The test
As many complete push-ups as you can do in a row without resting: in CSEP's version, men from their toes and women from their knees. You stop when you strain hard or lose good form for two push-ups in a row.
Fitness test
Push-up test: how many push-ups for your age and sex
Do as many push-ups as you can in a row without resting, lowering until your chin touches the floor, and stop when your form goes. Enter your count to see how it rates for your age and sex on the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology's (CSEP's) scale, which uses full push-ups for men and knee push-ups for women, and how many more would reach the next band. The bands describe how adults compare, not a health target: a push-up count is a rough marker of upper-body endurance, and the well-known firefighter study found a link with heart health, not proof. Check the safety notes first if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure.
9 moves9 with 3D demosScore your testHow to do itNorms by ageWhat it tells youWhy charts disagreeWhen to stop
Score your push-ups
Choose your sex and the version you did, then enter your age and how many complete push-ups you did in a row. The version starts on the one CSEP's bands use for your sex, full push-ups for men and knee push-ups for women, and you can change it.
Your push-ups
25full push-ups
CSEP rates 25 full push-ups as "very good" for men aged 30 to 39 (22 to 29). 5 more would reach "excellent" (30 or more).
| Band | Push-ups |
|---|---|
| Excellent | 30 or more |
| Very goodyour count | 22 to 29 |
| Good | 17 to 21 |
| Fair | 12 to 16 |
| Needs improvement | 11 or fewer |
CSEP's bands, from its 2019 manual as reprinted by ACE. They describe how adults compare, not a health target.
Counts depend on how strictly each rep is judged. Retest the same way, and treat a change of 2 or 3 push-ups as possibly just day-to-day difference.
Push-up counts are a rough fitness marker. In one study of firefighters, more push-ups went with fewer heart problems, but it was a small study of active men and the authors say push-ups weren't an independent predictor; in Canada's national survey, push-ups weren't linked with death.
With heart failure, the British Heart Foundation advises against press-ups. Sore wrists? See wrist pain from push-ups.
How to do the push-up test
You need a mat or carpet, and someone to count or a phone to film yourself from the side; there's no timer. The figure shows a full push-up. Follow the steps for depth, because in the test every push-up goes down until your chin touches the floor. The knee version is in the moves below.
- Warm up with a few easy push-ups, or a few against a wall.
- Set up on the mat with your hands shoulder-width apart, directly under your shoulders, fingers pointing forward. For full push-ups, go up on your toes with your body in one straight line. For knee push-ups, keep your legs together with your lower legs on the mat and your toes pointed, and keep your body straight from your knees to your head.
- Start at the bottom, with your chest just off the floor.
- Push up until your arms are straight, then lower your whole body in one piece until your chin touches the floor, keeping your stomach off it. Keep your head in line with your body and let your chest lead, not your chin.
- Keep your elbows angled back about 45 degrees from your sides, as our push-up guide teaches; the test itself doesn't set an angle.
- Keep going at a steady pace, without resting at the top or the bottom.
- Stop when you're straining hard, or when you can't keep good form for two push-ups in a row. Count only complete push-ups.
- Have someone count, or film yourself from the side: people judging the same push-ups often count them differently.
Loading the 3D figure…
The movement on the figure: Push-up
The short version
The bands are CSEP's
CSEP rates counts by sex and age, from 15 to 69, in five bands from "excellent" to "needs improvement". We read them in the American Council on Exercise's (ACE's) reprint of CSEP's 2019 manual, made with permission, and who they were built from isn't documented.
Rules change the count
Chin to the floor or chest to a fist, nonstop or to a beat, toes or knees: each rule gives different numbers, so only compare counts done the same way.
A rough marker of health
In 1,104 male firefighters, more push-ups went with fewer heart problems, but the authors say push-ups weren't an independent predictor. In a Canadian survey followed for 13 years, push-up scores weren't linked with death.
Counting is the main error
How strictly each push-up is judged moves the count most. Retest the same way, and treat a change of 2 or 3 push-ups as possibly just day-to-day difference (editorial).
Check first
Skip the test with heart failure or untreated blood pressure of 160/100 or higher, and answer the PAR-Q+ (Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire for Everyone) before you test to fatigue.
Norms by age
CSEP's bands, from its 2019 manual as reprinted by ACE. They describe how adults compare, not a health target.
Men: full push-ups
Push-ups in a row for "excellent", "very good", "good", "fair" and "needs improvement", in that order:
- 15 to 19: 39 or more, 29 to 38, 23 to 28, 18 to 22, 17 or fewer
- 20 to 29: 36 or more, 29 to 35, 22 to 28, 17 to 21, 16 or fewer
- 30 to 39: 30 or more, 22 to 29, 17 to 21, 12 to 16, 11 or fewer
- 40 to 49: 25 or more, 17 to 24, 13 to 16, 10 to 12, 9 or fewer
- 50 to 59: 21 or more, 13 to 20, 10 to 12, 7 to 9, 6 or fewer
- 60 to 69: 18 or more, 11 to 17, 8 to 10, 5 to 7, 4 or fewer
Source 2
Women: knee push-ups
Knee push-ups in a row for "excellent", "very good", "good", "fair" and "needs improvement", in that order:
- 15 to 19: 33 or more, 25 to 32, 18 to 24, 12 to 17, 11 or fewer
- 20 to 29: 30 or more, 21 to 29, 15 to 20, 10 to 14, 9 or fewer
- 30 to 39: 27 or more, 20 to 26, 13 to 19, 8 to 12, 7 or fewer
- 40 to 49: 24 or more, 15 to 23, 11 to 14, 5 to 10, 4 or fewer
- 50 to 59: 21 or more, 11 to 20, 7 to 10, 2 to 6, 1 or fewer
- 60 to 69: 17 or more, 12 to 16, 5 to 11, 2 to 4, 1 or fewer
Source 2
Who the bands describe
No source we could open says who the bands were built from. Statistics Canada says the same of the grip norms in CSEP's earlier manual, whose methods and reference population "are not documented". Treat the bands as a published convention for comparing adults, not as percentiles of a known group (our reading).
Where we read them
CSEP's manual is sold rather than published openly, so we read its table in ACE's push-up assessment sheet, which reprints it with permission from the manual's 2019 second edition. CSEP's list of changes for its 2021 third edition names no change to this test (our reading).
We found no other push-up norms printed with their owner's permission in a source we could open. Norway's adult norms use a different modified push-up, and we couldn't open the American College of Sports Medicine's (ACSM's) own tables.
Ages and versions without a band
The bands run from 15 to 69, so ages 18 and 19 use the 15 to 19 row, and from 70 the calculator shows your count without a band. There are no bands for women doing full push-ups or men doing knee push-ups, so those counts are shown without one too (editorial).
Source 2
Worked examples (our arithmetic)
As the calculator works them out:
- A man of 34 who does 25 full push-ups is in the 30 to 39 row: "very good" (22 to 29), and 5 more would reach "excellent" (30 or more).
- A woman of 52 who does 8 knee push-ups: "good" (7 to 10), and 3 more would reach "very good" (11 or more).
- A man of 63 who does 4 full push-ups: "needs improvement" (4 or fewer), and 1 more would reach "fair" (5 or more).
- A woman of 40 who does full push-ups sees her count without a band, because CSEP's bands for women are for knee push-ups.
Source 2
How much a count can move
How strictly each push-up is judged drives the count. Raters who scored the same 15 videos of a 2-minute push-up test four times disagreed widely, agreeing on individual push-ups only 29% of the time. With a clear standard, 20 inactive adults' counts online and in person agreed closely, with an intraclass correlation (a measure of agreement where 1 is perfect) of 0.94.
A 2022 review of field tests in adults didn't list push-ups among the tests with strong or moderate evidence of reliability (our reading of its summary). Treat a change of 2 or 3 push-ups as possibly just day-to-day difference (editorial).
What your result does and doesn't tell you
An endurance test, rated against other adultsEmerging evidence
A push-up test shows how many times in a row you can press your body weight up: in ACE's words, its aim is "To measure upper-body endurance". The reprinted table calls CSEP's bands a "health benefit rating", but no source we opened ties them to health outcomes (our reading).
Source 2
The firefighter studyEmerging evidence
In 1,104 male firefighters followed for 10 years, those who did 41 or more push-ups at the start had far fewer heart events than those who did 10 or fewer. But there were only 37 events, the men were active and middle-aged, and once age and body mass index were allowed for, the top group's lower risk was no longer statistically clear.
The authors say the results "do not support push-up capacity as an independent predictor" of heart disease risk, and that they may not apply to women, older people or inactive people.
Source 4
Canada's national surveyEmerging evidence
In 8,116 Canadian adults tested in 1981 and followed for 13 years, there was "no pattern of increased risk of mortality" across push-up scores, while low sit-up scores did go with a higher risk. We could read only the study's summary.
Source 6
A rough marker, not a heart testMixed evidence
One study of active men, with only 37 heart events, found a link, and one national cohort found no link with death. A push-up count says something about your fitness, not about your heart (our reading, as in our push-up guide).
The rules change the numberStrong evidence
Depth, pace, time limits and the version all change how many push-ups you can do, so a count only compares with norms measured the same way. The next section explains how.
Practice raises the countEmerging evidence
In 23 moderately trained men, 4 weeks of progressively harder push-ups moved them up the push-up steps and raised bench-press strength as bench pressing did. The UK's National Health Service (NHS) asks adults to do strengthening activities on at least 2 days a week, and push-ups count.
Why push-up charts disagree
How deep each push-up goes
In the ACSM and CSEP description of the test, you lower yourself until your chin touches the mat, with your stomach off it. ACE's sheet judges depth by your chest touching a fist, a rolled towel or a foam block instead. We use chin to the floor, with your head in line and your chest leading (editorial); whichever you choose, keep to it every time you test.
Pace and time limits
CSEP's test runs to fatigue at your own steady pace. The firefighter study kept time to a metronome at 80 beats a minute and stopped at 80 push-ups or 3 missed beats, and military tests count push-ups in a set time, such as 2 minutes. Their numbers can't be scored against CSEP's bands.
Toes or knees
CSEP's bands are for full push-ups for men and knee push-ups for women, so the calculator shows other combinations without a band. Norway's adult norms use a different modified push-up, with a knee version only for people who couldn't do it, so they don't match CSEP's test either.
Charts with no source
Many charts online don't say where their numbers came from, or mix rules from different tests in one table. We use CSEP's bands because we could read them, with a stated edition and the owner's permission, in ACE's sheet.
Source 2
Moves that improve your score
Easiest first. Train 2 or 3 times a week at the hardest step where you can do 8 clean push-ups, and move up a step when all 3 sets reach 15, as our push-up guide sets out. The planks and the push-up plus build the trunk and shoulder blade control that keeps each push-up clean, and the dumbbell bench press adds load in the gym.
3D demoWall push-upBeginner · A wall
3D demoIncline push-upBeginner · A bench or box
3D demoKnee push-upBeginner · No equipment
3D demoPush-upIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoFeet-elevated push-upAdvanced · A bench or box
3D demoScapular push-up (push-up plus)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoForearm plankIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoStraight-arm plank (high plank)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoDumbbell bench pressIntermediate · A dumbbell + A bench or boxWorkouts for more push-ups
The push-up progression is the ladder from our push-up guide, from the wall to the floor. The home and bodyweight workouts put push-ups into whole-body sessions, and the chest workout is for the gym.
Push-up progression workout
Work up to full push-ups: wall, incline and knee push-ups, then the floor push-up and harder variations.
15 minBeginner8 movesA wall, A bench or box
Upper body workout at home
An upper body workout at home with no gym: push-ups, band rows, pike push-ups, face pulls, close-grip push-ups and Y-T-W raises, with dumbbell options.
30 minIntermediate13 movesA band, An anchor point
Beginner bodyweight workout
A 20-minute full-body workout with no equipment: squats, knee push-ups, bridges, lunges and planks.
20 minBeginner10 movesNo equipment
Full-body bodyweight workout
An intermediate no-equipment workout: push-ups, split squats, single-leg bridges, pike push-ups and core work.
30 minIntermediate11 movesNo equipment
Chest workout (gym)
A gym chest workout: bench press, incline dumbbell press, cable flyes, dips and a push-up finisher.
45 minIntermediate7 movesA band, A barbellPlans that build push-ups
Each plan has push-ups or an easier version in its sessions; the beginner plan starts from wall and knee push-ups.
3 days a week
Calisthenics workout plan for beginners
A 12-week calisthenics plan for beginners: three bodyweight sessions a week with push-up, pull-up, squat and dip ladders, and a bar if you have one.
3 training days40 minBeginner2 days a weekBeginner workout plan: your first 4 weeks
Your first four weeks: two, then three short strength sessions a week at home plus walks, building gently to a full routine.
2 training days20 minBeginner3 days a week3-day home workout plan
Three full-body home workouts a week with dumbbells or no equipment at all, plus walks and an 8-week plan to keep progressing.
3 training days35 minBeginnerWho it isn't for
A "yes" on the PAR-Q+
The PAR-Q+ asks whether a doctor has said you have a heart condition or high blood pressure; whether you get chest pain, or have lost your balance from dizziness or lost consciousness; and about other long-term conditions and their medicines, bone or joint problems, and being told to exercise only under medical supervision. If you answer yes to any, check with your GP or a qualified exercise professional before testing to fatigue.
Source 9
Over 45 and not used to hard exercise
The test runs to fatigue, and the PAR-Q+ asks people over 45 who aren't used to regular vigorous to maximal exercise to consult a qualified exercise professional before exercising that hard. Until then, count a set you can finish comfortably instead (editorial).
Source 9
Heart failure
The British Heart Foundation advises avoiding "holding your breath" and "using your whole body as a weight, such as press-ups or planks". Wall push-ups with steady breathing are gentler; ask your heart team.
Source 8
High blood pressure that isn't yet treated
If your readings are 160/100 or higher and not yet treated, save maximal efforts like this test until treatment has brought your blood pressure under control, as our high blood pressure guide advises (our reading of the guidance, not a rule from any one guideline). Easier sets are fine: breathe out on each press and never hold your breath.
Diabetic eye disease
With proliferative or severe non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy, or after recent eye laser treatment or surgery, our type 2 diabetes guide advises avoiding vigorous efforts and holding your breath, so ask your eye team before testing to fatigue.
Pregnancy
The PAR-Q+ asks you to talk to a health care practitioner first. Wall push-ups are in our pregnancy routines.
Source 9
Sore wrists, elbows or shoulders
A push-up loads all three, so test once a sore joint has settled (editorial). Our guides to wrist pain from push-ups and elbow pain, and our shoulder guide, cover what to do meanwhile; the NHS warning signs for wrist pain are below.
Source 15
Under 18, or 70 and over
This page is for adults. CSEP's bands stop at 69, so from 70 the calculator shows your count without a band: track your own count from test to test.
Source 2
When to stop and get help
Call 999 (911 in the US) for chest pain
Stop and call 999 for sudden chest pain that doesn't go away, pain that spreads to your arms, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or chest pain with sweating, feeling sick, light-headedness or shortness of breath.
Source 16
Stop for dizziness or faintness
Stop the test if you feel dizzy or faint, and don't restart it that day (our suggestion, from the PAR-Q+ question on dizziness).
Source 9
Contact NHS 111 about a wrist injury
For severe wrist pain, a wrist you can't move or hold things with, or a snap, grinding or popping noise at the time of the injury.
Source 15
See a GP about your wrist
If wrist pain stops you doing your normal activities, hasn't improved after 2 weeks, or comes with tingling or loss of feeling.
Source 15
Myths
"If you can do 40 push-ups, your heart is fine"Emerging evidence
The firefighter study found an association in active men, with only 37 heart events, and once age and body mass index were allowed for, the top group's lower risk was no longer statistically clear. A push-up count is a rough fitness marker, not a heart test.
Source 4
"Push-up charts all mean the same thing"Strong evidence
Tables differ in depth (chin to the floor or chest to a fist), pace (to fatigue, to a beat or against the clock) and version (toes or knees), so a count only means something against norms measured the same way.
"Knee push-ups don't count"Strong evidence
CSEP's bands for women are for knee push-ups, and our push-up guide shows they're real strength work.
Source 2
"A low score means you're unhealthy"Emerging evidence
In Canada's national cohort, push-up scores showed no pattern with death, and no source we opened ties CSEP's bands to health outcomes. A low count is a starting point to train from.
"Any push-up counts"Emerging evidence
Only complete push-ups count: straight arms at the top and chin to the floor at the bottom, without resting. Counts change a lot when the standard slips.
Read next
- How to do a push-up
- How long to hold a plank
- Wrist pain from push-ups
- Elbow pain
- The shoulder
- Chest exercises
- Exercise for high blood pressure
- Exercise with heart disease
- One-rep max calculator
- Sit-and-reach test
- Grip strength test
- Sitting-rising test
- 30-second chair stand test
- Timed up and go test
- Single-leg balance test
- 6-minute walk test
- All fitness tests
Questions people ask
How many push-ups should I be able to do for my age?
There's no health standard, but you can compare your count with CSEP's bands for your age and sex. For men aged 30 to 39, 22 to 29 full push-ups rates "very good", and for women aged 30 to 39, 20 to 26 knee push-ups does. Enter your count in the calculator to see your band.
How do you do the push-up test?
Start with your hands under your shoulders, on your toes or, for CSEP's women's bands, your knees. Push up to straight arms, lower until your chin touches the floor with your stomach off it, and keep going without resting. Stop when you strain hard or lose good form for two push-ups in a row; only complete push-ups count.
Why do women do the test from their knees?
That's how CSEP's bands were set: full push-ups for men and knee push-ups for women. A woman doing full push-ups, or a man doing knee push-ups, can't be scored against them, so the calculator shows the count without a band. It's still worth tracking from test to test.
Can push-ups predict heart disease?
Not on their own. In 1,104 male firefighters, those who did 41 or more had far fewer heart events than those who did 10 or fewer, but there were only 37 events and the difference wasn't statistically clear once age and body size were allowed for. In a Canadian survey followed for 13 years, push-up scores weren't linked with death.
Is the push-up test timed?
CSEP's isn't: you keep going at a steady pace until your form goes. Military tests count push-ups in a set time, such as 2 minutes, and some tests keep time to a beat, so their scores don't compare with CSEP's bands.
How low should each push-up go?
Until your chin touches the floor, with your stomach off it, as the ACSM and CSEP description sets out. Keep your head in line and let your chest lead. Some trainers use a fist or a rolled towel under the chest instead, so keep to one rule every time you test.
What if I can't do a single push-up?
Record 0: it's a starting point, not a verdict. Start our push-up ladder at a wall or a worktop, train 2 or 3 times a week, and move up a step when you can do 15 good push-ups in each of 3 sets.
How often should I retest?
Every 4 to 8 weeks, when you're fresh, with the same depth and surface. Counts can differ by 2 or 3 from day to day, so look at the trend over a few tests.
Is the push-up test safe?
For most adults, yes, but answer the PAR-Q+ questions first, and skip it with heart failure or untreated blood pressure of 160/100 or higher. Stop and call 999 for chest pain that doesn't go away or spreads to your arms, neck or jaw.
Why do push-up charts online disagree?
They use different rules: knees or toes, how deep each push-up goes, and whether there's a time limit, and many don't say where their numbers came from. We use CSEP's bands, reprinted with CSEP's permission by the American Council on Exercise.
Sources
- Lau 2015 · A 12-week yoga trial in Hong Kong adults, describing the ACSM and CSEP push-up test (controlled trial, Evid Based Complement Alternat Med)
- American Council on Exercise · Push-up assessment, with CSEP's 2019 ratings reprinted with permission
- Wong 2016 · Grip strength reference values for Canadians aged 6 to 79, 2007 to 2013 (Statistics Canada, Health Reports)
- Yang 2019 · Push-up capacity and heart events over 10 years in 1,104 male firefighters (cohort study, JAMA Netw Open)
- Fielitz 2016 · How consistently raters scored the same 2-minute push-up tests (reliability study, Mil Med)
- Katzmarzyk 2002 · Musculoskeletal fitness and death over 13 years in 8,116 Canadian adults (cohort study, MSSE)
- Wright 2026 · Online and in-person fitness tests in 20 physically inactive adults (reliability study, J Nurs Meas)
- British Heart Foundation 2026 · Exercise for heart failure: tips for exercising safely
- PAR-Q+ Collaboration · The Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire for Everyone (2025)
- Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology 2021 · CSEP-PATH third edition: changes of note for instructors
- Kjær 2016 · Strength, balance and flexibility norms for healthy Norwegian adults, with a modified push-up test (cross-sectional study, BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil)
- Cuenca-Garcia 2022 · Reliability of field-based fitness tests in adults (systematic review, Sports Medicine)
- Kotarsky 2018 · Progressive push-ups vs bench press for 4 weeks in 23 men (randomised trial, JSCR)
- NHS · Physical activity guidelines for adults aged 19 to 64
- NHS · Wrist pain
- NHS · Chest pain
Fitness tests for adults compared with published norms, not a diagnosis, and clinical review of these pages is pending. Check with a GP before a hard test if you have a heart condition, high blood pressure, chest pain, dizziness or breathlessness when active, and have someone with you for the balance, walking and floor tests if you've fallen or feel unsteady. Health disclaimer.