Will get it tomorrow morning was working today
No, I enjoy T-Nation for its scientific approach and wanted to respond to this particular article, as well as others, but itās interesting all the angst my reply has generated. What I read indicated that for the pushups to qualify for the actuarial, the subjectās chest had to touch the ground, or perhaps something an inch off the ground. Because I read a lot of medical science, and I find these kinds of mortality tests somewhat bogus because they donāt take into account all kinds of confounding factors, I was curious as to whether the pushups this gentleman did would be non-qualifying as to life extension, according to the prognosticators. Apparently I triggered a lot of very defensive people. BTW, Iām north of 60 and I can easily do 40 chest to floor pushups without stopping in less than one minute. It should not be a challenge to anyone does a medium intense upper body workout 3 times per week. Thatās another reason I think itās a bogus measure thatās probably more click bait than a true mortality indicator.
Iām 66 and 1/2 and will show my work tomorrow. Total agreement
Iām not sure about this. I think thereās quite a few folks who train upper body in traditional hypertrophy rep ranges who would struggle to complete 40 chest to floor pushups without stopping. Especially without some weeks training for this particular goal. When I was powerlifting thereās no way I could have done this despite being able to bench north of 400 raw.
please donāt bring your honesty here. This is only a place for record holders and those that can do hundreds of push ups.
Sweet. Iām really stoked to grab a Tshirt!
I guess i shouldnāt have posted up so quickly, would have given a dozen or so others a chance to go. The timing just happened to be perfect when i stumbled across @Chris_Shugart 's post.
I think the actuarial intent is met with any arbitrary challenge that cuts out the unfit bottom half or third or whatever, be it running a mile in 10 minutes, 50 unbroken 6c burpees, 40 pushups in a set, or whatever. Perfect form, the exact number, angles and whatnot arenāt critical to the intent, i think.
Iām not sure a Harvard study published in JAMA is really going for clickbait.
Fair enough. I overlooked the fail part but I was not taking issue with the guy for his effort, nor his being the first to post. I was taking issue with the validity of the test. It seems to have been taken not how I intended. Iām no stranger to what some call āfailure,ā which Einstein defined as āonly when you stop trying.ā I think ānot succeeding at the most recent attemptā is a better definition that induces one to re-examine the effort and work towards accomplishing the goal one set out to do.
Chris: Agreed. Thatās what I was getting at in my post. I think these ātestsā are a foolās errand and may do more harm than good. They give people a false sense of security, which often leads to complacency.
I have no doubt! Looking forward to it.
Thanks for this reply, Burt. Iām really surprised at your observation about your own inability to do 40 chest to floor pushups but Iām surmising it was more about range of motion and flexibility than strength or power. You obviously were, and likely still are, way stronger than I ever was or will be and I have to think that even if you couldnāt pass this āpushup mortality testā (LOL) my bet is you will outlive the people who came up with that half-baked notion. Iām glad I stimulated this conversation as Iām learning a lot which, more than any pushup ever could, keeps a brain, and thus a body, young.
We are stilling waiting on your video.
Just for some context on the culture here- A whole bunch of us like to do challenges like these for fun and sense of community.
Nobody here would ever mistake something like this as a diagnostic tool or health prognostication.
Thank you!
Well stated.
Well i attempted to down load the.video but the file is too big. Trying to reduce the size not sure how to reduce it bit trying
Had I tried I would have failed for lack of muscular endurance and probably simply getting gassed. I had the range of motion and flexibility to do chest to floor pushups but not the stamina. Even now at a much lower bodyweight and in much better cardiovascular shape I think Iād find this challenging. Doable, but challenging. Perhaps Iāll try at the end of todayās workout.
You can upload it as an unlisted video to YouTube. This should also work:
I use push up bars. Is that cheating Chris ?
I donāt think so. Some bars do change your body angle a bit and take a smidge of weight off since youāre inclined, but they also allow you to go deeper. Neutral grip feels better too for many. Iād count it for this type of test.