Push-up test calculator — rate your reps by age.

Do as many push-ups as you can in a single continuous set with no rest, stopping when your form breaks. Men use the standard push-up from the toes; women use the modified push-up from the knees, as in the ACSM protocol. Lower until your chest is a fist-height off the floor, then press up fully — partial reps do not count.

A good score falls in the upper bands of the ACSM norms. For a man aged 30 to 39, roughly 22 to 29 push-ups rate as good and 30 or more as excellent; for a woman the same age doing modified push-ups, about 20 to 26 is good and 27 or more excellent. Standards drop by a few reps per decade, so the table adjusts by age.

It depends on age and sex, but as a rough benchmark, an average-fitness man in his 20s does about 22 to 28 full push-ups in a set and an average-fitness woman does about 15 to 20 modified push-ups. Reaching the "good" or "excellent" band takes consistent training; this calculator shows exactly which band your reps land in.

Yes. The standard ACSM protocol has men perform full push-ups from the toes and women perform modified push-ups from the knees, and the norm tables differ accordingly. If a woman prefers to test with full push-ups, that is valid strength data, but the reps will not map to the modified-push-up bands on this page.

Train push-ups two to three times a week with progressive overload: add reps, add sets, or slow the tempo each week, and include incline and close-grip variations to build the pressing pattern. Pairing push-ups with rows and core work protects the shoulders. Most people add several reps to their max within four to six weeks of consistent practice.

The push-up test is a validated field measure of upper-body muscular endurance, one component of health-related fitness alongside aerobic capacity, flexibility, and body composition. A 2019 JAMA study even linked push-up capacity to lower cardiovascular risk in men. It does not measure maximal strength, so pair it with other tests for a full picture.