Women in your 50s - how many pushups can you do?

SnifterPug
SnifterPug Posts: 746 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Our gym has put up a notice about its exercise of the week. Pushups. There is a horrid little chart telling us how good (or otherwise) we are!

For women in their 50s the numbers go as follows:

More than 25 excellent
21-25 good
15-20 above average
7-14 average
3-6 below average
1-2 poor
0 very poor

I have been training towards achieving my first full, proper (with good form), pushup for six months now! Elevated pushups on the Smith machine are fine and I am successfully lowering the bar. Slow eccentrics are also fine. But as yet I cannot get past my sticking point and thus cannot yet do even one push up. So I am very poor! And as this has irked me I'm asking my peers - how many can you do?

Replies

  • juliemouse83
    juliemouse83 Posts: 6,663 Member
    I feel your pain. I'm 54 and can MAYBE knock out two with proper form...
  • spartan_d
    spartan_d Posts: 727 Member
    firef1y72 wrote: »
    Not 50 yet (almost 48) but I can manage around 30 normal push ups. before I need to drop to my knees. Can't do quite as many tricep and shoulder push ups (maybe 10 of each on a good day).

    When mastering push ups a flight of stairs is your friend. Find the position where you can manage at least 3 or 4, then work at that level until you can manage 10. Next time drop down a step, repeat each time you can manage 10. Eventually you'll.be on the bottom step and almost horizontal.

    Once you can do the standard push ups, you can start doing them with feet elevated by putting your feet on the bottom step (and steadily moving your feet up). I can do sets of 10 with my feet on 2nd step, and they are definitely continuing the challenge (as well as making standard push ups feel easier)

    This is good advice. Women usually stick with doing push-ups on their needs, but that only loosely resembles a real push-up; It's therefore not a very good way to make progress. The push-ups that you described will engage the legs and core more and would be more effective at building up to a proper push-up.
  • dbanks80
    dbanks80 Posts: 3,685 Member
    edited January 2020
    Never really thought about it so I just tried it. I got 15-20 proper ones no knees.
  • dbanks80
    dbanks80 Posts: 3,685 Member
    firef1y72 wrote: »
    Not 50 yet (almost 48) but I can manage around 30 normal push ups. before I need to drop to my knees. Can't do quite as many tricep and shoulder push ups (maybe 10 of each on a good day).

    When mastering push ups a flight of stairs is your friend. Find the position where you can manage at least 3 or 4, then work at that level until you can manage 10. Next time drop down a step, repeat each time you can manage 10. Eventually you'll.be on the bottom step and almost horizontal.

    Once you can do the standard push ups, you can start doing them with feet elevated by putting your feet on the bottom step (and steadily moving your feet up). I can do sets of 10 with my feet on 2nd step, and they are definitely continuing the challenge (as well as making standard push ups feel easier)

    I like this. Never would have thought of the stairs.
  • birdgeek
    birdgeek Posts: 1 Member
    One, and it wasn't pretty. I can do 4-6 elevated (on a bench-press bench). Love the advice about stairs and working up to 10 at a level before increasing difficulty! Push-ups with knees will never get you to actual push-ups... just not the same muscles.

    Endeavor to persevere! Or, ahem, use it or lose it, amiright?
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,611 Member
    0
    I have arthritis in my feet and a shoulder that partially dislocates. Pushups don't seem like a good idea.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    I started in my mid 50’s doing the furniture let down- kitchen counter, table, chair, footstool, floor, similar to the stair progression.

    I generally do a couple of non-consecutive, 8-10 rep, sets a day (lazy h’s ab exercises).

    I can push out a decent 20 when I’m at my version of peak fitness, but that is rare.

    I’m 66.

    Cheers, h.

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