A knee push-up is the last rung before the floor: knees down, hips in line, chest to full depth and back to a locked-out arm.
The median is 11 reps: half of the adults who take this test do fewer than that. The lowest published rung is Novice at 2 reps (25th percentile), and the table tops out at Advanced, 32 reps (75th percentile).
This rung is scored two ways, and both tables are above. Women are read against the published modified push-up categories for their age band, because that column measures this exact movement. Everybody else falls back to the all-adults ramp, which is our own provisional scale and is not sourced.
| Age | Beginner (10th) | Novice (25th) | Intermediate (50th) | Advanced (75th) | Elite (90th) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18-29 | 5 reps | 12 reps | 18 reps | 28 reps | 35 reps |
| 30-39 | 4 reps | 10 reps | 17 reps | 26 reps | 31 reps |
| 40-49 | 3 reps | 7 reps | 13 reps | 22 reps | 29 reps |
| 50-59 | 1 rep | 4 reps | 9 reps | 19 reps | 26 reps |
| 60-69 | 1 rep | 3 reps | 9 reps | 16 reps | 20 reps |
This is the MODIFIED (knee) push-up column, so it is the right norm for the knee rung and the wrong one for full push-ups. CSEP publishes ordered fitness categories, not percentiles. We assume the bottom of Fair is the 20th percentile, Good the 40th, Very good the 60th and Excellent the 80th, then draw a curve through those four points. That mapping is our assumption, not theirs. Also published by ACSM as the same table under licence.
| Tier | Reps | Percentile | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Novice | 2 reps | 25th | Ahead of the bottom 25%. |
| Intermediate | 11 reps | 50th | The median. Half of this group does fewer. |
| Advanced | 32 reps | 75th | Top 25% of this group. |
PROVISIONAL and unsourced. No published dataset backs these ladder anchors; they exist so a beginner rung still returns a number instead of a zero. Never describe them as published standards. This rung is scored two different ways. Women are read against the CSEP-PATH modified push-up norms for their age band, which is that exact movement, and those tables are published here. Everyone else falls back to the provisional all-adults ramp, which is not sourced.
CSEP publishes ordered fitness categories, not percentiles. We assume the bottom of Fair is the 20th percentile, Good the 40th, Very good the 60th and Excellent the 80th, then draw a curve through those four points. That mapping is our assumption, not theirs.
CSEP-PATH Resource Manual, 2nd edition, modified (knee) push-up column (2019)
Women, knee push-ups. This is the MODIFIED (knee) push-up column, so it is the right norm for the knee rung and the wrong one for full push-ups. CSEP publishes ordered fitness categories, not percentiles. We assume the bottom of Fair is the 20th percentile, Good the 40th, Very good the 60th and Excellent the 80th, then draw a curve through those four points. That mapping is our assumption, not theirs. Also published by ACSM as the same table under licence.
fitterthanmost provisional ladder ramp, launch mock
Wall and incline push-ups, and knee push-ups for men. PROVISIONAL and unsourced. No published dataset backs these ladder anchors; they exist so a beginner rung still returns a number instead of a zero. Never describe them as published standards.
Next rung up: Full push-ups.
The median is 11 reps, so half of adults do fewer than that. Novice starts at 2 reps (25th percentile) and the table tops out at Advanced, 32 reps (75th percentile).
32 reps is the Advanced rung, the 75th percentile, which is the top 25% of everyone who takes this test.
Because this rung is the one place a published source measures the same movement. Women are scored on the modified push-up categories for their age band, so that table is the real standard for them. Everybody else is scored on our provisional all-adults ramp, which no dataset backs, and mixing the two into one table would hide which of your numbers is sourced.