Try this out and post your results and thoughts below.
FIRST PERSON TO POST A VIDEO DOING IT (PASS OR FAIL) GETS A FREE T NATION SHIRT or hat. (US48 only).
THE TEST
Do one set of as many unbroken push-ups as you can with good form (chest to floor every rep). The test is over as soon as you fail to get another full rep or if you have to take a 2-3 second break to get another rep.
THE GOAL
Do at least 40.
THE REASONING
Men who can do 40 good push-ups aren’t likely to die within the next 10 years. Men who can do less than 10 are far more likely to push daisies within the next decade.
Researchers at Harvard devised this test after conducting a 10-year study. Surprisingly, push-up capacity was more strongly associated with cardiovascular disease risk than the results of the standard submaximal treadmill test.
Muscular strength has an “independent protective effect” for all-cause mortality. That means testing your heart health isn’t just about slogging away on a treadmill.
This isn’t saying that doing push-ups prevents cardiovascular disease. Rather, push-up ability is merely indicative of having the kind of upper-body strength that provides cardioprotective benefits.
Being able to crank out 40-plus push-ups in a single set is also a decent metabolic conditioning test and a test of relative strength.
Study: Yang J et al. Association Between Push-up Exercise Capacity and Future Cardiovascular Events Among Active Adult Men. JAMA Netw Open. 2019 Feb 1;2(2):e188341. PubMed
A valiant effort in that video but I didn’t see his chest touch the ground once. Plus, a true pushup keeps the butt and head in a line, not a descending angle from head to butt to feet. I don’t know if the folks who dreamed up this test really care about details, but if they do, they should be more precise than just letting John Q Public decide what qualifies as a life extending set of pushups. It would be more useful, and scientifically sound.
I’ve got a question. If i can do 30 push ups in one go (as long as its not right after an upper body day) would i gain any benefits from practising them enough to go from 30-40.
Its also noted that apart from COVID, i don’t actually do push ups apart from maybe at the end of a session so its hard to really judge how good i am at them as i’m usually doing them very fatigued.
FYI, it said, “FIRST PERSON TO POST A VIDEO DOING IT (PASS OR FAIL)…” Call it a fail if you’d like, but he took the test, posted the video, and got himself some free swag. He produced, which always pisses off the non-producers.
I don’t think you’d necessarily gain any of the cardio-protective benefits noted in the study by going from 30 to 40. It’s a good goal, but the test is just indicative of overall risk factors. For example, if someone loses 15 pounds of fat, they’d probably score better on this test without working on their push-ups.
Chris not trying to offend anyone. As far as non producers I am a member of the WABDL powerlifting association hall of fame and have held several world records in the senior division in different powerlifting organizations. At my best I did 78 pushups in a min.
FIRST PERSON TO POST A VIDEO DOING IT (PASS OR FAIL) GETS A FREE T NATION SHIRT or hat. (US48 only).
