How Many Push-Ups Can You Do, and Why Does It Matter?

The maximum number of push-ups you can do in a row, with good form, is a simple test of upper-body strength and muscular endurance. It needs nothing but floor space, and one well-known study found that men who could do more than 40 had far fewer heart problems over the next ten years than those who could do fewer than 10. The study had limits, but the test is an easy way to see whether your strength is improving.

This article is general information, not medical advice.

How to Do the Test

A count is only comparable with another done the same way. A standard push-up:

1. Start in a plank, hands slightly wider than your shoulders, arms straight, and body in a straight line from head to heels.
2. Lower yourself until your chest is a fist’s height from the floor, or your upper arms are parallel to it.
3. Push back up to straight arms without letting your hips sag or pike.
4. Keep going at a steady pace without resting in either position.
5. Stop when you can’t complete another with good form. Your score is the number of full push-ups.

Fitness tests sometimes allow a modified push-up from the knees; that’s a different test, and its counts aren’t comparable with full push-ups. Keep a note of which you did.

What the Evidence Says

In 2019, Yang and colleagues followed 1,104 male firefighters in Indiana, average age 40, for 10 years after a push-up test. Those who could do more than 40 had a 96% lower rate of cardiovascular events than those who could do fewer than 10.

The limits matter. There were only 37 cardiovascular events in total, so the estimates are uncertain. All the participants were active, working, mostly middle-aged men, so the result may not apply to women, older adults, or less active people. And it’s observational: people who can do many push-ups differ in other ways too. Muscular strength more broadly is linked to better health; see Why Grip Strength Is Worth Measuring.

How to Improve It

• Train push-ups, or harder and easier variations, two or three times a week, stopping a rep or two short of failure in most sets.
• Build up the volume gradually: more sets or reps each week.
• Retest every month or two, after a rest day, at the same time of day.

The World Health Organization’s guidelines recommend muscle-strengthening activities for all major muscle groups on two or more days a week.

Following It in Kaizora

Maximum Push-Ups is on the Fitness page; log each test with Log, adding a note if you changed the form. Its page shows your personal best of all time, since a higher count is better. A habit such as “at least once in 60 days” reminds you to retest; see Habits. Push-ups done as part of a workout can be logged set by set as strength training, separately from your test.

The Short Version

• Count full push-ups in a row with a straight body and full range of motion.
• In one study of firefighters, more than 40 went with far fewer heart problems than fewer than 10.
• The evidence is limited to active men; the test is best for following your own strength.

Sources

• Yang J et al., “Association between push-up exercise capacity and future cardiovascular events among active adult men,” JAMA Network Open 2, no. 2 (2019): e188341. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.8341
• World Health Organization, WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour (2020).