This benchmark will help you move with strength and confidence as you age.
Building a strong, resilient body helps you move with confidence as you age. After all, everyday tasks like carrying grocery bags, climbing stairs, and even keeping up with your grandchildren require strength and endurance. To help you determine where you stand, we chatted with an expert who says if you’re able to do this many pushups after 50, your upper-body strength is considered elite.
After you reach 30, you begin to naturally lose lean muscle at a rate of 3% to 8% every decade, a process known as sarcopenia. To combat this, it’s important to engage in regular resistance training—whether working with weights, bands, and/or your body weight. Pushups are an excellent move to add to your routine to help build and maintain a strong upper body.
“Pushups use your body weight as resistance, so they reveal a lot about your relative strength,” says Maria Vazquez, NASM-CPT and the Head of Training at MYWOWFIT, who helps women in their 40s, 50s, and beyond build long-term strength through simple and productive training modalities. “It also assesses mobility, balance, and shoulder stability in adults over 50 since these factors deteriorate with age. If you can do full-range pushups with good form, then your connective tissue, coordination, and muscles are in great shape.”
If You Can Do This Many Pushups After 50, Your Upper-Body Strength Is Elite
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For men who are in their 50s, being able to complete 35 pushups in one set is considered elite. For women in their 50s, performing 25 or more pushups signals top-notch upper-body strength.
“Younger athletes might double those numbers, but the real difference lies in how forgiving their joints are. If you’re over 50 and can hit those numbers, then you’re performing at a very high level for your age,” Vazquez tells us.
Vazquez notes that men typically have a greater amount of upper-body muscle mass, while women tend to maintain better endurance and mobility. That’s why range of motion and proper form matter more than benchmarks.
“A woman in her 50s who can do 20 perfect pushups has better shoulder joint stability and control than a man in his 20s who can do 40 with poor form,” Vazquez stresses.
How Upper-Body Strength Changes With Age
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As you age, your body endures many changes. You begin to lose muscle fibers that are responsible for strength and power.
“Pushups maintain these muscles as well as improve blood flow to muscle cells,” says Vazquez. “If you can still do pushups in your 50s, you have resisted muscle loss. You also develop cardiovascular endurance.”
How To Perform Pushups With Proper Form
While there are many variations of this classic bodyweight exercise—including diamond, narrow-grip, wall, TRX, and knee pushups—traditional pushups are a stellar test of upper-body strength. Here’s how to do them with proper form:
- Assume a high plank position with your hands under your shoulders and your body straight.
- Bend your elbows and lower your chest toward the floor.
- Maintain a long, straight body as you lower.
- Press back up, straightening your arms.
Alexa Mellardo
Alexa is a freelance writer, editor, and content strategist based in Greenwich, CT. She has 11+ years of experience covering wellness, fitness, food, travel, lifestyle, and home. Read more about Alexa
