You are being compared to women aged 40-49, and to all of them, not just the ones who train. That cohort's median is 5 reps, so half of women that age do fewer than that in one set.
The tiers below are percentiles, not belts. 11 reps beats three out of four people in this cohort and 17 puts you in the top 10%. The lowest published rung is Novice at 2 reps (25th percentile), and anything under it is still a number worth having: the wall, incline and knee variants exist so nobody has to report a zero.
| Tier | Push-ups | Percentile | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Novice | 2 reps | 25th | Ahead of the bottom 25%. |
| Intermediate | 5 reps | 50th | The median. Half of this group does fewer. |
| Advanced | 11 reps | 75th | Top 25% of this group. |
| Elite | 17 reps | 90th | Top 10% of this group. |
Provisional reference table. The same curve scores you when you take the test, and it compares you against all adults rather than gym regulars. These numbers are our own working estimate, not a published dataset: they are here to place you roughly, and they get replaced by camera-verified results as the board fills.
All push-up cohorts in one table or the easier ladder variants if a full push-up is not there yet.
The median is 5 push-ups in one set: half of women aged 40-49 do fewer. 2 reps is the 25th percentile, 11 is the 75th, and 17 puts you in the top 10% of the cohort.
Yes. 11 reps is the 75th percentile for this cohort, so it beats three out of four women the same age. The rung above it is Elite at 17 reps, which is the top 10%.
No. They compare you against all women aged 40-49, most of whom do not train. That is why the median of 5 looks lower than gym conversation suggests, and why an unglamorous number can still put you above average.