Cardiovascular disease risk is usually assessed through a treadmill test, putting participants through their paces to determine how well their hearts respond to high-intensity exercise.
这种有氧运动压力测试决定了受控环境中的血流和心脏电活动，并使医生和患者很好地表明了某人的心脏的效果。
但是recent study暗示可能有一种更简单的方法来预测心脏健康：pushups.
DROP AND GIVE ME 40
Researchers looked at more than 1,000 active, middle-aged male firefighters over a 10-year period, tracking how well they did on a standard treadmill exercise test as well as a pushup capacity test.
The participants who were able to do 40 pushups or more at the start of the decade showed a 96% reduced risk of cardiovascular disease events compared to those who could do fewer than 10 pushups.
Especially notable was that these pushup kings had lower cardiovascular disease issues than those who showed strong aerobic capacity on the treadmill exercise tests but low pushup numbers.
将研究视为
Like most studies, this research has its limitations. For example, it was only done on men, and fit ones at that — you don’t get to be a firefighter without building up some major cardio capacity.
But lead researcher Dr. Justin Yang, at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, says the findings emphasize the importance of assessing different types of fitness ability.
杨说：“这可能是帮助了解您的心血管疾病风险的一种方法。”“但不仅如此，它可能会给您一个起点，以理解自己的健身水平。”
CREATING A STARTING POINT
Obviously, fitness tests aren’t new — any kid who’s had to complete the Presidential Fitness Challenge can usually share some gym class trauma stories — but what Yang is suggesting is a simple “test,” like how many pushups you can do, may give you a broader indication of your health than you might realize.
In other words, being able to do 40 pushups isn’t just about your upper-body strength or core control — it could actually be a tipoff that you have solid heart health.
Plus, it’s particularly helpful for creating a baseline you can use to set goals and build a workout program, adds James Tyler Dodge, certified strength and conditioning specialist and performance coach at Professional Physical Therapy in New York.
他说：“没有进步感，您将更加困难地致力于自己的目标。”“要实现对进步的理解，您必须能够衡量自己的表现。”
例如，也许您现在只能在膝盖上进行5次俯卧撑。这很完美，因为现在您可以设置SMART goalsthat let you work backward from 40 full pushups to develop a plan that sets weekly goals and gets you to an endpoint.
STRENGTH OR CARDIO?
Another reason the pushups study should grab your attention is because it highlights that strength training can be just as helpful for cardiovascular health astraditional cardio喜欢跑步,cycling,swimming或者步行.
In fact, onerecent studyof 4,000 adults suggested strength building may be even more beneficial to the heart than aerobic activities. In that research, participants who did a “static activity” like lifting weights had a lower risk of cardiovascular diseases than those who did more dynamic activity like running or cycling.
But that doesn’t mean you need to ditch cardio to have a happier heart. Researcher Dr. Maia Smith, who is in the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at St. George’s University in Grenada. says both strength training and aerobic activity can boost heart health — and the best results came from those who did both types.
TheAmerican Heart Association advises同时增加有氧运动和力量，并专注于耐力，平衡和灵活性。此外，该组织补充说，这种混合物可以发展出增加的肌肉质量 - 使燃烧卡路里和保持健康的体重变得更容易，并降低受伤的风险并造成更强的骨骼，肌肉和结缔组织。
So if you haven’t tried pushups yet, maybe this is your year. Your muscles — including your heart — will thank you.
