Push-Ups by Age: How Many Should a Man Over 35 Do?

Push-ups by age, in one line: a man in his late 30s should aim for about 24–33 strict push-ups in a row, a man in his 40s for about 18–25, and a man in his 50s for about 13–20, which puts you in the middle of the “Cooper norms” a US police force uses to test recruits. Reach the “good” band in the table below and you are in the stronger third of men your age. And if you can pass 40, you join the group that had the fewest heart events in a well-known 10-year study of firefighters.

Below you will find the full by-age table, a self-test that takes less than two minutes, what the heart research really shows (it is more nuanced than the headlines), and an 8-week plan to move up a band.

Push-ups by age: how many is good?

The easiest free norms to check come from the New York State Park Police, which publishes the push-up scores it uses for recruits in a document titled “Cooper norms” (the Cooper Institute in Dallas has tested adults for decades). It lists the 40th percentile, the entry standard, and the 70th percentile, the graduation standard, for each age group. We built the bands below from those two cut-offs.

Keep in mind this is a police fitness document, not a peer-reviewed study, so treat the bands as a practical guide rather than a medical benchmark.

Read it like this: below the 40th percentile score, most men your age beat you. At the 70th percentile score or above, you beat roughly seven in ten.

These are strict, consecutive push-ups with no time limit, chest down to a fist-height mark and arms fully straight at the top. Sloppy half reps inflate your score and make the table meaningless, so be honest with yourself.

Norms for men over 60 are thinner. If you are 60 or older, use the 50–59 row as a stretch target and focus on steady improvement rather than a number.

How many push-ups should a 40-year-old man do?

At 40, 18 strict push-ups puts you in the average band and 26 puts you in the top third. If you are under 18, you are not “unfit for life”. You simply have the most to gain, and beginners tend to improve fastest.

How many push-ups should a 50-year-old man do?

At 50, 13–20 is average and 21 or more is good. Age is a reason to train smart, not a reason to aim low. Men who start training in their 50s still get stronger.

What the 40 push-up study actually found

The headline number comes from Yang and colleagues, published in JAMA Network Open in 2019. Researchers, including a team from Harvard, looked back at 1,104 active male firefighters from 10 fire departments in Indiana, with an average age of about 40. Each man did a push-up test at a clinic, keeping time to a metronome at 80 beats per minute.

Over roughly 10 years there were 37 cardiovascular events, such as coronary artery disease and heart failure. Only one of them happened in a man who had done more than 40 push-ups. Compared with men who managed 0–10, the 41-plus group had a 96% lower rate of events.

It is a striking number, and a great reason to train. But read the fine print before you treat 40 push-ups as a heart certificate.

• It was observational. It shows an association, not that push-ups protect your heart.
• The event count was small. One event in the top group makes the estimate very uncertain.
• Age and weight explained part of it. In the fully adjusted models most comparisons were not statistically significant, and the authors say their results do not show push-ups are an independent predictor of heart risk.
• The men were active firefighters. The authors warn the findings may not apply to women, older men or inactive men.

The fair takeaway: push-up capacity is a cheap marker of overall fitness, and overall fitness tracks with heart health. A man who can do 40 clean push-ups usually carries less fat, moves more and trains regularly. Those habits are what protect you, and our heart health after 35 guide covers the checks that do measure risk, such as blood pressure, lipids and blood sugar.

The 2-minute push-up self-test

You need a floor, a fist or a rolled-up towel, and either a friend or your phone. Do the test fresh, not after a workout.

1. Warm up for 60 seconds. Arm circles, 5 incline push-ups against a table, then 3 easy floor push-ups.
2. Set the depth marker. Place a fist (yours, or a partner’s) or a towel about 8–10 cm (3–4 in) high on the floor under your chest.
3. Get into position. Hands slightly wider than your shoulders, fingers forward, legs straight, body in one line from head to heels.
4. Do as many as you can. Lower until your chest touches the marker, then press until your elbows are straight. You may pause only at the top with arms straight.
5. Stop when form breaks. Hips sag, bottom pikes up, or you cannot reach the marker: the set is over. Do not count that rep.
6. Score it. Find your age row in the table above and write the number down with the date.

Want a referee who does not get bored? Our free AI Rep Counter uses your phone or laptop camera to count push-ups for you. Prop the phone side-on, about 2 m (6–7 ft) away, and it tallies every rep.

Optional: the firefighter version

To mirror the Yang study, set a free metronome app to 80 beats per minute. Go down on one beat and up on the next, so you do 40 push-ups per minute.

Stop when you miss three beats or reach 80. This version is harder than the untimed test, so expect a lower score.

What your score means for your training

These goals are coaching targets, not promises. Untrained men usually improve fastest, while men who already train hard progress more slowly. Once you pass 30, balance all that pushing with pulling: our pull-up progression plan takes you from zero to your first strict rep.

An 8-week push-up plan to move up a band

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that beginners strength train 2–3 days a week. For muscular endurance, its position stand suggests lighter loads for more than 15 reps per set with rests under 90 seconds. This plan follows those rules with your own bodyweight.

Do it three days a week, such as Monday, Wednesday and Friday. “Max” means your score from the self-test. If you do our 3-day strength training plan, add these sets at the start of the upper-body days.

How to use the plan

• Round down. If your max is 15, 50% is 7 reps, not 8.
• Use the right variation. If your max is under 5, run the plan with incline push-ups and test incline reps instead.
• Progress when it feels easy. ACSM’s rule is to increase the load once you can beat your target by one or two reps. With push-ups, that means more reps per set or a lower incline.
• Leave one or two reps in the tank on every set except the test. Grinding to failure three times a week makes your shoulders and elbows grumpy.
• Retest at the end of week 8 and restart the plan with your new max.

Do push-ups build muscle, or only endurance?

Both, if they are hard enough. In a randomised trial in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, trained men who did band-resisted push-ups for 5 weeks gained bench press strength similar to men who did the bench press itself, when the effort was matched. Once 20 floor reps feel easy, add a band, a backpack or elevated feet so the work stays challenging.

Muscle also needs food. If you want the reps to turn into a bigger chest, eat enough protein: our protein after 35 guide covers how much, with vegetarian options.

Form fixes that add reps fast

• Elbows at about 45 degrees, not flared out like a T. It is kinder to the shoulders and usually stronger.
• Squeeze your glutes and brace your stomach. Most failed sets end with sagging hips, not tired arms.
• Hands under your shoulders, slightly wider. Too far forward and you lose leverage.
• Sore wrists? Use push-up handles or hold dumbbells so your wrists stay straight. Our pain-free exercise swaps list more options.
• Breathe out as you press. Holding your breath for a long set spikes your blood pressure and tires you faster.

Short on kit at home? Our 30-minute dumbbell home workout pairs well with this plan on your non-push-up days.

FAQ

Is 20 push-ups good for a 40-year-old man?

Yes. In the Cooper norms, 20 strict push-ups sits in the average band (18–25) for men aged 40–49. Reach 26 and you are in the top third for your age.

Is it OK to do push-ups every day?

Easy sets every day are fine for most people, but hard sets need recovery. Most men progress better with three focused sessions a week and rest days in between, which also follows ACSM’s 2–3 days a week guidance for beginners.

If I can do 40 push-ups, is my heart healthy?

Not necessarily. The firefighter study found an association, not proof, and it could not separate push-ups from age, weight and other risk factors. A doctor’s checks for blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar tell you far more about your heart.

Why do push-ups get harder with age?

Muscle mass and power decline gradually from midlife if you do not train, and many men gain weight, which makes every rep heavier. Regular strength training slows both, which is why the WHO recommends muscle-strengthening activity on 2 or more days a week for all adults. Short on time? Our guide to the minimum effective dose of exercise shows how little you can get away with.

How long does it take to double my push-ups?

It depends on your starting point. Men with low scores usually see the biggest jumps in the first couple of months, while men who already do 30 or more improve more slowly. Retest every 8 weeks and judge progress by harder variations as well as reps.

Sources

1. Yang J, et al. Association between push-up exercise capacity and future cardiovascular events among active adult men. JAMA Network Open, 2019 (full text).
2. EurekAlert! News release on Yang et al.: push-up capacity and cardiovascular risk in active men, 2019.
3. New York State Park Police. Fitness program norms (Cooper norms), 2017.
4. American College of Sports Medicine. Position stand: Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 2009.
5. Calatayud J, et al. Bench press and push-up at comparable levels of muscle activity results in similar strength gains. J Strength Cond Res, 2015.
6. World Health Organization. Physical activity recommendations for adults.

This article is for general education and is not medical advice. Check with your doctor before starting a new training or nutrition plan, especially if you have a health condition.