Training guide
Once you can do a full push-up, more reps come from two things: getting stronger, so each push-up is a smaller share of what you can do, and practising, so you can string them together. In trials, push-up counts rose when the training got harder over time, and didn't when people repeated the same easy sets for weeks.
This guide covers how often and how hard to practise, the steps from 10 to 20, 50 and beyond, harder versions and the strength work behind them, grease the groove and push-ups every day (what's tested and what isn't), testing yourself, how long it takes, and looking after your wrists, elbows and shoulders. Can't do one yet? Start with our push-up guide.
At its peak, a floor push-up put about 64% of body weight on the hands in a lab study of 23 adults, a knee push-up about 49% and a push-up with the feet on a 61 cm box about 74%. So getting stronger raises your count. Nobody needs to change their weight to do more.
The push-up trials that raised strength trained 2 or 3 times a week, and 3 or 6 days a week gave the same results when the weekly work matched. You don't need to go to failure: stop most sets 1 to 3 reps short.
Three sets of 10 twice a week for 8 weeks, kept at a moderate effort, didn't raise push-ups or bench-press strength in 30 trained men. Add reps, add a set or move to a harder version over time.
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Five minutes a day of slow bodyweight moves took 22 inactive adults from about 12 to about 17 push-ups in 4 weeks, with smaller gains in the second month. Weeks of military training raised push-up counts by a median of about half.
No peer-reviewed trial has tested it. Splitting the same squat sets into three short bouts a day matched one session in 45 men, so it may work. If you try it, keep each set to about half your best and take days off (our editorial starting point).
Counts vary hugely between people, and there's no health standard to reach. The well-known firefighter study found a link with heart health that wasn't clear once age and body size were allowed for, and push-up scores weren't linked with death in 8,116 Canadians.
Your hands carry about two-thirds of your body weight at the peak of a floor push-up, more at the bottom than at the top. The stronger your chest, shoulders and triceps are for that load, the smaller a share of your maximum each rep is, and the more you can do. A review of 26 force studies gives the same order of difficulty across 46 push-up versions.
Holding one straight line and a steady pace for many reps is a skill, and your trunk and shoulder blades tire too. That's why practice raises a count faster than strength alone would (our reading of the early gains in the trials below).
Depth, pace, toes or knees, a time limit and how strictly reps are judged all change the count. Military tests count push-ups in a set time, the Canadian test on our push-up test page runs to fatigue at your own pace, and the firefighter study kept time to a metronome and stopped at 80. Compare only like with like.
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Men did more than women on average, and counts fell with age, but the spread within any group was huge: in 152 working adults, men in their 20s averaged about 27 one-minute push-ups, give or take 13. In military training, women's counts rose more than men's in relative terms. The same plan works from any starting point.
This guide starts at one clean push-up from your toes. If you can't do one yet, our push-up guide's ladder takes you there: the wall, then a bench, then your knees, then the floor.
In 23 young adults, peak force under the hands was 64% of body weight in a floor push-up, 49% from the knees, 55% and 41% with the hands on 30 cm and 61 cm boxes, and 70% and 74% with the feet on them, with no difference between women and men. These figures come from the conference paper of the study (the journal version's figures weren't checked). In 28 trained men, the knee version shifted more weight between the top and bottom of the rep.
In 23 moderately trained men, 4 weeks of progressively harder push-ups, 3 days a week, raised bench-press strength as bench pressing did. In 30 experienced lifters, band-resisted push-ups and a bench press at matched effort gave similar strength gains over 5 weeks. In 18 young men, push-ups to near failure grew the chest muscle by about 18% and the triceps by about 10% in 8 weeks, as a light bench press did. All three trials were small and short.
In 30 trained men, 3 sets of 10 push-ups twice a week for 8 weeks, at about 7 out of 10 effort, didn't significantly change their push-up count or bench press, on stable or unstable surfaces. One small trial, but it fits the rule that training has to get harder over time.
Source 8
In 22 inactive adults, mostly women with an average age of 50, a daily 5-minute home routine of slow bodyweight moves (including wall-to-knee push-up steps) raised a 2-minute push-up test from 11.8 to 16.6 in 4 weeks, against almost no change in a 2-week period before it. In 10 who carried on, the gain was about 6 reps in the first month and about 3 in the second. There was no separate control group.
In military training studies, push-up counts rose by a median of about 52% (about 50% in men and 71% in women), mostly over 7 to 12 weeks, and programmes ranged from no change to about 90%. Twice-weekly progressive push-up training raised push-up endurance in 19 adults over 8 weeks, and online home training raised a 30-second knee push-up test from 16 to 20 in 39 middle-aged adults.
In 8 men, suspended push-ups to failure 3 times a week for 8 weeks raised the number they could do by 92% and grew the triceps, but didn't raise bench-press strength. A tiny study with no control group.
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With the weekly work matched, 3 or 6 days a week gave similar strength and muscle in 27 trained men. Across many studies, how often you train mattered little for muscle once the weekly sets matched, and helped strength mainly by adding practice, with diminishing returns. The American College of Sports Medicine found strength rose more with 2 or more sessions a week.
Taking sets all the way to failure made only a trivial difference to muscle growth across 15 studies, and made no consistent difference to strength. People misjudge how many reps they have left by about one on average, more so in sets above 12, so an occasional test set keeps you honest.
Resting more than about a minute between hard sets gave a small advantage for muscle across 9 studies, with no clear extra past 90 seconds; in 21 trained men, 3 minutes beat 1 minute for strength.
We found no trial timing how long it takes to reach 20, 50 or 100 push-ups, comparing plans for it, or testing grease the groove for push-ups. The stages below are our editorial starting points, built on the trials above.
Two or three push-up sessions a week, with a day between hard ones, push-ups first while you're fresh.
Stop most sets 1 to 3 reps short of failure, as our push-up guide says. In your first 2 weeks, keep 3 or 4 reps to spare, as our plans advise for anything new. Test your best set every 2 to 4 weeks, fresh and the same way, so you know where you are (our suggestion).
About 60 to 90 seconds between most sets, and up to 2 minutes for hard sets of 5 to 8, such as archer push-ups, as our push-up guide suggests.
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Three hard push-up sets a session to start, building towards about 6 to 12 hard pressing sets a week across push-ups and other presses (our editorial starting point, within our plans' note of 10 or more sets per muscle a week). Easy practice sets well short of failure don't count as hard sets.
Add 2 or 3 sets of band rows or inverted rows on push-up days, as our 30-day push-up challenge suggests. That's a sensible programming habit, not a posture cure.
Our editorial starting points, built on our push-up guide's ladder rule, our push-up challenge workout's doses and the trials above. No trial has tested a stage plan.
Each session: 3 to 5 sets of 1 to 3 full push-ups, ending each set while every rep is still smooth, then 2 or 3 sets of 8 to 15 at the hardest incline or knee step you can do 8 times, lowering for 3 seconds once 15 is easy. Move on at about 10 clean floor push-ups.
Each session: 3 sets of 8 to 15 floor push-ups, stopping 1 to 3 reps short and adding a rep or two a session. Once every set reaches 15, add feet-raised push-ups, 3 sets of 6 to 12, as your strength work.
Two kinds of set, as in our more push-ups workout: strength sets of a harder version (feet raised, then archer push-ups once 15 strict push-ups are steady), then 4 practice sets of about half your best set, quick and smooth. Retest every 2 to 4 weeks and work out "half" again.
Keep the same structure, practise the exact standard of your test (depth, pace and any time limit) once a week, and keep the strength work. Ladders and short clusters are other ways to collect good reps; use them for variety. In recruit training, push-up counts typically rose by about half over 7 to 12 weeks.
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Our editorial starting point, built on our push-up guide's ladder rule, our push-up challenge workout and our plans' progression and effort notes. No trial has tested this plan as a whole.
Loading the 3D figure…
The movement on the figure: Push-up
Train at the hardest step you can do for 8 clean reps and move up when every set reaches 15, as our push-up guide's ladder rule says; feet-raised and archer push-ups are your strength work once floor push-ups pass about 15.
3D demoPush-upIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoIncline push-upBeginner · A bench or box
3D demoKnee push-upBeginner · No equipment
3D demoFeet-elevated push-upAdvanced · A bench or box
3D demoArcher push-upAdvanced · No equipment
3D demoOne-arm push-upExpert · No equipment
3D demoDiamond push-upIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoClose-grip push-up (close triceps position)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoPike push-upIntermediate · No equipmentPresses build the strength behind your push-ups, rows balance the pushing, and the plank and push-up plus keep each rep clean. The dumbbell floor press's move page gives 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12, stopping with 2 or 3 reps in reserve (our editorial starting point).
3D demoScapular push-up (push-up plus)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoWrist & forearm flowBeginner · No equipment
3D demoForearm plankIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoStraight-arm plank (high plank)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoDumbbell floor pressIntermediate · A dumbbell
3D demoDumbbell bench pressIntermediate · A dumbbell + A bench or box
3D demoBench dipBeginner · A bench or box
3D demoBand rowBeginner · A band + An anchor point
3D demoInverted rowIntermediate · Pull-up barSeveral easy sets of push-ups spread through the day on most days, never near failure, so you get lots of practice without fatigue. It's a popular method from the strength-training world.
No peer-reviewed trial has tested grease the groove for push-ups. The closest evidence: in 45 trained men, three daily bouts of 1 set of 20 squats matched one session of 3 sets of 20 for strength over 8 weeks, and felt more enjoyable; one maximal 3-second effort a day raised arm strength by about 10 to 13% in 4 weeks in inactive young adults; and a short daily routine raised push-up counts in inactive adults. So it may work for push-ups, but that's our inference.
A training company compared grease the groove with its own programme over 3 and a half weeks and reported bigger gains for grease the groove. It wasn't published in a journal, the results were self-reported, and 17 of the 25 people in the grease-the-groove group dropped out, so it can't tell you whether the method works.
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People with sore wrists, elbows or shoulders, and anyone already doing 2 or 3 hard push-up sessions a week: daily sets on top are a sudden jump in load (our suggestion, as our pull-up guide says of pull-ups).
Our editorial method and dose: no peer-reviewed trial has tested grease the groove for push-ups. The one trial of spreading training through the day used 3 short bouts a day on 3 days a week, for squats (Zhai 2026).
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The movement on the figure: Push-up
Easy daily sets, well short of failure, are fine if your wrists, elbows and shoulders feel normal; hard sets work best 2 or 3 times a week, as our push-up guide says. Training 3 or 6 days a week gave the same results when the weekly work matched.
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Not needed. A harder version raises the challenge without the huge numbers, and big, unaccustomed push-up sessions have been followed by rare but serious muscle injuries, as our 30-day push-up challenge explains (warning signs below).
Hands just outside shoulder width, one straight line from head to heels, elbows angled back about 45 degrees, your chest lowered until it nearly touches the floor, then press the floor away. Breathe in on the way down and out on the way up. Our push-up guide teaches it step by step.
Hips sagging or piking, short reps, elbows flaring straight out, the chin poking towards the floor, holding your breath, and changing your depth or pace between tests. For a count, a steady rhythm you can hold beats fast reps that stall early (our suggestion).
Our more push-ups workout is for anyone who can do about 10 or more floor push-ups: harder sets, quick practice sets and a pull, 2 or 3 times a week. Below that, the push-up challenge workout and push-up progression take you up the ladder.
For anyone who can do about 10 or more push-ups: feet-raised or archer push-ups for strength, quick practice sets of half your best, rows and a plank.
30 minIntermediate12 movesA bench or box, A bandA 15-minute push-up ladder for the 30-day push-up challenge: wrist prep, wall to knee push-ups or floor to archer push-ups, and band rows to balance it.
15 minBeginner11 movesA wall, A bench or boxWork 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 boxAn 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 pointA 30-minute chest workout at home with a pair of dumbbells or a band: push-ups, dumbbell floor presses, flys and a squeeze press, with no bench needed.
30 minBeginner8 movesA band, A dumbbellA 20-minute arm session for the 30-day arm challenge: a push-up step with a row, then a curl with a triceps move, with or without dumbbells.
20 minBeginner20 movesA wall, A bench or boxAn intermediate no-equipment workout: push-ups, split squats, single-leg bridges, pike push-ups and core work.
30 minIntermediate11 movesNo equipmentA 30-minute ladder from side-to-side wipers and archer push-ups to the one-arm push-up, with hands-raised and slow-lowering steps and side planks for the twist.
30 minAdvanced10 movesA band, An anchor pointA 25-minute power ladder to the clap push-up: a wrist and shoulder warm-up, wall bounces, fast incline push-ups, plyometric and clap push-ups, then strength work.
25 minIntermediate12 movesA wall, A bench or boxA fitness test session to repeat every 6 to 12 weeks: the 30-second chair stand, the push-up test, an optional plank and a timed 1.6 km walk or 12-minute run.
45 minBeginner12 movesA bench or box, Cardio machineThe 30-day push-up challenge is the best first month; the calisthenics plan builds pushing, pulling and legs together over 12 weeks.
A free 30-day push-up challenge, from wall to archer push-ups: 3 short sessions a week, optional practice days and a push-up test at each end.
3 training days15 minBeginner3 days a weekA 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 minBeginner3 days a weekA free 30-day arm challenge with or without weights: three 20-minute sessions a week, rest days, a ladder for every move and honest words on arm fat.
3 training days20 minBeginner3 days a weekThree 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 minBeginnerEvery 2 to 4 weeks, fresh, at the start of a session: one set to the standard on our push-up test page, at the same time of day. With fixed rules the test repeats well, but a change of 2 or 3 may just be day-to-day difference.
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Counts vary hugely. In 152 working adults, men averaged about 27 one-minute push-ups in their 20s and 21 in their 50s, give or take 12 to 14, and women about 21 to 19, mostly from the knees. In 72 college women, the average was 9 full push-ups and 17 or 18 from the knees. Our push-up test page compares your count with Canadian bands for your age and sex.
In 1,104 male firefighters followed for about 10 years, the 155 men who managed 41 or more push-ups had far fewer heart events than the 75 who managed 10 or fewer. There were only 37 events, and once age and body size were allowed for, the difference wasn't statistically clear. The authors say push-ups weren't shown to predict heart disease on their own.
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In 8,116 Canadians followed for 13 years, push-up scores showed no pattern with the risk of death. A push-up count says something about your fitness, not about your heart, and there's no number everyone should reach.
In inactive adults, 4 weeks of short daily practice added about 5 push-ups, and the second month added about half as much again. Recruit training raised counts by about half over 7 to 12 weeks. Trained men who never made it harder didn't improve in 8 weeks.
The better you get, the slower it goes, and people differ a lot. Pages that promise a number of push-ups by a date go beyond the evidence; compare yourself with your own last test.
Make fists, or use push-up handles or dumbbells, to keep your wrists straight, or raise your hands on a bench. Our wrist pain from push-ups guide has a staged plan.
Use a slightly wider base with your fingers pointing forward. Our elbow pain from push-ups guide maps the causes and a plan back.
Wall and incline push-ups and the push-up plus fit our shoulder plans. Keep pain during exercise to about 5 out of 10 or less, settling by your next session: the rule our shoulder guides use.
Our shoulder pain from push-ups guide has the rest.
Keep your head in line and let your chest lead. Our neck pain in push-ups and planks guide covers it.
A challenge, a new class or a first week of daily practice can double your pushing overnight. Build up over weeks instead, and stop at once if a wrist, elbow or shoulder starts to ache (our suggestion).
Big, unaccustomed push-up sessions have been followed by serious muscle injury. A fit 36-year-old developed rhabdomyolysis, a breakdown of muscle that can harm the kidneys, in both triceps after a boot-camp session with a lot of push-ups, and a 34-year-old needed surgery for compartment syndrome in both arms after a push-up contest. Both are rare, and case reports can't say how often they happen.
Dark, red or cola-coloured urine, much less urine than usual, or very painful, swollen, weak arms in the days after a session: get medical help the same day. Call 999 (911 in the US) for sudden, severe pain in any part of your body, or for chest pain that doesn't go away, spreads to your arms, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or comes with sweating, feeling sick, light-headedness or breathlessness.
Call NHS 111 (in the US, your doctor or urgent care) for severe muscle pain and weakness with dark (cola-coloured) or reduced urine after unusually hard training. This can be rhabdomyolysis, which can harm the kidneys and needs prompt care.
If you get chest pain or pressure, feel faint or dizzy, are unusually breathless, or your heart races or beats irregularly during exercise, as our plans advise.
For chest pain that comes on suddenly and doesn't go away, feels tight or like squeezing, spreads to your arms, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or comes with sweating, feeling sick, light-headedness or breathlessness; severe difficulty breathing; someone who faints while exercising; palpitations that don't go away, or come with chest pain, shortness of breath or feeling faint; or a headache that starts suddenly and is extremely painful, especially while lifting or straining, or comes with numbness or weakness, difficulty speaking or loss of vision. The NHS says a bleed on the brain may be more likely when lifting something heavy. Don't drive yourself to A&E.
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 for a headache that's triggered or made worse by coughing, sneezing, bending down or exercising. In the US, contact your doctor or urgent care.
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Stop straight away if you feel any pain or become unwell, the NHS says, and contact 111 if your symptoms worry you or don't go away.
A dull ache in your muscles for a day or two after something new is normal. Joint pain that's sharp, gets worse during a set or lingers into the next day means switching to the easier option, and seeing a GP or physiotherapist if it carries on (our plans' rule). Our muscle soreness guide has more.
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A pop or tearing at the front of the armpit or chest during a lift, followed by bruising into the chest or upper arm, a change in the shape of the chest or armpit, or weakness pushing, can be a torn chest tendon. Don't wait for it to settle: get help the same day from NHS 111 or an urgent treatment centre, as our pec strain guide explains.
For severe wrist pain; feeling faint, dizzy or sick from the pain; a snap, grinding or popping noise at the time of the injury; being unable to move your wrist or hold things; a wrist that has changed shape or colour; a very painful, hot or red lump; or lost feeling in your hand. In the US, use urgent care.
Source 35
If wrist pain is no better after 2 weeks of home treatment, or comes with tingling, diabetes, or a hot, swollen, stiff wrist.
Source 35
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 for sudden or very bad shoulder pain, an arm you can't move, a shoulder that has changed shape or is badly swollen, pins and needles that don't go away, no feeling in your arm or shoulder, an arm or shoulder that's hot or cold to touch, pain after an injury or a fall, or severe pain in both shoulders. Go to A&E if, after an injury, you can't move your arm or your shoulder looks out of place or has changed shape. See a GP if shoulder pain is getting worse or hasn't improved after 2 weeks.
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Our suggestion, from the NHS elbow and arm pain page: see a GP if elbow or arm pain doesn't go away after a few weeks; go to an urgent treatment centre or A&E if your arm tingles or feels numb, or after an injury with a snapping noise or a change in shape; and get help from NHS 111 if your arm hurts when you exercise but the pain goes away when you rest. Our elbow pain from push-ups guide has the detail.
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The British Heart Foundation advises avoiding exercises that use your whole body as the weight, such as press-ups and planks. Wall push-ups with steady breathing are gentler; ask your heart team.
Raising your feet puts your head below your hips, as in a decline bench press: keep sets short, breathe out on each push and come up slowly, and while your blood pressure isn't under control, use a floor or incline push-up instead.
Speak to your GP first if you haven't exercised for some time or have medical conditions or concerns, as the NHS advises. Get advice before heavy lifting or hard straining work if your blood pressure is uncontrolled, or you have heart disease or chest pain when you're active, a pacemaker or defibrillator, diabetic eye disease, glaucoma, a hernia, recent eye or tummy surgery, or you're pregnant, as our breathing guide lists. After a recent shoulder dislocation or shoulder surgery, follow our shoulder dislocation guide or your surgical team first.
After heart surgery through the breastbone, or a heart or lung transplant, follow your surgeon's advice before pushing, pulling or lifting with your arms.
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Nobody has tested it, and the evidence points elsewhere: hard sets work 2 or 3 times a week, 3 or 6 days a week gave the same results when the weekly work matched, and you don't need to go to failure. Big, unaccustomed sessions have been followed by rare but serious muscle injury. Easy daily practice is a different thing.
Three sets of 10 twice a week at a moderate effort didn't change trained men's push-ups in 8 weeks. Make it harder over time.
Source 8
No peer-reviewed trial has tested it for push-ups. Spreading the same training through the day matched one session for squats, so it may work, but that's an inference.
Source 20
You lift part of your body weight, so strength for your size matters, but every training trial here raised push-up strength or counts without anyone changing their weight. Getting stronger is what you train.
In small trials they matched the bench press for strength and, at a light load, for chest and triceps growth.
The firefighter link wasn't statistically clear once age and body size were allowed for, and push-up scores weren't linked with death in 8,116 Canadians. A count is a rough marker of fitness, not a heart test.
Women's counts start lower on average, but they rose more than men's in relative terms in military training. The same plan works.
Practise 2 or 3 times a week, mix harder sets (feet raised, then archer push-ups) with quick sets of about half your best, and add a little each week. Repeating the same easy sets didn't raise trained men's push-ups in 8 weeks, so keep making it harder.
Do 3 sets of 8 to 15 floor push-ups 2 or 3 times a week, stopping 1 to 3 reps short, and add a rep or two each session. Once every set reaches 15, add feet-raised push-ups as strength work, and retest every 2 to 4 weeks the same way.
Build strength with harder versions, collect practice with quick sets of about half your best, and practise your test's exact standard once a week. Nobody has tested a plan for a number, and progress slows as you get better, so think in months rather than weeks.
Easy sets well short of failure are fine on most days if your wrists, elbows and shoulders feel normal. Hard sets work best 2 or 3 times a week, and training 3 or 6 days a week gave the same results when the weekly work matched.
No peer-reviewed trial has tested it. Splitting the same training into short bouts across the day matched one session for squats in one trial, so it may work if you keep every set easy and take days off. Stop if your joints ache.
There's no magic daily number. Count your weekly hard sets instead, about 6 to 12 across push-ups and other presses, plus any easy practice sets. A hundred a day isn't needed, and big, unaccustomed sessions can cause rare but serious muscle injury.
Not on every set: stopping 1 to 3 reps short works as well for most people. A single test set to your limit every 2 to 4 weeks shows your progress, because most people misjudge how many reps they have left.
Inactive adults added about 5 push-ups in 4 weeks of short daily practice, with smaller gains in the next month, and recruits gained about half again in 7 to 12 weeks. Your pace will differ, so compare yourself with your own last test.
Usually because the sessions stopped getting harder, or you test a different way each time. Add a harder version, a set or a few reps, keep your test's depth and pace the same, and check your sleep and recovery.
No. You lift part of your body weight, but strength training raised push-up counts in trials that didn't ask anyone to change their weight. Getting stronger is what you train.
Probably: push-ups and the bench press built strength and muscle alike in small trials, so presses, dips and triceps work all support a push-up count. Keep practising push-ups too.
There's no health standard, and counts vary hugely: in one study, men in their 20s averaged about 27 in a minute, give or take 13. Our push-up test page compares your count with Canadian bands for your age and sex.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. Check with a GP before starting hard training if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or breathlessness when active, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
