Is there a link between push-up exercise capacity and future cardiovascular events in active adult men?
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of death worldwide. In addition to long-recognized risk factors for CVD, such as smoking, hypertension, and diabetes, the unfavourable health consequences of physical inactivity on cardiovascular health have been well established. Studies have suggested that physical activity provides cardiovascular benefits independent of other modifiable CVD risk factors associated with a lower incidence of multiple diseases, including CVD, diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer disease. A recent US study further suggested that moderate to vigorous physical activity could significantly reduce premature mortality and prolong life expectancy. Given this robust scientific evidence, the American Heart Association added physical activity to its My Life Check—Life’s Simple 7 campaign to reduce the burden of CVD and improve overall health.
American Heart Association has promoted assessment of physical activity in clinical settings and workplaces. There’s growing evidence for objectively assessing cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) as a vital sign in health care settings. However, unlike anthropometric measurements and serum biomarkers, physical activity and CRF assessments have largely been neglected by clinicians. The most commonly used physical activity assessments are the patient’s self-reported history and health and lifestyle questionnaires. However, objectively measured CRF levels are often significantly lower than expected based on self-reported physical activity. Although good performance on accurate and objective CRF assessment tools such as exercise tolerance tests has been inversely associated with future CVD, these examinations are expensive, time-consuming, and often require professional facilities and trained personnel to administer.
A new study examined baseline performance on commonly performed physical fitness assessments (push-up capacity and submaximal treadmill tests) and its association with subsequent incident CVD events in a cohort of occupationally active men.
This study found that push-up capacity was inversely associated with 10-year risk of CVD events among men aged 21 to 66 years. Thus, push-up capacity, a simple, no-cost measure, may provide a surrogate estimate of functional status among middle-aged men.
Conclusions:
In this 10-year longitudinal study, participants able to complete more than 40 push-ups were associated with a significant reduction in incident CVD event risk compared with those completing fewer than 10 push-ups, which may be explained by significant differences in recognized CVD risk factors at baseline among the groups. The findings suggest that being able to perform a greater number of push-ups at baseline is associated with a lower incidence of CVD events among active adult men. Thus, results from this study suggest that it is reasonable for clinicians to assess functional status during clinical evaluations by using basic questions regarding activity. Further research is warranted to determine the association of push-up capacity with CVD risk in the general population and the potential use of push-ups as a clinical assessment tool.
Source:
Yang J, Christophi CA, Farioli A, et al. Association Between Push-up Exercise Capacity and Future Cardiovascular Events Among Active Adult Men. JAMA Netw Open. 2019;2(2):e188341. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.8341