If You Can Do This Many Pushups After 60, Your Upper Body Is Stronger Than 90% of Peers

Upper-body strength after 60 tells a much bigger story than arm size or gym performance. It reflects how well the muscles, joints, and nervous system still work together under load. Pushups remain one of the most honest tests of that coordination because they demand strength from the chest, shoulders, arms, core, and upper back at the same time, without assistance from machines or momentum.

Research published in JAMA Network Open found a strong association between push-up capacity and long-term cardiovascular health and overall muscular fitness in adults, suggesting that the ability to perform pushups serves as a meaningful marker of functional strength and resilience rather than just exercise ability. While the study focused on working-age adults, later analyses and clinical applications have