“Drop and Give Me Forty” – Assessing Men’s Risk of Heart Disease by The Number of Pushups They Can Do

In a study conducted on middle-aged firemen by researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and published in the February 15, 2018 issue of the journal, JAMA Network Open; it was reported that “those (men) who could do more than 40 pushups in a row had a 96% lower risk of being diagnosed with heart disease or experiencing other heart problems over a 10 year period , as compared with those men who could do fewer than 10 pushups.”

The researchers were particularly excited by these findings, as these results have such far-reaching implications. Even though, they do admit that firefighters do tend to be more physically fit than men in the regular population, pushups as an exercise is relatively simple and requires no additional equipment nor extra cost and is easy to understand. Thus, clinicians and patients can easily understand these quantitative measurements in communicating and setting realistic health goals.

As with any exercise regimen, it is always advisable to see your healthcare provider first. To schedule an annual physical at any of our convenient Primary Medical Care Center community clinics, you may visit our website at www.primarymed.com, or call (305)751-1500 for our Miami-Dade clinic, or (954)289-0000 for our Broward clinic.

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