no-cost measure, may provide a surrogate estimate of functional status among middle-aged men.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Push-ups are one of the most well-known exercises in the US, often used in school sports lessons, and require no specialist equipment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">According to a 2021 survey, however, more than half of Americans are not able to do 10 push-ups in a row, while a third cannot do five consecutively.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Heart disease is the most common cause of death in the US, and is linked to 19.8 million fatalities every year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Researchers say the best way to slash your risk is to exercise regularly and eat a healthy diet. The World Health Organization tells people to complete 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise every week, such as cycling or a brisk walk.<\/p>\n<div class=\"artSplitter mol-img-group\" style=\"\">\n<div class=\"mol-img\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-3ce6783dbe370473\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/05\/28\/21\/108942159-15855621-image-a-2_1780000530065.jpg\" height=\"379\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Prince William is shown above attempting a push-up in Ascot, England, in May 2016\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Prince William is shown above attempting a push-up in Ascot, England, in May 2016<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">In the study, researchers looked at 1,100 men, meaning it was not clear how the results would apply to women.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The study was also observational, meaning that it could not prove whether push-ups were directly reducing the risk of heart problems.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Participants were 40 years old at the start of the study on average, and were all firefighters &#8211; a physically demanding job that requires high fitness levels.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">For the push-up test, they were asked to perform the exercise at a speed of about 1.5 push-ups every second.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">They continued until they reached 80 push-ups, missed three or more push-ups or stopped because of exhaustion or other symptoms such as light-headedness.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">They did standard push-ups, where the hands are positioned flat on the floor slightly wider than shoulder-width, their legs are extended fully straight behind them with toes on the floor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Participants brought their chest down to the floor and then back up for each push-up.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Overall, most participants could do 21 to 40 push-ups before stopping. A total of 155 participants could do more than 40, while 200 could do fewer than 20 and 75 could do fewer than 10.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Thirty-seven cardiovascular-related events were recorded over the 10-year follow-up period.<\/p>\n<div class=\"artSplitter mol-img-group\" style=\"\">\n<div class=\"mol-img\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-24493350bce4c1ab\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/05\/28\/22\/108943475-15855621-image-a-20_1780002239385.jpg\" height=\"357\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Actor John Krasinski is shown above doing 25 press ups. He posted the video on X in 2018, saying that he had been challenged to do the exercises by Chris Pratt\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Actor John Krasinski is shown above doing 25 press ups. He posted the video on X in 2018, saying that he had been challenged to do the exercises by Chris Pratt<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Analysis showed that, overall, those who were able to do more push-ups had a lower risk of suffering from heart problems.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">In the paper, researchers also compared push-ups to running on a treadmill and found that push-ups were a better indicator of whether someone would experience a cardiovascular event.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Scientists said this may be because fitness tests can over- or underestimate true fitness, which is not the case with push-ups.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Dr Edward Phillips, a physical medicine professor at Harvard who was not involved in the research, said previously: &#8216;How many you can do at one time offers a real-time measurement of your strength and muscular endurance and is an easy tool to help you improve.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;You can do them anywhere and at any time. All you need is your body weight and a few minutes.&#8217;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s a grueling exercise that many try to avoid. But scientists now say that the number of push-ups you can do may indicate your risk of developing heart problems. In a study, researchers from Harvard tracked 1,100 middle-aged men over a 10-year period. At the start, participants were asked to perform as many push-ups as<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9890,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bunyad_sub_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[520],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hot"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}