The 40 Push-Up Test: What Your Number Says About Your Heart
There’s a test that takes about a minute, costs nothing, needs no equipment, and tracked heart disease risk better than a treadmill test in one 10 year study.
It’s a push-up test.
The Push-Up Test Study
In 2019, researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health published a study in JAMA Network Open that followed 1,104 active male firefighters for 10 years. At the start, each man did as many push-ups as he could in time with a metronome set at 80 beats per minute. The test stopped at 80 push-ups, or when he missed 3 beats.
Over the next decade there were 37 cardiovascular events, including coronary artery disease, heart failure and sudden cardiac death. 36 of them happened in men who had done 40 or fewer push-ups.
Men who could do more than 40 had 96% fewer events than men who managed fewer than 10. Push-up count was also more strongly linked to future heart disease than fitness estimated from a treadmill test. That treadmill test was submaximal, meaning it estimated fitness instead of pushing people to their true limit, so the push-ups beat an estimate, not a gold standard.
What the Groups Looked Like
| Push-ups at the start | What the study found |
|---|---|
| 0 to 10 | Highest risk group, used as the comparison |
| 11 to 20 | Lower risk |
| 21 to 30 | Lower risk |
| 31 to 40 | Lower risk |
| More than 40 | 96% fewer cardiovascular events than 0 to 10 |
Risk fell as the count went up, with the biggest gap between the bottom group and the top. With only 37 events across the whole study, the middle groups are less certain than the headline number.
Why Push-Ups Track Heart Health
Push-ups don’t test your heart directly. They test the fitness your heart depends on. Doing 40 in a row takes upper body strength, trunk stability, muscular endurance, and a body that isn’t carrying much extra weight. In the study, the men with low counts had higher body weight, blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol, and were more likely to smoke.
So the push-up number is a readout, not a cause. Nobody has shown that adding push-ups to your week will prevent a heart attack. But the things that raise your count, more strength, more endurance and less body fat, are the same things that protect your heart.
The Limits
Everyone in the study was an active male firefighter, with an average age of about 40. The authors say the results may not apply to women, older adults or people who aren’t active, and about a quarter of the firefighters skipped the push-up test entirely. Treat 40 as a strong signal for men like the ones studied, not a pass mark for everyone.
How to Take the Push-Up Test
Get into a push-up position with your hands shoulder width apart and your body in a straight line from head to heels. Lower your chest to the floor and push back up to straight arms. That’s one rep.
Keep a steady pace. The study used a metronome at 80 beats per minute, and a free metronome app does the same job. Stop when you can’t finish a full rep with good form or can’t keep up with the beat. No sagging hips, no half reps, no long rests at the top.
Write the number down and retest every couple of months.
How to Raise Your Number
| Your score | What to do |
|---|---|
| Under 10 | Start with incline push-ups, hands on a bench or step. 3 sets close to failure, 3 times a week, then lower the incline |
| 10 to 20 | Add small sets through the day, like 5 sets of 5 to 8, never to failure |
| 20 to 40 | Add a push-up day with pyramid sets: 5, 10, 15, 10, 5, with 60 seconds of rest between sets |
| Over 40 | Keep it there with 1 or 2 push-up sessions a week |
If regular push-ups aren’t possible yet, there are easier versions that build toward them. And push-ups are only one read on your fitness. Your cardio fitness matters just as much.
Get on the floor and find your number. Then give yourself a reason to beat it.
