Should You Really Be Able to Do 11 Push-Ups?

How many push-ups can you do? After a Mel Robbins podcast clip went viral last month, people across the internet are taking on the “11 push-up challenge” to find out.

In a March 6 episode of The Mel Robbins Podcast, longevity expert and orthopedic surgeon Vonda Wright, MD, shared some of her top tips for aging well with Robbins.

“Learn to lift your own body weight,” Wright said. “Every woman should be able to do 11 push-ups—regular push-ups.”

The clip took off on TikTok, with thousands of women accepting Wright’s challenge and posting videos of their attempts at completing 11 push-ups from their feet.

But where does this number come from, and why are push-ups a marker of your overall health?

Here’s what experts had to say about the 11 push-ups challenge, how the exercise can help protect your health, and how to learn to do more and better quality push-ups.

According to Christina Brown, MS, CPT, a nutrition and weight loss coach based in Illinois, doing 11 push-ups is a good goal.

“[It] can be a way to motivate someone to work on push-ups if they have a specific number or goal in mind,” she told Health.

But the number 11 in particular “is not necessary” for everyone, Brown explained.

The amount of push-ups a person should be able to do depends largely on age, said Carol Ewing Garber, PhD, professor of movement science and education and director of the Graduate Program in Applied Physiology at the Columbia University Teachers College.

For women ages 20 to 29, 11 to 15 push-ups is a modest target, she said. From there, the amount that would be considered average goes down with age.

Women in their 30s should be able to do about nine to 13 push-ups, while women in their 40s should be able to do six to 10. For those who are 50 to 59 years old, four to seven push-ups is average, Garber said.

“Doing more than the average for your age is a good goal once you reach your age goal,” she told Health. “For example, more than 20 pushups is excellent for women ages 20 to 29, while 12 or more is excellent for a 50-year-old woman and older.” 

It’s not totally clear where Wright’s 11 push-ups recommendation stems from. Brown pointed to a 2019 JAMA Network Open study, which found that men who were able to complete more than 40 push-ups had a lower risk of cardiovascular disease events as compared to those who couldn’t do 10 push-ups.

But because all of the study participants were men, this “may not necessarily be a good goal for women,” she added.

In general, push-up goals really depend on the individual’s age and gender. But if you want to get better at push-ups, Brown recommended setting a goal based on your current baseline. If you can’t do one push-up, make that your goal; if you can do five, set a goal of eight push-ups.

“Focus more on progress rather than a specific number,” she said. “Keep challenging yourself even when you do hit your goal.”

Push-ups are a form of resistance training that help to improve the muscular fitness of the upper body, said Garber. They can also protect the body against some of the negative effects of aging.

Push-ups boost the quality and amount of skeletal muscle a person has, which helps improve bone health, Garber added.

This kind of resistance training is particularly helpful for women who are post-menopausal, as decreased estrogen levels put them at a greater risk of bone loss.

Push-ups are also a “fantastic way” to ward off muscle loss, Brown said.

As people age, they can experience muscle decline—in fact, people start losing 3% to 8% of their muscle mass per decade starting in their 30s. This muscle loss is associated with an increased risk of falls, fractures, and frailty, can lead to difficulties with daily activities, and has been linked to chronic conditions such as heart disease.

And though the 2019 JAMA Network Open study was conducted in men, it does indicate that being able to do more push-ups is likely a marker of better cardiovascular health in general.

To do a proper push-up, start in a high plank position with your hands placed at chest level slightly outside your shoulders, with your feet at a hip-width distance. 

“The head, shoulders, and hips should be in line with each other and your core should be braced. Your eyes should be gazing at your fingertips to keep your neck in line with the rest to your spine,” Brown said.

Try to keep your body in a straight line from your head to your heels, Garber added.

Then, lower your body by bending at the elbows and dropping your chest to elbow height. “As you lower your body, keep your elbows at a 45-degree angle to your body or closer, not flared out excessively. This positioning helps protect your shoulders,” she said.

Descend so your chest is one fist-width from the floor, then push your hands into the floor to bring your torso up to the start position. “Keep your elbows slightly bent as you reach the top position to avoid locking them,” said Garber.

If you’re struggling to maintain a “straight arrow” body position or can’t lower yourself down very far, knee push-ups are one option to try, she added.

“Once you can do [about 15 to 20] easily, then try the full-length push-ups,” Garber advised. Standing push-ups done against a wall are another option, too.

However, Wright gave a resounding “no” when Robbins asked her if knee push-ups are an OK stand-in for traditional ones.

Brown agrees, she said. Rather than modifying a push-up by moving to your knees, she recommended doing an elevated push-up, in which you place your hands on an elevated surface such as a counter, table, or chair.

“You can increase your strength in this position, as it mimics the long lever line of the push-up much more than doing knee push-ups does,” said Brown. “Eventually, as you get stronger, you can lower your hands until they are placed on the ground.”