How many push-ups should you be able to do at your age?

Average Push-Ups by Age

Push-up capacity peaks in the 20s and declines about 5-10 push-ups per decade as muscle mass and power decrease. The ranges below reflect published adult fitness norms (President's Challenge) for strict-form push-ups performed at a continuous pace to failure. The midpoints of these ranges are what the calculator above uses for your comparison.

The decline is steadier than most people expect. Push-ups drop roughly one rep per year of age between 25 and 55 in untrained adults, which makes the movement one of the more sensitive age trackers available. The good news is that the decline tracks training status as much as age: a fit 55-year-old routinely out-pushes an untrained 25-year-old.

Why Women Average Fewer Push-Ups

Women average roughly 40-50% of male push-up counts because of differences in upper-body lean mass, concentrated in exactly the muscles a push-up uses: the pectorals, shoulders, and triceps. Body weight also matters, because a push-up moves about 65-70% of your total body weight, and women carry a lower proportion of that load as muscle than men do.

The pattern of decline with age, however, is identical between the sexes. The female curve drops by the same 5-10 reps per decade, just from a lower starting point. That symmetry is useful: it means the training prescription is the same for men and women, and the norms should be read as sex-specific versions of the same fitness signal rather than as one group being "better" than the other.

Untrained vs Fit: Two Different Standards

The averages on this page describe the general adult population, and they sit well below what fit people can do. Published fitness standards draw a line between untrained, average, good, and excellent, and the differences are large. A man in his 30s might average 30 push-ups, but the "excellent" threshold sits around 45-50, and a trained athlete in the same decade can hit 60-100.

If your count falls in the "good" column, you are comfortably above average for your age. If it falls below the average column, you have plenty of headroom, and push-up count is one of the fastest metrics to improve.

A useful framing: the gap between "below average" and "good" is smaller than most people assume. Moving from 15 to 35 push-ups takes most adults 3-6 months of consistent work, and that jump spans from the below-average band to the good band for most age groups. The difference between a concerning score and a healthy one is a few months of training, not years.

Body Weight: The Hidden Variable in Push-Up Counts

A push-up is a body-weight lift, and that single fact explains more of the variance in counts than almost anything else. When you lower into a push-up, you are pressing roughly 65-70% of your total body weight, so a 220 lb man moves about 145 lb through every rep while a 150 lb man moves only about 100 lb. At identical strength, the lighter lifter does more reps.

This is why the averages are not a fair comparison across very different body weights. A lean 175 lb man doing 35 push-ups is demonstrating the same relative strength as a 220 lb man doing 25, because both are pressing about the same percentage of their body weight. If your push-up count feels low and you carry extra body fat, dropping weight is a legitimate and effective way to raise your count, alongside strength training.

It also explains why some fit, heavy people score below the age average. They are not weak. They are pressing more load per rep, and the body-weight penalty grows with every pound. Judge a heavy lifter's push-up count against the context of their body weight, and use the strength-to-weight ratio calculator if you want a body-weight-adjusted view of overall strength.

Push-Ups and Heart Health: The JAMA Data

The strongest evidence linking push-up capacity to health comes from a 2019 study published in JAMA Network Open. Yang and colleagues followed 1,104 male firefighters for 10 years and found that men who could complete at least 40 push-ups had a 96% lower risk of cardiovascular disease events than men who could manage fewer than 10. The relationship was graded: every additional push-up category lowered risk.

The study has real limits that matter for interpretation. The participants were active, middle-aged men in a physically demanding profession, so the absolute numbers do not translate directly to women, older adults, or sedentary populations. What does translate is the pattern: a simple, equipment-free test of muscular fitness carries meaningful information about cardiovascular risk, which is why push-ups appear in so many fitness assessments.

What a Healthy Push-Up Score Looks Like

FitnessGram, the Cooper Institute's school testing program, defines a Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ) for youth aged 5-17, and its philosophy is worth borrowing for adults: the goal is not the average, it is the zone associated with lower health risk. For school-aged boys that zone ranges from roughly 11-20 push-ups at age 10 up to 21-34 at 17 and older, with girls at about 7-15 rising to 13-27.

For adults, treat "healthy" as landing at or above the good column in the table above, or simply above the average for your age and sex. Scores inside the healthy zone predict better physical function and lower risk, while scores well below the average are the ones worth acting on. Either way, the push-up test tool gives you a quick rating against these standards.

Raising Your Push-Up Count

Push-up count improves faster than almost any other strength metric, because it responds to simply practicing the movement. Three sessions per week of 3-5 sets to near-failure will typically add several reps within a month, and most people double their count within a few months. The key is progressive overload on the rep count the same way you would add weight to a bench press.

• Practice the movement: 3-5 sets to near-failure, 2-3 times per week, adding one rep per session.
• Use regressions: incline push-ups with hands on a bench bridge the gap to floor push-ups.
• Train the press pattern: bench press, dumbbell presses, and dips raise capacity fastest, see our bench press averages.
• Add grip work: stronger hands keep you tight through more reps, see the grip strength guide.
• Drop body fat if needed: each pound of body weight is a pound you press; leaner lifters get more reps.

If you cannot do a single full push-up, start with wall push-ups, then a table, then a bench, then the floor. The ladder works because each step down adds load gradually, and most absolute beginners reach a full floor push-up within 8-12 weeks.

Testing Your Push-Ups the Way the Norms Assume

Published norms assume a specific, strict push-up, and the numbers only mean something if you test that way. Count a rep only when you lower until your elbows reach 90 degrees, keep your body in a straight line from head to heels, and push back to a full lockout. Hip sag, piked hips, and half reps all inflate your count and break comparability with the tables.

1. Assume a plank position with hands slightly wider than shoulder-width.
2. Lower your chest until your elbows reach 90 degrees; keep the body line rigid.
3. Press back to full arm lockout; that is one repetition.
4. Continue at a steady pace until form breaks down, then stop.
5. Record the number and compare it to the age and sex table above.

If you want the FitnessGram cadence version, that is a separate test with one push-up every 3 seconds, and it produces lower counts than a self-paced max test. Use the push-up test tool if you want a rating against that standard instead.