The push-up categories ACSM uses come from the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology
How many push-ups should I be able to do for my age?
The finding
For men aged 40–49 the categories are 25 or more (excellent), 17–24 (very good), 13–16 (good), 10–12 (fair) and 9 or fewer (needs improvement). For women aged 40–49 (knee push-ups): 24 or more, 15–23, 11–14, 5–10 and 4 or fewer.
- Authors
- Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP-PATH Resource Manual, 2nd ed.), reprinted by ACE
- Published
- CSEP-PATH Resource Manual; ACE Push-up Assessment Protocol (2020) · 2019
- Evidence
- Taken from a review, reprint or summary; not checked line by line.
- Source
- www.acefitness.org/images/webcontent/assets/certification/ace-answers/forms/pt/36_Push-up_Assessment_Protocol.pdf
How it was studied
Category table by age and sex: standard push-ups for men, knee push-ups for women, no time limit, ending when form fails.
The numbers
Men, excellent / very good / good / fair / needs improvement: 20–29 ≥36, 29–35, 22–28, 17–21, ≤16; 30–39 ≥30, 22–29, 17–21, 12–16, ≤11; 50–59 ≥21, 13–20, 10–12, 7–9, ≤6; 60–69 ≥18, 11–17, 8–10, 5–7, ≤4.
Women: 20–29 ≥30, 21–29, 15–20, 10–14, ≤9; 30–39 ≥27, 20–26, 13–19, 8–12, ≤7; 50–59 ≥21, 11–20, 7–10, 2–6, ≤1; 60–69 ≥17, 12–16, 5–11, 2–4, ≤1.
What it does not show
Read in a licensed reprint, not the CSEP manual or the ACSM book. The source gives categories, not percentiles, and no data above 69. The underlying sample and year were not found.
What Longstanding does with it
The app turns these categories into percentiles by reading each as a fifth of the population. That reading is our assumption, not the source’s, and the site says so on the push-up page. In midlife men the app’s medians sit about two reps above this table’s "good" band; the bands above 69 are extrapolated.