A recent study carried out by researchers from Harvard University revealed that push-ups have many health benefits besides building muscles. Also, how many push-ups a man can do is a sign of measuring his cardiovascular health, the scientists found out.
The trial was conducted on 1,000 male firefighters who were followed over a decade. According to the research, those of them who could make 40 push-ups during a time-limited probe presented by 96 percent lower risks of cardiovascular diseases.
“Our findings provide evidence that push-up capacity could be an easy, no-cost method to help assess cardiovascular disease risk in almost any setting. Surprisingly, push-up capacity was more strongly associated with cardiovascular disease risk than the results of submaximal treadmill tests,” said Justin Yang, the study’s leading author, and a researcher at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Push-ups Have Many Health Benefits Besides Building Muscles
As scientists from Harvard stated in their study’s report, overweight and obesity are the leading causes of cardiovascular diseases. But push-ups, which are body-resistance exercises, can help in reducing those risks by assisting people to lose weight and replace the fatty tissues with lean muscles. But there’s more! Push-ups can also maintain bone health, prevent back pain, and correct posture.
“Push-ups challenge our pecs, our triceps, and [the back of the] shoulders, and require a good understanding of core and hip stability as well,” explained Rob Sulaver from Rumble Boxing and founder/CEO of Bandana Training.
“This study emphasizes the importance of physical fitness on health, and why clinicians should assess fitness during clinical encounters,” also said Stefanos Kales, a professor in the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School.
In short, Harvard scientists revealed that push-ups have many health benefits besides building muscles, such as preventing cardiovascular diseases, maintaining bone health, and also boosting energy levels.