WEIGHT LOSS

Push-ups might seem like a classic upper body strength move, but they’re doing more for you than building chest and arm muscles. According to a decade-long study of active adult men, those who could complete more than 40 push-ups had a 96% lower risk of cardiovascular events compared to those who managed fewer than 10.²

That’s a huge difference, all from a bodyweight exercise that takes less than two minutes and no equipment. Push-ups demand effort from your heart, lungs, and muscles, making them a surprisingly effective measure of cardiovascular fitness. In fact, researchers found push-up capacity to be a stronger predictor of heart health than traditional aerobic tests like treadmill evaluations.²

As we grow older, muscle mass, balance, and neuromuscular control begin to decline. This process is made worse by increasingly sedentary lifestyles, with most adults now spending over half of their waking hours sitting. While many are aware of the cardiovascular risks of physical inactivity, fewer realise that prolonged sitting also affects our muscles at a neurological level. It impairs strength, coordination, and our ability to control movement.³

But researchers found that breaking up sedentary time with short bouts of calisthenic exercise - bodyweight movements like squats, lunges, and knee lifts - can help preserve and even improve neuromuscular function.³ Participants who performed two-minute sets of calisthenics throughout the workday showed notable improvements in leg strength, muscle control, and dynamic balance after just four weeks. Simply interrupting long periods of sitting with short, equipment-free movements, people may be able to delay or reverse some of the most disabling effects of ageing.³