Push-Ups

Push-ups measure upper body muscular endurance. Youth norms (ages 10-18) are from Santos et al. (2014), a nationally representative Portuguese sample of 22,048 children and adolescents using the FitnessGram Test Battery v8.0 (standard push-up position for both sexes). Adult norms (ages 20-69) are from the CSEP-PATH norms (Payne et al. 2000), which use the modified knee position for women. Because the female youth and adult data use different protocols, they are not directly comparable. Read more on Wikipedia

Data source: Santos et al. 2014 (FitnessGram) (2014) · n=22K About this study

See also: Payne et al. (CSEP-PATH) (2000) · n=571 About this study

Push-Ups Strength

Push-Ups Norms Chart by Age and Sex (reps)

Age Sex Percentile
5th 25th 50th 75th 95th
10 Male 2 5 9 14 26
Female 2 4 6 10 18
11 Male 2 5 9 14 25
Female 2 4 6 10 18
12 Male 2 6 10 15 26
Female 2 4 6 10 18
13 Male 3 7 11 16 26
Female 2 4 7 11 19
14 Male 3 8 12 18 28
Female 2 4 7 11 20
15 Male 4 10 14 20 31
Female 2 5 8 12 21
16 Male 6 11 16 23 33
Female 2 5 8 13 21
17 Male 7 13 18 25 36
Female 2 5 9 14 22
18 Male 8 15 20 27 38
Female 2 6 10 14 23
20-29 Male 8 22 25 29 40
Female 4 15 18 21 35
30-39 Male 5 17 19 22 35
Female 3 13 16 20 31
40-49 Male 4 13 15 17 30
Female 2 11 13 15 29
50-59 Male 3 10 11 13 26
Female 0 7 9 11 27
60-69 Male 2 8 9 11 22
Female 0 5 8 12 20

What to expect by age group

Among adults in their 30s, the middle 50% complete 17 to 22 reps for men and 13 to 20 reps for women (women use the modified knee position per CSEP-PATH protocol). Push-up capacity falls substantially with each decade in both sexes. Youth norms (ages 10-18) use the FitnessGram standard position for both sexes; adult norms (ages 20-69) use CSEP-PATH, which uses the modified knee position for women. Youth and adult female values are therefore not directly comparable.

Typical range (25th to 75th percentile) by age group (reps)
Age MalesFemales
10 5 to 144 to 10
11 5 to 144 to 10
12 6 to 154 to 10
13 7 to 164 to 11
14 8 to 184 to 11
15 10 to 205 to 12
16 11 to 235 to 13
17 13 to 255 to 14
18 15 to 276 to 14
20-29 22 to 2915 to 21
30-39 17 to 2213 to 20
40-49 13 to 1711 to 15
50-59 10 to 137 to 11
60-69 8 to 115 to 12

Detailed Breakdowns

Select an age group and sex below for detailed percentile charts, tables, and ratings.

Males
10111213141516171820-2930-3940-4950-5960-69
Females
10111213141516171820-2930-3940-4950-5960-69
Age trend (percentiles)

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do youth and adult female values use different protocols?

Youth norms (ages 10-18, Santos 2014) use the FitnessGram standard push-up position for both sexes. Adult norms (ages 20-69, CSEP-PATH) use the modified knee position for women. This means female youth and adult scores are not on the same scale and should not be compared across the age boundary.

What is the FitnessGram push-up protocol?

Both sexes start in the standard position: hands shoulder-width apart, body straight from head to toes, toes on the floor. The participant lowers until the elbows reach 90 degrees, then pushes back to full arm extension. Movement is performed to a cadence of 20 complete push-ups per minute (one push-up every 3 seconds). The test ends when the participant cannot maintain the cadence or form.

How were the adult percentiles estimated?

The original CSEP-PATH data provides 5-category ratings rather than raw percentile distributions. The percentiles shown here (p5, p25, p50, p75, p95) are estimated from those category boundaries and are close approximations.

Why are there no norms for ages 70 and above?

No peer-reviewed push-up norms exist for adults aged 70+. The CSEP-PATH protocol covers ages 20-69 only. For older adults, functional fitness assessments such as the Senior Fitness Test (which uses arm curls) are more commonly used to evaluate upper body strength.

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