Men, take a break from whatever you're doing and see how many pushups you can do. How many did you do? It's a predictor of your heart disease risk. . 20+ reps is linked to a 75% lower risk . less than 10, you gotta get off dat ass Data from 10 yr study of 1,104 men aged 21 to 66. Pushups outperformed submaximal VO2max at predicting events, likely because pushups capture muscular strength and power on top of fitness, two of the strongest protective biomarkers known. Limitations: the cohort was middle-aged male firefighters, so do not extend to women, older adults, or sedentary populations. The under 10 group was also older, heavier, and smoked more, so some signal is residual confounding by overall metabolic health.