The Healthspan Map · Fitness (Ch7-8)

Upper-body strength (push-ups)

Compiled by Aamir Malik, PhD, Professor of Neuroengineering at Brno University of Technology, from published studies. He is a researcher, not a physician. Last updated 21 August 2026.

What this is linked to

Where Upper-body strength (push-ups) is linked: 4 sources.In the order the Map holds them: strongest evidence first. That is a statement about the evidence, not about what matters most.
Condition or system	Direction	Strength	Evidence type	What was found	Source
Cardiovascular	Watch this	Moderate	Cohort / observational	Men able to do >40 push-ups had far lower 10-year cardiovascular incidence than those doing <10 (5% vs 15%); push-up capacity predicted CVD better than a submaximal treadmill test.	Yang et al., JAMA Network Open 2019 (n=1,104 men, 10-yr) (opens in a new tab)
Cardiovascular	Watch this	Moderate	Established clinical	Push-up capacity - a simple, no-cost measure - meaningfully stratified future cardiovascular risk in active adult men.	American College of Cardiology journal scan (2019) (opens in a new tab)
Cardiovascular	Watch this	Moderate	Cohort / observational	Push-up capacity - a simple, no-cost measure - meaningfully stratified future cardiovascular risk in active adult men.	Association Between Push-up Exercise Capacity and Future Cardiovascular Events Among Active Adult Men, JAMA Netw Open 2019 (opens in a new tab)
Musculoskeletal	Watch this	Moderate	Cohort / observational	Higher muscular fitness (push-up capacity) tracks better musculoskeletal and cardiometabolic health.	Yang et al., JAMA Network Open 2019 (opens in a new tab)

The Healthspan Map is part of Fix the Floor, a book by Aamir Malik. About the book