There have been new researches which suggest that men who do 40 push ups, or more in one go, are at a lower risk of heart disease than those who can’t.
Most of the people don’t exercise, is push ups fine for them?
If a person hasn’t exercised in a while, it could be the time for them to start working out. Maybe try starting with a few reps. Because this simple exercise is much more related to health than we think.
According to one of the latest studies published, a person’s capacity for pushups is inversely proportional to future heart disease incidents. This simply means that someone who is able to do pushups will have lesser chances to develop stroke or any other heart-related condition.
Researchers have also concluded that heart-related risks are 96 percent lower in men who were able to complete 40 or more pushups. This was done in comparison to the men who could do 10 or less.
The retrospective longitudinal study was done with 1,104 male firefighters over a 10-year period between 2000 and 2010. Their testing was done based on the baseline and periodic physical examinations that included treadmill tests and pushups.
How these pushups improve your health?
There are several practical takeaways from simple such as pushups, jogging and others.
The men in the study were told to perform pushups until they hit 80 pushups in total. This was connected to a computer that calculated and saved the data. While pushups and exercising are considered important for reducing the CVD incidents, other factors also play a role in the outcome, including –
bod y measurements – weight, height, and BMI serum biomarkers – blood lipids and cholesterol
One exercise does not provide all the help
Although the study seems straight forward, there have been some caveats regarding the study’s conclusions. This cannot be applied to the general population, because there could be the possibility that everyone might not find pushups easy.
For people who might find this exercise difficult, this study proves irrelevant. This can mostly be clubbed in the younger to middle age group people who can benefit from this exercise.
There are many patients including women who might not be able to do pushups, for example, maybe because of the lack the arm strength, but these patients can do a significant amount of cardiovascular exercise because they are physically fit.
A population has to be physically fit in order to be used for the same study, but generally the effects of pushups have proven to be beneficial on the men.
For the general population who might not be able to complete the pushups, improving their overall health along with increasing their aerobic capacity is of prime concern. These people might also need to modify their diet in such a way, that more healthy nutrients come their way. This could be more beneficial than focusing on pushups.
It is also not recommended for those people who have been sedentary for some time, or maybe people who are not accustomed to pushups. These people should first discuss with their physician and understand the ill-effects that pushups might add to their daily life.
Another type of physical activities including lightweight exercises, biking, swimming, is also considered a good aerobic workout, and is known to help the heart live longer. For athletes, these training prove worthy and the people get benefits out of them.
The bottom line
As per this new study, published in JAMA Network, 1,104 male firefighters over a 10-year period between 2000 and 2010 were studied. Researchers found that the risk of heart disease incidents was 96 percent lower in comparison to the men who couldn’t do 10 or lesser pushups versus those who were able to do 40 or more.
While doctors and researchers agree that pushup-capacity testing is a valuable way to instruct and integrate health initiatives in people, some doctors do believe that it’s not an accurate predictor in judging the incidence of heart or cardiovascular diseases.
For the average population, Global Hospital Chennai advises that goals including: improving their aerobic capacity along with modifying traditional risk factors (such as diet) help in improving the benefit more than solely focusing on pushups.
What are the signs that one should look for if he starts working out?
If a person has started exercising, he should discuss the same with their healthcare provider.
A number of red flag symptoms are to be noted for the same, which can cause issues that need to be noted –
Knee pain – the person should rather rest, or stop working out
Shortness of breath – it is not a matter of alarm, but should be taken into consideration, if it increases and results in choking/left side numbness, checkup should be done.
