Push-Up Test (Muscular Endurance)
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Do as many consecutive good-form push-ups as possible (men on toes, women on knees in the standard sex-specific protocol); the count rates upper-body muscular endurance against age/sex norms.
Detail
The push-up test measures upper-body (chest, shoulders, triceps) muscular endurance. The standard version uses a sex-specific body position:
- Men: standard "military" push-up on the toes.
- Women: modified "knee" push-up on the knees (hips straight).
Protocol: start in the up position, hands ~shoulder-width, back straight. Lower until the elbows bend to at least 90° and the chest nearly touches the floor, then push fully up, with no pausing at the top. There is no time limit — perform maximum consecutive reps without rest until form breaks or the participant stops. Record the total. (Variants like the FitnessGram 90° push-up are cadence-paced, ~20/min, which is a different protocol — don't mix norms.)
Where the norms come from. The sex-specific positions and rating tables trace to the Canadian Standardized Test of Fitness (1987) and have been reproduced in ACSM's exercise-testing manual since its 1993 edition. Adams et al. (2022) note the ratings are over 30 years old and that many women can now do multiple standard push-ups, so treat the categories as rough. (The 2025, 12th edition of ACSM's manual was not checked here.)
Standardize for valid re-tests: same position, depth, and rules. Avoid sagging hips or partial reps (Proper Form as Injury Prevention).
Key facts
- Measures upper-body muscular endurance.
- Standard positions: men full push-up (toes), women modified (knees); norms date from 1987.
- Elbows to at least 90°, chest nearly to the floor; max consecutive reps, no time limit, no pausing; record total.
- FitnessGram 90° push-up is cadence-paced (~20/min) — separate norms.
- Hold form constant across re-tests; partial reps don't count.
Connections
- Muscular Endurance Norms (Push-Up / Curl-Up) — interpret the count.
- Curl-Up (Crunch) Test / Plank Hold Test (Core Endurance) — companion core-endurance tests.
- YMCA Bench Press Test — load-based upper-body endurance alternative.
- Push-ups — the exercise itself.
Sources
- SourceAdams MM, Hatch SA, Winsor EG, Parmelee C. Development of a standard push-up scale for college-aged females. Int J Exerc Sci 2022;15(4):820–833 Published 2022 · DOI 10.70252/XIJI4089 · Accessed 2026-10-13
Corrections (1)
- 2026-10-13 — Removed the 'per the ACSM' attribution: the current ACSM manual (Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 12th ed., 2025) could not be read to confirm its push-up protocol, and no dated ACSM guideline backs it here. The protocol is now described as the long-standing sex-specific test whose norms come from the 1987 Canadian Standardized Test of Fitness and which ACSM's testing manual has carried since 1993, per Adams et al. 2022 (who used the 10th-edition protocol). Depth corrected to that protocol (elbows to at least 90 degrees, chest nearly touching the floor, no pausing at the top). Added that the norms are over 30 years old.
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