Why Doing More Than 40-Pushups A Day Could Improve Your Heart

Heart disease continues to be one of the most insidious detriments to modern society, with literally millions of people around the world succumbing to various heart-related illnesses every year. As the leading cause of death in the United States, heart disease claims hundreds of thousands of lives annually, with many relying on such weak regimens as a daily aspirin to keep it at bay. There are other, more effective ways to improve your heart and remain healthy, however.

Here's why doing more than 40-pushups a day could improve your heart and be the spark that ignites a broader fitness fire that will come to burn away your excess fat.

Pushups and cardiovascular health are related

Have you ever stopped and wondered why pushups are often viewed as the default form of exercise, seen everywhere from boot camp to high school gymnasiums? Pushups are so popular largely because they're directly related to your overall cardiovascular health, especially insofar as males are concerned. This is vitally important because of the imperiled status of many American hearts; as the CDC makes clear, American men are more likely to succumb to heart disease than any other leading cause of death. Thus, doctors and other health professionals have been going rabid trying to recommend daily pushup regimes for years.

New studies are continuing to support that age-old wisdom. Research from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health recently took the fitness world by storm when they released a new report indicating that there's a direct correlation between pushup exercise capacity and future cardiovascular robustness. Researchers studied a group of males and discovered that men who could do more than 40-pushups a day had 96 percent fewer issues related to cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in their demographic.

Luckily, the researchers also made it clear that you don't have to be instantly capable of hitting 40-pushups at once in order to derive medical benefits from exercise. The study also noted that those males who were capable of getting into their teens or 20s also saw better cardiovascular health in the future than those who were incapable of doing more than 10-pushups. It's obvious that even a small amount of upper body exercise can help you bolster the strength of your heart, so why are so many Americans struggling when it comes to obesity and heart-related illnesses?

Pushups are only the start

As the study from Harvard makes clear, pushups are only the start when it comes to enjoying a healthy lifestyle and improving your cardiovascular health. Supercharging your everyday diet with some particularly nutritious food is also a surefire way to improve the overall strength of your heart, especially if you're an older male struggling with a fat or sodium heavy diet. The Cleveland Clinic has done the public a tremendous service by publishing a list of heart-healthy foods that you can work into your diet without breaking the bank, so consider overhauling what's in your pantry if you have cardiovascular concerns.

Ultimately, it should be clear that doing more than 40-pushups a day can improve your heart not only physically, but also by getting you into the right state of mind that encourages a healthier lifestyle. If you're the kind of person who can crank out 40-pushups after a few weeks of training, for instance, you'll be much more likely to go out on a run, do some weightlifting, or engage in another form of exercise with walking aids which will benefit you in addition to your normal pushup routine. At the end of the day, exercise is oftentimes about establishing a firm routine, and 40-pushups every morning or late at night is quick, easy, and requires no payments or equipment to accomplish.

It's imperative that you consult your doctor or other medical professionals for specific advice regarding your particular body, but medical research is making it increasingly obvious that just about anyone can benefit from a daily regime of pushups. Besides bolstering your cardiovascular system and giving you some additional upper body strength, being able to crank out a large number of pushups on command is also an impressive social accomplishment - just take a look at the history of pushup challenges rocking the celebrity and media world.

Why sit around and wait for cardiovascular disease to inevitably wage a toll on your body's physical health? It's time to start fighting back against heart disease, which can be as simple as mastering a daily pushup regime that pushes you further each new morning. If you're incapable of hitting 40-pushups, don't fret; everyone has to start somewhere, and even something as simple as hitting two or three pushups when you previously weren't capable of doing one will make you feel amazing. Hit the floor and get started working on your first 40, and you'll soon find that pushups have become an essential part of your daily routine.