Exercise/cardiovascular disease 

Push-up capacity found to be a useful predictor of cardiovascular disease

Source: JAMA

A study was done to determine if there was a link between pushup capacity and cardiovascular disease risk. The researchers examined 1,562 firefighters by having them undergo push-up capacity and a cardiovascular stress test. They divided the firefighters into five categories based on the number of push-ups they were able to do. The health of these firefighters was tracked for 10 years and incidents of cardiovascular disease were noted and analyzed. An inverse relationship was found between the number of push-ups a subject was capable of and the rate of cardiovascular disease. The more push-ups one could do, the lower the risk of disease. In fact, push-up capacity was a better indicator of future cardiovascular disease than the more expensive treadmill-based stress test. It was determined that push-up capacity tests could be used as a cheaper alternative to treadmill tests to determine the fitness of firefighters and policemen.