What Your Push-Up Count Says About You
From kids to adults, push-ups are one of the most common indicators telling you about someone’s fitness levels, strength, or mindset. Before we begin, there is just one quote we’d like to share:
“Comparison is the thief of joy.”
Teddy Roosevelt
Remember this quote throughout the article: it’s about your journey and your circumstances that determine success in fitness. Not anybody else’s. Nonetheless, to help give guidance, we understand learning about your fitness position relative to others helps give clarity.
A total beginner can do anywhere from 0-15 push-ups in one set. If you fall in this range, you may lack upper body or relative strength. A fair intermediate will be able to do between 25-50 push-ups, and while they frequently go gym they may not chose to do bodyweight exercises. An expert will be able to do 75+ push-ups. At this level, they live and breathe calisthenics!
How Many Push-Ups Can A Beginner Do
We’ve said a total beginner can do 0-15 push-ups. They may be new to bodyweight exercises or have never worked out in their life; nonetheless, it’s unlikely they can do other calisthenics movements. However, if your push-up count is in this range, there are a couple of exceptions, such as:
- Bodybuilders – while they may be unable to do 15 push-ups, we don’t consider them beginners. They exercise for different reasons.
- Injury recovery – if you damge your deltoid, tricep, or any other major muscle group that prevents you from doing push-ups, it doesn’t make you a beginner.
At the start of your journey, it’s advised to train in exercises that help increase your push-up count. This could include assisted push-ups, wall push-ups, or TRX push-ups. These help reduce the load, but you still engage the same muscle groups as a fully loaded one.
At this level, take your workouts slowly and learn the basics to prevent injury. This could range from single to 3 sets of 5 push-ups. Either way, your priority should be learning the movement and conditioning your muscles.
Someone transitioning from a beginner to an intermediate stage should be able to do 10-25 push-ups. At this point, you should have a thorough knowledge of push-up technique and start to build upper body muscle.
How Many Push-Ups Can An Intermediate Do
An intermediate can do between 25-50 push-ups at a time. In addition, they should be able to incorporate different kinds, like pseudo, triangle, or wide push-ups. The intermediate level is where most athletes find themselves, so skill level ranges massively.
The intermediate stage opens the most doors. You can take your fitness journey in any direction because you have a solid foundation of strength and gym knowledge. People typically pick bodyweight or weight lifting at this stage, but training a hybrid between both is becoming more popular.
At this level, push-ups seem more of a warm-up than a workout; in fact, high-level intermediates do push-ups on their rest days!
Interestingly, athletes in this stage don’t focus on their push-up count. Instead, they try complex exercises/ statics, indirectly allowing them to do more push-ups without practicing.
It’s impressive if you sit towards the 50 push-ups in one set side, as very few reach this bar. So, give yourself a tap on the shoulder!
How Many Push-Ups Can An Expert Do
Experts in calisthenics or bodyweight exercises can do 75+ push-ups. But this is definitely on the generous side, as they likely do this as a daily warm-up. At this level, athletes have such a high amount of relative strength they can also incorporate some of the hardest push-ups, such as the handstand push-up, planche push-up, or 90-degree push-up.
At this point, they won’t stop until they feel fatigued, but instead, until they’re warmed up or bored! If they were to go until failure, they’ll get at least 100 push-ups in one set.
Experts have to incorporate some sort of challenge or increase the difficulty for it to be considered a workout. For example, a weighted vest or clap push-ups.
To reach this strength level, most of your life choices must be based on fitness. That includes your diet, hobbies, and routine. So, you must be passionate about bodyweight exercises!
Once you reach this stage, your workouts aren’t about increasing your push-up count or gaining more strength. Rather, it revolves around maintenance and sustainability. It’s much harder to stay at this level than getting there.
How Many Push-Ups Can An Average Person Do
Above, we discuss how your push-up count compares to people across the fitness industry. But how will it contrast with everybody else?
The fitness industry is niche as it is. So, while you may get disheartened for being a beginner, you’re already ahead of everyone who hasn’t even tried! In fact, a beginner’s push-up count is classed as an average compared to the rest of society. Great news, right?
How Many Push-Ups Can An Average Male Do
| Age | 17-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50-59 | 60-65 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excellent | 56+ | 47+ | 41+Â | 34+Â | 31+Â | 30+Â |
| Good | 35-56 | 30-47 | 25-41 | 21-34 | 18-31 | 17-30 |
| Average | 11-34 | 10-29 | 8-24 | 6-20 | 5-17 | 3-16 |
| Poor | 0-10 | 0-9 | 0-7 | 0-5 | 0-4 | 0-2 |
How Many Push-Ups Can An Average Female Do
| Age | 17-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50-59 | 60-65 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excellent | > 30 | > 32 | > 28 | > 20 | > 16 | > 12 |
| Good | 11-30 | 14-32 | 13-28 | 10-20 | 9-16 | 6-12 |
| Average | 4-10 | 5-13 | 3-12 | 2-9 | 2-8 | 2-5 |
| Poor | 0-3 | 0-4 | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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