Push-up test

boy_pushup_75
The push-up test from "The Canadian Standardized Test of Fitness" rates your upper body strength based on the number of push-ups you can perform

Instructions:
boy_girl_pushup_150 1. Do some light warm-up for your arms and shoulders
2. Perform as many push-ups as you can
3. Females perform the test with the knees touching the ground, males with toes touching the ground (see pictures)
4. Enter age, gender and number of push-ups into the calculator.

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Background:
When performed under standardized conditions this test can be considered quite reliable, but note that results will be negatively correlated with body weight.

Reference:
Niemann DC 1995. Fitness and sports medicine: a health-related approach. 3rd ed. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield

Comments  

 
#44 Jillita Horton 2013-05-08 19:19
This test is flawed. I'm a personal trainer. How many pushups you can do with no time limit is NOT a test of strength, as this test says it is. This is like saying being able to bench press 40 lbs one hundred times is a measure of strength. NO. It's not. Benching 200 lbs only eight times IS a measure of strength.

So if you can only do 12 pushups (standard), but you can also do 12 with a plate on your back, or with your feet elevated, you have good strength.

There are also those who can do 30 pushups but can't bench press their weight. They are not very strong.
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#43 Push up Woman 2013-05-06 03:31
Let me clear this up right now. Gender does not cause pain associated with push-ups- poor form does. I cannot even find out whether or not I have reached a sufficient number of push-ups because I am a female who does standard push-ups and of course there is no measure for this. STOP TELLING WOMEN THEY CANNOT DO STANDARD PUSHUPS. Women can do them and are allowed to get away with crappy, bent knee pushps. These will never build your strength. Ladies, do not believe them when they say you cannot do proper push-ups.
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#42 yolo 2013-04-29 19:19
how much should a 12 year old do
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#41 WO1JA 2013-03-20 08:19
Quoting jemma :
am 18 year old girl and i can do the boys push up i do about about 30 or 33 push up a day and i got told that now that i can't have kids because i didn't do the girls push up is that ture?????


A female doing regular push ups could cause lower back or hip pain. As far as someone telling you that you can't get pregnant and you believing them is funny. Don't worry!
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#40 SammyG 2013-02-26 20:08
I struggle with like 20 and I'm 6"1' 165lbs
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#39 Ara 2013-02-22 15:44
(male) 5'9'' 134 pounds, 43 push ups. I think that might be how much someone in my height should be able to do who is healthy...
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#38 brandonB 2013-01-30 20:06
5"4 120 i did 72 in a minute ;p pushups are easy. Beat warrior pushup challenge with a 152 pushups in 3 minutes
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#37 eli 2013-01-17 06:07
i'm 11 and i got 34 push ups
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#36 Fred 2013-01-16 04:23
I'm a 13 year old and got 53 pushups and i was hoping for average with that but i was shocked that i got excellent and was surprised that the standard for that is just 39
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#35 Jon 2013-01-10 13:50
I am 40 years old. I timed myself last night while timing my two boys that are 15 and 11. The 15 year old did 72 in 45 sec. The 11 year old did 25 in 45 sec. I did 78 in 45 sec. How did we do just curious.
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#34 jason 2012-12-05 17:59
Quoting Jocy:
How low do you have to go in each push-up?

at least 2 inches before touching the ground.
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#33 jim dawson 2012-12-05 11:53
Quoting Christian Saldana:
Quoting Mason Gamble:
I am 62 and I do 1700 push ups a day. Have done since I was 12. Am I normal?

Daaallllmmm that is beast!!! Respect HAHA!! Probly not true but still beast haha!!
I'm 16 and did 55. I literally could not do more. I'm pretty happy with that. I did 40 pushups for my morning workout so I probly could have done more. I'm workin on mu chest and abbs and on my stamina. So later on ill try again and get 550 or something haha.

your too fat you cunt
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#32 Christian Saldana 2012-10-28 22:57
Quoting Mason Gamble:
I am 62 and I do 1700 push ups a day. Have done since I was 12. Am I normal?

Daaallllmmm that is beast!!! Respect HAHA!! Probly not true but still beast haha!!
I'm 16 and did 55. I literally could not do more. I'm pretty happy with that. I did 40 pushups for my morning workout so I probly could have done more. I'm workin on mu chest and abbs and on my stamina. So later on ill try again and get 550 or something haha.
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#31 jemma 2012-09-05 03:04
am 18 year old girl and i can do the boys push up i do about about 30 or 33 push up a day and i got told that now that i can't have kids because i didn't do the girls push up is that ture?????
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#30 Tiff 2012-09-02 01:25
I'm a 14 year old girl and I did 20 "guy" push ups. Who the heck does "girl" push ups anyway; they're so easy and useless and somewhat sexist!
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#29 Mason Gamble 2012-08-27 13:08
I am 62 and I do 1700 push ups a day. Have done since I was 12. Am I normal?
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#28 Aubrey 2012-07-28 18:13
I'm a 16 year old girl and I can do 50 push ups. I do 50 push ups a day with no problem. I'm working towards 100 :-)
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#27 Bravothomas 2012-07-26 12:59
I am 25 years of age i can do 10 pullups and 40 pushups at one time.After that i feel very tired and then relax our body by doing some 100-200 times skipping.Is this daily routine exercise is sufficient to keep me fit and fine? Distance Courses
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#26 reuben 2012-06-03 02:10
Im just fifteen, i can do about 60 pullups but only 30-40 pushups, for.some reason my top muscle bit is much bigger than the bottom muslce, how do i sort this?
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#25 Karen3 2012-04-29 14:46
I am 52 yr old female and did 60 push ups in a 1 minute. was happy with that.
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#24 Micheal 2012-04-16 08:14
Ya fat bro you yoyoyoyoyoyo
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#23 blargh 2012-02-24 10:49
It's a matter of weight, too. 10 push-ups can be easy, but it can be impossible if you're 440lbs
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#22 John16 2011-12-31 00:36
Age 16 i could only do about ten but i started doin as many as i could be it ten or eleven a day a few times a day its only been about 3 weeks and i do anywhere between 120-160 a day in regular sets of 30-35. and i am constantly being able to exceed my limit even if i set a new limit a day or two ago.
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#21 vicky 2011-11-28 13:55
im not over weight! by the way
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#20 vicky 2011-11-28 13:53
i am 15 years old and i only got 6 push ups please help me and tell me what i need to improve!
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#19 cory 2011-11-23 06:21
im 21 ive been training with rings i can do 1 push up a second for 5 mins or i can do 160 in a row i wish there were a score above excellent btw gymnastics rings are the best workout if you wanna get big buy some
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#18 nir 2011-11-14 00:16
can push up help me to build up my shoulder and arm at the age of 40?
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#17 wajngf 2011-09-21 22:47
Touch the floot with your breast,thats an honest push-up
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#16 Rohit 2011-09-18 12:51
Hi! I am Rohit and I am 14. I managed to do 60 pushups everyday.
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#15 bobby 2011-09-06 12:08
hi i'm bob and i'm 15 i managed to do 95 push ups with one arm
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#14 Jake T 2011-07-29 18:51
I'm 18 and did 70...not too bad. See, thing is I don't train for endurance. I play football as a lineman (still in great shape, not the standard lineman body type) so I don't need to have crazy endurance. My bench press is at 300lbs for reps, but I can only do 70 push-ups. I have always been ify about this test, but none the less one of my favorites.
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#13 sheep 2011-07-28 13:19
I'm 12 and I can do 41 full push ups. I'm fairly pleased with that result
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#12 Preston 2011-07-24 09:56
im 13 and can do 25 pull ups, how many push ups do you think i can do?
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#11 Jason ddd 2011-07-11 20:08
im 16 years old and i wouldnt say i am unfit but i am pretty slim (arms, chest, pecs etc) really trying to get a bit bigger, i am wondering if i do around 30 press ups, 50 it ups and around 100 reps with my 5.5kg weights will i get any bigger? somone please answer me!
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#10 Ayden J 2011-07-04 17:13
Im 17 and only did 12 I am out of shape trying to getting get better... No im not obese just been eating to many sugars and fast foods.
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#9 stuart senior 2011-05-30 00:42
im 69 had a heart atack under 3 yrs ago can do a hundred push ups no prob
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#8 stephany bulla 2011-02-11 02:09
deveria ser en español asi aydaria a muchas personas q no saben leer el ingles o almenos pongan la opsion de escoger el idioma por q asi jummm como difisil volver a estrar a esta pagina mi cosejo lo cambian o es mejor q nadi entre aqui
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#7 Morten 2010-11-24 22:28
Matt - this test only says something about your arm-strength compared to the average population. Relative to that, your result is excellent - which is also was when you were at 110 kg. Your aerobic fitness on the other hand was probably not very good.
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#6 Matt 2010-11-24 10:59
At 42 years old 22 pushups is excellent? Not convinced, I could do 30 when I was 110kg and got out of breath walking up the stairs.
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#5 Morten Z 2010-10-02 11:28
Matt -> The instructions should say "age" instead of "weight". I have corrected that now. Thanks for pointing this out.

Weight is not considered as part of the evaluation. If you are overweight you are more likely to have a poor performance in this test, but then weight should be considered as part of the explanation for the result along with possibly low muscle strength.
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#4 Matt 2010-10-02 08:17
in the instructions, it says to add weight, gender and # of reps. is it based on weight or age? i think for normative values, weight and age should be considered.
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#3 RANA PUYAM 2009-12-15 20:08
best for reduce Global Diatetes, Thanks
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#2 Morten Z 2009-09-21 17:34
You should go down until your upper body is horizontal - or until your nose almost touches the floor.
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#1 Jocy 2009-09-21 01:39
How low do you have to go in each push-up?
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