The Push Up: Push-ups measure the endurance of the chest, shoulder, and triceps muscles. You will have 2 minutes in which to do as many push-ups as you can. If they are done incorrectly, as deemed by the instructor, your push-up will not count. In order to do them efficiently, with no penalties, here are some key points to remember:
- Keep your body in a straight line from shoulders to ankles.
- Your feet may be together or up to 12 inches apart
- Lower your whole body (as a unit) until your upper arms are at least parallel to the ground
- Extend your arms completely when raising back up to the starting position.
If you fail to perform a single push-up by the standards set in the bulleted list above, the repetition will not count.
Once the test has begun, you may make a mistake in your first 10 push-ups, in which the scorer will stop you, tell you what you are doing wrong and send you to the back of the line for re-testing. After the first 10 push-ups have been counted as correct, you have no restarts.
The ONLY allowed rest position is an altered, front-leaning position where you sag in the middle or flex your back. However, you may not flex your back in such a way that you are supporting most of your body weight with your legs. If this happens, your test will be terminated. You may NOT rest on the ground or raise your hands or feet from the ground. If you do, your test will be terminated. Your hands and feet may be repositioned during the test, as long as they remain in contact with the ground throughout the test.
After a correct rest-period, you must return to the correct starting position before proceeding.
| PUSH-UPS MALE |
||||||||||
| AGE GROUP | 17-21 | 22-26 | 27-31 | 32-36 | 37-41 | 42-46 | 47-51 | 52-56 | 57-61 | 62+ |
| MAXIMUM 100% | 71 | 74 | 77 | 75 | 73 | 66 | 59 | 56 | 53 | 50 |
| MINIMUM 60% | 42 | 40 | 39 | 36 | 34 | 30 | 25 | 20 | 18 | 16 |
| PUSH-UPS FEMALE |
||||||||||
| AGE GROUP | 17-21 | 22-26 | 27-31 | 32-36 | 37-41 | 42-46 | 47-51 | 52-56 | 57-61 | 62+ |
| MAXIMUM 100% | 42 | 46 | 50 | 45 | 40 | 37 | 34 | 31 | 28 | 25 |
| MINIMUM 60% | 19 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 |
To see how many points per push-up you will receive, based on your age group, click here.