Test Your Upper Body Fitness With the Push-Up Test

Are you looking for a quick way to measure your fitness level? Try the push-up test. Push-ups are not only a great way to build upper body strength and endurance, but they are also an excellent way to test that strength and endurance.

Doing the push-up test at certain benchmarks along your fitness journey will give you a quick look into your progress. This is particularly useful for those who don't want to track their body weight as an indicator of progress.

What Is the Push-Up Test?

During the push-up test, you are instructed to do as many as possible while maintaining good form. Depending on the test, you may be asked to do as many as you can until you reach the point of exhaustion, or you may be asked to do as many as you can within a specific time frame.

The push-up test is a basic fitness test used by coaches, trainers, and athletes to assess upper body fitness and monitor progress during strength and fitness training. This simple test helps you compare your upper body muscular endurance to others of your age and gender and track your fitness program over time.

Why Should You Do the Push-Up Test?

Strength and endurance in the upper body's muscles—specifically the chest, shoulders, triceps, and core—is a good indication of overall fitness. This simple exercise engages muscles throughout the body, from head to toe, to maintain a rigid position.

Upper body strength and endurance are essential for athletes such as swimmers, climbers, or golfers who demand strength and power from their arms and shoulders to perform well and avoid injury.

But a strong upper body is also essential for everyone who wants to perform everyday movements, such as carrying luggage or picking up children, easily and without risking injury.

Benefits of the Push-Up Test

Doing the push-up test can give you a sense of whether you would benefit from improving your fitness. It doesn't require special equipment; anyone can do the test for free.

The push-up test can also give you a rough glimpse into cardiovascular health. In a study, participants who could do 40 push-ups or more had a significantly reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. Even the ability to do 11 push-ups was correlated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease.

Primary Muscles Used in a Push-Up

These critical muscles allow you to perform a push-up:

• Shoulders (anterior and medial deltoids)
• Chest (pectorals)
• Back of the upper arm (triceps)

While performing push-ups, you lift nearly 75% of your total body weight. Using a modified push-up position reduces this amount to about 60% of your total body weight.

How to Perform the Push-Up Test

There are two versions of the push-up test. You can do the test on your own or with a trainer or friend assisting you to check your form and help you count reps.

Standard Push-Up Test

This version is used for men:

• Warm up before performing any fitness testing.
• Position your hands and toes shoulder-width apart and elbows fully extended.
• Lower your upper body so your elbows bend to 90 degrees. Keep a straight line from the toes to the hips to the shoulders.
• Push back up to the start position. That is one rep.
• Complete as many repetitions as possible without breaking form.
• Record the total number of full push-ups completed.

Modified Push-Up Test

A modified version of the push-up test is used for women, who tend to have less relative upper body strength than men. The test is conducted like above but uses an "on the knee" push-up position.

• Perform a short warm-up.
• Begin in a modified push-up position, on the hands and knees, with hands shoulder-width apart and elbows fully extended.
• Drop the hips and move the hands forward until you create a straight line from the knees to the hips to the shoulders.
• Lower your upper body so your elbows bend to 90 degrees. Keep a straight line from the toes to the hips to the shoulders.
• Push back up to the start position. That is one rep.
• Complete as many repetitions as possible without breaking form.
• Record the total number of full modified push-ups completed.

How to Score Your Results

After your complete the test, compare your results to the norms and recommendations for your age and sex. You can do the push-up test every eight to 12 weeks to assess your training progress.

You will see a variety of charts and scoring, depending on the source the tester uses. This chart is from "Essentials of Exercise Physiology."

Other standards include the YMCA's "The Y's Way to Physical Fitness," the National Strength and Conditioning Association's "NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training," and the American College of Sports Medicine's "ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription."

Bottom Line

Doing the push-up test is a simple and effective way to test your fitness level at the beginning of an exercise program and serves as a way to monitor your progress as you improve. The push-up test is also an excellent way to help set fitness goals by striving to jump into an improved results category over time.

Before starting a new exercise routine, consult a healthcare professional to ensure you have developed a safe and appropriate plan.