Key numbers
1,104
Active adult male firefighters in Yang 2019
10-year follow-up
Follow-up in Yang 2019
What Systematic recommends
Where to start
- Stand facing the counter or other stable surface. Step back until your body is positioned at approximately a 45-degree angle. Place your feet roughly shoulder-width apart. Keep your heels flat on the ground.
- Place your palms on the counter. Keep the elbows still throughout the movement. Engage your midline as if holding a strong plank position.
- Hold the position for 15 seconds. Rest for 15 seconds. Repeat for 3 total cycles. Stop and reassess if you feel pain or discomfort, if you are unable to keep the elbows still and the midline stable, or if the shoulders begin to elevate and you can no longer maintain the intended position.
This movement is a general starting point for the physical capacity discussed, not an intervention shown by the cited mortality or cardiovascular studies to improve survival or prevent disease.
Condensed from the published Development Pathway (Tempo Push-Ups: Counter-Height Isometric Plank-Press). This is a starting point, not a training program or medical advice.
What the researchers measured
Yang and colleagues (2019) studied push-up capacity and future cardiovascular events in 1,104 active adult male firefighters, followed for 10 years. They measured ordinary push-ups.
What the study found
Among 1,104 active male firefighters, there were 37 cardiovascular events over 10 years. Comparing ≥41 versus 0–10 ordinary push-ups, the unadjusted incidence-rate ratio was 0.04 (95% CI 0.01–0.36). After adjusting for age and body mass index, the highest-versus-lowest hazard ratio was 0.14 (95% CI 0.02–1.22; p=0.07), a confidence interval including no difference. The adjusted comparison of 21–30 versus 0–10 was statistically significant (HR 0.31, 95% CI 0.11–0.89).
What the findings mean
The study shows that push-up capacity can carry a meaningful health and functional signal. It is directional evidence about the capacity, and it is the main outcome study behind the Systematic Tempo Push-Ups.
It is not a Systematic scoring source. Its results come from a different push-up test, so they are not norms for the Systematic Tempo Push-Up and its 3/0/1 cadence.
Where the limits are
Everyone in the study was an active adult man working as a firefighter, so the results may not carry over to other groups, and they are not a norm for women.
The tempo push-up is not a direct measure of cardiovascular fitness. It does not measure VO2max, body composition, upper-body power or cardiovascular risk, and a Systematic Tempo Push-Up score should not be read as a prediction of your own cardiovascular event risk.
The evidence
Each cited source is labeled according to how it supports the particular claim on this page. Direct test evidence, underlying-capacity findings and population reference values are distinguished from Systematic-defined protocols and standards. Historical development notes are retained internally rather than presented as public evidence. A study of an underlying capacity is never presented as validation of the Systematic test itself.
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Underlying-capacity evidence
Yang et al. (2019). Association Between Push-up Exercise Capacity and Future Cardiovascular Events Among Active Adult Men. JAMA Network Open.
What it found. Among 1,104 active male firefighters (37 cardiovascular events over 10 years), 41 or more push-ups versus 0–10 gave an unadjusted incidence-rate ratio of 0.04; adjusted for age and body mass index, the highest-versus-lowest hazard ratio was 0.14 with a confidence interval including no difference.
What it does not show. It is a male-firefighter study of ordinary push-ups: not a norm for women, not a scoring source for the Systematic 3/0/1 Tempo Push-Up, and not a prediction of any individual's cardiovascular risk.
The Systematic Healthspan Assessment is a physical baseline. It is not a diagnosis, and it does not estimate a biological age, a disease risk or a lifespan.