Push-Up Test by Age: Norms for Men (Chart + How to Test)

Short answer: On the most widely used reference chart (the Canadian CPAFLA norms), a man in his 20s needs 22 to 28 full push-ups without rest to rate "good," a man in his 30s 17 to 21, in his 40s 13 to 16, in his 50s 10 to 12, and in his 60s 8 to 10. "Excellent" starts at 36, 30, 25, 21 and 18. Test once, write the number down, retest in 30 days.

What is the push-up test?

A push-up test is a simple field test of upper-body muscular endurance: you do as many full push-ups as you can, with strict form, and the total is compared with norms for your age and sex. It needs no equipment, takes under two minutes, and is used in fitness appraisals, police and military entry tests, and school PE.

There is no single "official" push-up test. There are several, and that is where most charts online go wrong. They mix numbers from different protocols:

Protocol	Rule	Where you see it
To failure, no rest (CPAFLA)	Consecutive full push-ups until form breaks. No pause.	Canadian fitness appraisal, reproduced in many fitness-testing references
1-minute test	As many as possible in 60 seconds	Gyms, some fitness charts
2-minute test	As many as possible in 2 minutes, rest only in the up position	Military tests (for example, the U.S. Navy PRT)

This guide uses the to-failure CPAFLA norms because they are the most widely reproduced chart with a traceable origin: the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology's Canadian Physical Activity, Fitness & Lifestyle Approach (CPAFLA) manual, built on the Canadian musculoskeletal fitness norms study by Payne, Gledhill, Katzmarzyk, Jamnik and Keir.
Source: Payne N. et al., "Canadian musculoskeletal fitness norms," Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology, 2000;25(6):430–442, doi:10.1139/h00-028.

Push-up norms for men by age (chart)

Full push-ups from the toes, done in a row without rest, until you can no longer do a clean rep.

Age	Needs improvement	Fair	Good	Very good	Excellent
20–29	16 or fewer	17–21	22–28	29–35	36 or more
30–39	11 or fewer	12–16	17–21	22–29	30 or more
40–49	9 or fewer	10–12	13–16	17–24	25 or more
50–59	6 or fewer	7–9	10–12	13–20	21 or more
60–69	4 or fewer	5–7	8–10	11–17	18 or more

Source: Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology, CPAFLA manual (3rd edition), based on Payne et al. (2000). Values checked against several independent reproductions of the table.

How to read it

• The bands are wide on purpose. They describe where you stand, not what you are worth.
• The numbers drop with age, but slowly. "Good" goes from 22 in your 20s to 13 in your 40s. A 45-year-old who does 25 strict push-ups sits in the same top band as a 25-year-old who does 36.
• Women's norms exist in the same manual and use the modified (knee) push-up. This guide covers men only.

Why other charts show bigger numbers

If you have seen "excellent: 47+ for men in their 20s," that comes from a different chart, often a timed 1-minute test. The most-copied version, on Topend Sports, states that the original source of its data is unknown. Bigger numbers are not wrong. They answer a different test. Pick one protocol and stay with it.

How to take the push-up test (protocol)

1. Warm up for 3 to 5 minutes. Arm circles, a few easy incline push-ups. Do not test after a chest workout or a long run.
2. Set up. Hands on the floor, a little wider than shoulder-width, fingers forward. Feet together or hip-width. Body in one straight line from head to heels.
3. Go down. Lower until your chest is close to the floor and your elbows reach about 90 degrees. No bouncing.
4. Come up. Press to full arm extension. That is one rep.
5. Keep the line. Hips do not sag or pike. Knees stay off the floor.
6. No rest. The test ends at the first rep you cannot complete with clean form, or when you pause.
7. Write the number down with the date, the time of day and the exact protocol.

The test only means something if you repeat it the same way. Same time of day, same warm-up, same depth. Counting in your head is where it goes wrong: the reps you cheat are the reps that make the number lie. The simplest way to run the test strictly, every time, is GLADIUS: put your phone on the floor and the camera counts every rep, rejecting half reps, so this month's score and next month's are measured the same way.

What your score means

Needs improvement or fair

You are at the start, which is the best place to build from. Train push-ups three or more days a week with easy sets you can finish with clean form, or use incline push-ups (hands on a bench or a counter) to add volume. Retest in four weeks. GLADIUS makes this automatic: your 60-second test sets a starting target sized to you, not to a stranger's challenge. If you cannot do a single full push-up yet, start against a wall or a kitchen counter and lower the surface over the weeks.

Good

Solid base. This is the point where most men stop paying attention. The gap to "very good" is usually 5 to 7 reps, and it closes with frequency more than intensity: several sub-maximal sets spread across the week, every week. That is exactly what a daily target with a streak forces you to do, and it is how GLADIUS is built.

Very good or excellent

Your endurance is high for your age. Keep the habit and progress with harder variations (decline, deficit, tempo) or with longer challenges. The goal is no longer the score. It is to still be here in a year.

What the research says about push-up capacity

The most quoted study on push-ups is a 2019 analysis of 1,104 male firefighters in Indiana, followed for 10 years. Men who could do more than 40 push-ups at baseline had fewer cardiovascular events over the follow-up than men who could do fewer than 10.
Source: Yang J. et al., "Association Between Push-up Exercise Capacity and Future Cardiovascular Events Among Active Adult Men," JAMA Network Open, 2019;2(2):e188341.

Read it carefully, because headlines did not. The study is observational: it shows an association, not that push-ups prevent anything. The highest group had a single event. The men were middle-aged, occupationally active firefighters, so the results may not apply to other men. The men who did the most push-ups were also much younger on average (35 versus 48), and the authors themselves write that their results "do not support push-up capacity as an independent predictor" of cardiovascular risk. The honest takeaway: push-up capacity is an easy, free marker of fitness worth tracking. It is not a medical test. If you have heart, shoulder or blood-pressure concerns, talk to a doctor before testing to failure.

Test yourself today, then do it again in 30 days

One test is a photograph. Two tests a month apart are a direction. The men who improve are rarely the ones with the best first score. They are the ones who come back and test again.

That is why GLADIUS starts with a test. You put your phone on the floor, the camera counts every full rep for 60 seconds (half reps do not count), and that score sets your first daily target. Your daily target grows 1% every day you hit it. Streaks, XP and seven ranks, from TIRO to GLADIUS, show you in black and white whether you kept your word. Retest whenever you want and watch the number move.

Note: the GLADIUS test is a 60-second test. The CPAFLA chart above is a no-time-limit test to failure. They are close but not identical, so compare your GLADIUS scores with each other, and use the chart above only with the CPAFLA protocol.

FAQ

How many push-ups should a man be able to do?

On the CPAFLA norms, a "good" score for men is 22 to 28 consecutive full push-ups in your 20s, 17 to 21 in your 30s, 13 to 16 in your 40s, 10 to 12 in your 50s and 8 to 10 in your 60s. Below that is not a failure. It is a starting point.

How many push-ups in a row is good?

It depends on your age and on the test. For a man in his 30s doing strict push-ups to failure without rest, 17 to 21 is "good," 22 to 29 "very good," and 30 or more "excellent" on the CPAFLA chart. Timed tests (1 or 2 minutes) produce higher numbers and use different charts.

What is the average number of push-ups for a man?

Charts give rating bands, not true averages of the population. On the CPAFLA chart, the middle "good" band is 22 to 28 for men in their 20s and 13 to 16 for men in their 40s. Be careful with sites that publish an "average" without saying which test or which population it comes from.

Is the push-up test 1 minute or to failure?

Both exist. The CPAFLA test used in this guide is to failure with no rest and no time limit. Many gyms and charts use a 1-minute test, and military tests often use 2 minutes. Use the chart that matches the protocol you actually did.

Do knee push-ups count for the test?

Not for the men's norms. The men's CPAFLA chart uses full push-ups from the toes. The modified knee push-up is used for the women's norms in the same manual. Knee push-ups are a great training tool, just not for this score.

How often should I retest?

Every 4 weeks is a good rhythm: long enough for training to show, short enough to keep you honest. Test at the same time of day, after the same warm-up, with the same depth.

Does the push-up test measure heart health?

No. A 2019 study of firefighters found an association between push-up capacity and fewer cardiovascular events, but it was observational and the authors say it does not make push-ups an independent predictor of risk. Treat your score as a fitness marker, not a medical test.

Sources

• Payne N, Gledhill N, Katzmarzyk PT, Jamnik VK, Keir PJ. Canadian musculoskeletal fitness norms. Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology. 2000;25(6):430–442. doi:10.1139/h00-028
• Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology. The Canadian Physical Activity, Fitness & Lifestyle Approach (CPAFLA), 3rd edition. Ottawa: CSEP.
• Yang J, Christophi CA, Farioli A, et al. Association Between Push-up Exercise Capacity and Future Cardiovascular Events Among Active Adult Men. JAMA Network Open. 2019;2(2):e188341. jamanetwork.com
• Topend Sports, Home Push-Up Test (example of a widely copied chart whose original data source is listed as unknown). topendsports.com