Russ Shaw MLS - Lab Scientist
@RussellShaw\_MLS·Aug 1, 2026
Did mine. And if you came up under 10, Bryan's right, you gotta get off dat ass. Here's the lab science on why he's not exaggerating.
This is the Yang study out of Harvard, 2019.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2724778
Here's why a bodyweight test you can do on your kitchen floor outpredicted a treadmill VO2max test. A pushup isn't just a fitness measure. It captures three protective biomarkers in one movement: muscular strength, muscular power, and cardiovascular endurance. You need a stable core, upper body strength, and enough aerobic capacity to grind out reps. The treadmill test only measures one of those. The pushup integrates all three, which is why it tracked cardiovascular events better.
The headline number is wild. Men who could do 40 or more had about a 96% lower rate of cardiovascular events over the 10 years than the guys stuck under 10. Even the middle groups crushed the under-10 group. More reps, less risk, nearly linear.
Bryan's right to flag the limits, and I respect that he did. This was active male firefighters, so don't hand the curve to women, older adults, or sedentary folks and expect the same numbers. And the under-10 group was older, heavier, and smoked more, so some of that gap is overall metabolic health, not the pushups themselves.
But here's what I love about it. This is a free biomarker. No $24,000 machine, no blood draw, no appointment. Just the floor and two minutes. Your body will hand you a rough cardiovascular risk readout right now, if you know how to ask it the question. Most people never do.
So drop and find your number. Then make it bigger over the next few months. That trend is the real data.
Don't wait for the diagnosis.
Read the label.
