Can the average person do 20 push ups?

A properly executed push up requires you to maintain a straight line through your upper body and legs while performing the exercise with the full range of motion. It is the concentric part of the exercise that separates the trained from the untrained individuals. The average and untrained individual is unable to do 20 strict and properly executed push ups.

Introduction

How many push ups can the average person do?

People often ask me how many push ups I can do. My answer to that is: "About 50, but I don't train for max push up reps, and neither is my current focus set on increasing chest mass and/or power" (as a matter of fact, I just do some sets of push ups right before bed).

Some people don't believe that number, or they (as untrained as they look) claim they can easily hit 30 push ups, and it's just a matter of a few weeks more before they can hit 50 or more reps... as long as they put their mind to it :roll-eyes.

But the truth is, the untrained individual has trouble doing even 1 proper push up.

So, how many push ups can the average person do? Is it true that the average person can do 20 (or even 30) push ups?

To figure out these questions, we need to first examine what a real push up is, what it looks like, and how to do one repetition of a proper push up.

Let's get started!

Properly executed push ups

There are different "ways" to do a push up, according to who you ask.

For example, you have the partial push up, wall push up, and regular push up (and many, many different variations of these, such as incline, decline, close grip, wide grip, single-arm push up, etc.).

There is only one way to do a push up

In my opinion, though, there is only one push up, and the rest are either variations on it or, in the case of partial, half, and wall push ups, variations on the regular push up that are meant for beginners that aren't able to do a proper and complete push up.

When I talk about push ups, I always mean a proper and complete push up as the main point of reference.

What is a proper push up?

Let's describe what a proper push up looks like based on a few points:

Aspects of a properly executed push up

To do a proper push up, take note of the following:

• Get with your hands and feet on the ground and keep your upper body and legs in a plank position, with your arms fully extended.
• Your upper body and legs should form a straight line.
• From the top position (where your arms are extended), also called the starting position, you need to lower yourself by bending through your elbows until your chest is an inch or so off the ground.
• During the whole motion, your upper body and legs should maintain a straight line (i.e., a plank). Also, keep your elbows close to your body (do not flare them out).
• At the bottom position, you hold that position briefly (1-2 seconds), then push yourself up until you're back in the starting position. Again, your upper body and legs should maintain a straight line.

The above points are the basics of doing a proper push up.

Note how, at all times, your upper body and legs form a straight line, and the bottom position is when your chest is barely off the ground.

This way, you'll utilize the full range of motion of the exercise.

Proper push up variations

As you can see, a proper push up is, in my opinion, the only real push up.

However, you can do proper push ups with many different variations. Think about:

• Close-grip push ups
• Diamond push ups
• Wide-grip push ups
• Reverse-grip push ups
• Negative push ups
• Single-arm push ups
• Incline push ups
• Decline push ups
• ... and a few more variations.

All the above variations are performed with a full range of motion if you want to do it right.

However, most of the variations above are more advanced than the regular push up and, thus, more challenging to perform. But my goal with the list above was to let you know that proper push ups have many different variations, which, in contrast to half, partial, and wall push ups, dó count as proper push ups, in my opinion.

Other push ups

As I said previously, according to some, there are different types of push ups; some even count those as regular, full push ups!

Here are some examples:

Half push up

A half push up is the same as a regular push up, but with half the range of motion of a full push up.

In a half push up, all the technique and your posture are the same, but instead of lowering yourself to the bottom, you lower yourself halfway before pushing yourself back up.

A half push up is NOT a proper push up.

Partial push up

The partial (half or full) push up is a push up where you are not resting on your hands and feet but on your hands and knees.

A partial push up is easier to do than a proper push up because the total weight of your body that you need to work against is reduced by taking some weight of your legs out of the exercise while simultaneously lowering the mass of your upper legs closer to the ground (meaning you slightly reduce the range of motion as well).

Partial push ups are great for beginners who lack the strength for a full and proper push up, but again...partial push ups are NOT equivalent to proper push ups.

Wall push up

Wall push ups are the easiest to do and are only meant for the elderly or people with health problems and a severe lack of strength.

A wall push up is performed while standing upright and facing a wall.

You need to stand in front of a wall at a distance so that your arms are fully extended if you place your hands flat on the wall.

You perform a push up from that position (hands flat on the wall with arms fully extended).

To do so, lean against the wall without moving your feet until your chest is barely off the wall, and then push yourself back to the initial position.

It goes without saying that a wall push up is NOT a proper push up, either.

How many push ups can the average person do?

Okay, now that we have defined what a proper push up is... try to do one right now as you're reading this... to experience how hard it is to do even one rep with proper form and full range of motion.

Hard, isn't it?

So, how many proper push ups can the average person do, then?

Men and number of push ups

The average man can do about 4-6 push ups with proper form and full range of motion, though with a lot of effort!

You will see him struggle to push himself back up to the starting position from the bottom position, and for the 3rd and 4th reps, you'll notice his technique and form will start to suffer.

Women and number of push ups

Women, on the other hand, can barely do 1 or 2 proper push ups with full range of motion. In fact, most women can not push themselves back up once they're in the bottom position of the exercise. This holds even for those that casually work out (mind you: not strength-trained individuals!) 2 or 3 times a week for a year.

Conclusion

Many people claim to be able to do 10 or 20 push ups in a row.

If you count terrible form, cheating, and half or quarter range of motion as one rep, then yes, everybody can do 10 or 20 reps of such "push ups".

But when you only count full, clean, and proper reps, then no average person can do 20 reps in a row with the correct technique and full range of motion. For that, you have to be a trained individual.

That's because doing push ups is really difficult for the untrained individual.

The eccentric part is usually easier for most people, but the difficulty lies in the concentric part. That is the part where you have to push yourself back up from the bottom position.

That's where the strength in the average person, whether male or female, usually lacks for doing more than five reps...let alone 20 reps!

How many reps of push ups with proper form and full range of motion can you do?