Push up capacity

Enter how many push ups you can do in one go to see what a large study found about push up fitness, and get a plan for a few more.

Your details

Push ups in one go

fair for your age and sex

For men 30 to 39 (CSEP)fair: 2 more for good
Practice sets3 sets of 9, every other day
Next small goal17 in a row
The bands for men 30 to 39excellent 30+, very good 22, good 17, fair 12 (full push ups)
Yang 2019 group11 to 20 (male firefighters; over 40 had far fewer heart problems over 10 years than under 10)

Push ups show upper body strength and endurance, and they improve quickly with practice. Knee or wall push ups count and are a great way in. The firefighter study shows fitness matters, not that push ups alone protect you.

Chest pain or unusual breathlessness when exercising: stop, and call 999 if it does not ease.

The working

15 push ups at 35

For a man of 35 doing full push ups, the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology bands are excellent from 30, very good 22 to 29, good 17 to 21 and fair 12 to 16, so 15 is fair, 2 short of good. In the firefighter study it is the 11 to 20 group. Practise 3 sets of 9 every other day and aim for 17 in a row next.

By age and sex

The CSEP bands

Age	Men, full: good from	Women, knees: good from
15 to 19	23	18
20 to 29	22	15
30 to 39	17	13
40 to 49	13	11
50 to 59	10	7
60 to 69	8	5

The norms were collected with full push ups for men and push ups from the knees for women, so pick the style you did: a mismatch is flagged rather than hidden.

The study

What it found

Over 10 years, male firefighters who managed more than 40 push ups had 96% fewer heart problems than those who did fewer than 10. It was one group of men, so it shows fitness matters rather than giving a target for everyone.

Your trend

Weeks to the next band

Add an earlier count and how many weeks ago it was, and we show your gain a week and, at that rate, how many weeks to the next CSEP band. Going from 11 to 15 in 4 weeks is 1 a week, so good (17) is about 2 weeks away. Gains usually come fast at first and then slow, so treat it as a rough guide.

Making it easier

Every version counts

Wall push ups
Hands on a kitchen worktop or bench
Knee push ups
Full push ups, slow on the way down

Read with care

What this cannot tell you

Your heartIt is not a heart test.
Over 70sThe CSEP bands stop at 69, and the heart study only included men aged 21 to 66.
FormHalf reps make the count meaningless.

Questions

Common questions

How many push ups should I be able to do?

There is no single target; improving your own number is what counts.

Do knee push ups count?

Yes. Use them to build up.

How do I do more push ups?

Several sets well short of failure, a few times a week.

Sources

Last checked 21 October 2026. Spotted something wrong? Tell us and we will fix it.

Before you push on

New to exercise, or got a heart, lung or joint condition? Have a word with your GP or practice nurse first. Stop and get help if you feel chest pain, faintness or unusual breathlessness, and call 999 if it is severe.