10/12/2025
The push-up is an old school, barebones exercise. But it's an essential muscle-building move that's incorporated in every well-toned athlete's training program because it delivers results. Push-ups target your arms, chest, back and core. Which means they're the key to looking better with your shirt off. What's even more amazing is that they're a barometer of your overall cardiovascular health as well.
A recent study by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that men who can complete 40 consecutive push-ups have a 96% lower risk of coronary artery disease and heart attacks in the future compared with those who can only do 10 or fewer. The study monitored the exercise of more than 1,100 active firemen and followed their health over the next decade. Push-up capacity was more strongly associated with lower incidence of cardiovascular disease events than was aerobic capacity as estimated by a treadmill exercise test.
The good news, according to Justin Yang, a Harvard physician and one the study's authors, is that even if you're not hitting 40 but can still perform more than 10, you're doing some good. The researchers found that your heart disease risk decreased with every push-up completed over the baseline of 10.
Having trouble getting 10 pushups? No worries, try this ...
Here’s an old trainer trick: Take the number of solid push-ups you can do and divide that in half. Complete five sets of that number, resting 60 seconds between each set. (For example, if you can do eight perfect push-ups, even if you're doing them on your knees or against the wall, you’ll do five sets of four push-ups, followed by a minute rest.) Your next workout, deduct five seconds from your rest. Eventually, you’ll be down to no rests in between sets, enabling you to do 20 solid push-ups in a row.
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