What The Experts Say About How Many Pull Ups You Should Be Able To Do: Including Official And Unofficial Pull Up Standards, Average Pull Up Test Results, The Latest World Records, And More (Plus, A Free Program To Help You Do More Pull-ups!)
How many pull ups should you be able to do? And how many pull ups is good? This post will show how you stack up and give you a good goal to aim for.
If you want to be a United States Marine, you have to perform at least 3 pull-ups (i.e. males only, for now). That’s a minimum passing grade. If you want to be a U.S. Army Ranger, you have to perform at least 6 pull-ups (12+ is recommended). And if you want to be a Navy SEAL, you have to perform a minimum of 8 reps to get into BUD/S training, but 15-20+ reps is recommended, and necessary if you want to be competitive among your class mates. Those are some good general standards for soldiers who need a broad base of fitness in a lot of different categories.
Of course, if you specialize in calisthenics or even just strength training, you can blow these numbers out of the water. You’ve got guys like the Barstarzz knocking out sets of 20, 30, even 50 pull-ups at a time. And a quick Youtube search will reveal some dudes who can do quite a bit more than that (like some of these guys). I know a handful of guys who have nailed 40, even 50+ pull-ups in one go (like my colleague, Hugo Rivera).
But how many pull-ups should the average man or woman be able to do, and how many pull-ups is good? This post will answer those questions.
How many pull ups can the average man (or woman) do?
The short answer: We don’t really know because there are so many different sources of conflicting information. But here’s what we do know…
Our fitness levels have declined dramatically over the past several decades. We just aren’t as fit as we used to be. As a result, some organizations have either lowered their standards or even dropped pull-ups completely from their lineup of fitness tests so that nobody’s feelings get hurt. And I’m sure you all know how I feel about that!
Fortunately, the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition has some standards we can go by (Source):
Children – 6-12 years of age should be able to perform between 1-2 pull-ups (i.e. 50th percentile).
Teens – boys 13-18 years of age should be able to perform between 3-8 pull-ups (i.e. 50th percentile, and the older you are, the more reps you have to do to keep up with the average), and girls 13-18 years of age should be able to perform 1 pull-up or a 5-9 second flexed arm hang.
Adults – Data for adults is harder to come by, but my research has led me to conclude the following. Men should be able to perform at least 8 pull-ups, and 13-17 reps is considered fit and strong. And women should be able to perform between 1-3 pull-ups, and 5-9 reps is considered fit and strong.
We also have some data from the Candidate Fitness Assessment, which is used to determine the fitness levels of those seeking to enter the U.S. military.
According to the CFA, the average number of pullups performed by men is nine and by women is three. Men who are able to perform 18 consecutive pullups and women who can perform seven are considered to possess a high level of fitness. (Source)
Keep in mind that military candidates likely have some physical training under their belt and will probably perform better than the average Joe or Jane.
Also, an informal and very unscientific survey on Bodybuilding.com revealed that roughly half of all males can do between 1-5 pull-ups, a quarter of them can do between 6-10 reps, and the other quarter can do more than 10 reps. (Source) In other words, being able to do more than 10 reps is pretty rare these days.
And of course, many a debate has been started in forums all around the web where keyboard warriors like to point out how many pull-ups they can do when they’re not typing so fast.
The Bottom Line
Regardless of your thoughts on these so-called “official” pull-up standards from the experts and armchair quarterbacks alike, here are two important things to keep in mind.
1) Generally, men can do more pull-ups than women because men have more muscle mass, and especially in their upper body.
Tim Hewitt, the director of sports medicine research at Ohio State University, has explained that MRI studies have shown that “women have about 40 percent less upper-body mass than men do…This means that, in general, a woman’s natural upper body is only about 50 to 60 percent as strong as a man’s” (Source). Thus, the disparity between pull-up scores. Of course, women CAN do pull-ups, too (click here for some proof). And many women do them better than most men can. It all depends on your training, which brings me to my next point.
2) Regardless of your age or gender, you can do as many pull-ups as you want – within certain limits – if you train for them.
The bottom line is that you can work up to doing as many pull-ups as you want to. It just depends on how hard you’re willing to work. That’s the greatest contributing factor. I’ve known many men and women who can blow the numbers listed above out of the water. So, don’t let the averages put a cap on your potential. Speaking of which…
John Sifferman’s Totally Unofficial Pull-up Standards
Now, allow me to present my very own pull-up standards. I am the author of The Pull-up Solution, after all. And that’s got to count for something.
Men:
Newbie = 1st unassisted pull-up
Beginner = 2-5 repetitions
Intermediate = 6-10 repetitions
Advanced = 11-15 repetitions
Expert = 16-20 repetitions
Master = 21-25 repetitions
Wicked Sick = 26-30 repetitions
Superhuman = 30+ repetitions
Olympian = 40+ repetitions
Pull-up Immortal = 50+ repetitions
Women:
Newbie = 1st unassisted pull-up
Beginner = 2-3 repetitions
Intermediate = 4-6 repetitions
Advanced = 7-9 repetitions
Expert = 10-12 repetitions
Master = 13-16 repetitions
Wicked Sick = 17-20 repetitions
Superhuman = 21-24 repetitions
Olympian = 25-29 repetitions
Pull-up Immortal = 30+ repetitions
Note: these standards are for strict, deadhang pull-ups, not kipping pull-ups, which is an entirely different exercise.
Also note: I have also posted my weighted pull-up standards in this post here, for those interested.
John’s Recommendation: I think that an ultimate goal of 15-20 reps for men and 8-12 reps for women are ambitious, yet very achievable targets for most people.
World Records For The Most Consecutive Pull-ups Without Dismounting From The Bar
Male: Jan Kareš from the Czech Republic who did 232 pull-ups on the 19th of June in 2010. – Source
Female: Irina Rudometkina from the USA who did 48 pull-ups on the 18th of December in 2014. – Source
Note: I posted a little commentary on Irina’s achievement here.
How Many Pull-ups Can YOU Do? (SURVEY)
Loading ...
Loading ...Wrap-up
Not that you care, but here’s a fairly recent video of me doing 30 pull-ups, which gives me a solid “Wicked Sick” rating. I was trying to tie my all-time PR of 31 reps, which would have squeaked me into the Superhuman category. But unfortunately, that last rep didn’t count!
So, what’s the highest amount of pull-ups you’ve ever done in one set? Let us know in the comments below!
Want to do more pull-ups?
Click Here to Sign up For my FREE
5-Day Pull-up Training Crash Course
If you found this article helpful, please share it with your friends:
.jpg "John Sifferman")
Health-First Fitness Coach
P.S. If you liked this post, then please signup for the newsletter, or follow me on Facebook or Twitter for daily updates and other interesting info.
P.P.S. Photo credit: 1.
Related Posts
- Pull-up and Chin-up Training 101: The Basics on How to do More Pull-ups and Chin-ups
- The Right Way to do Pullups and Chinups
- How Many Pushups Should I Be Able To Do?
- How Long Should I Hold The Plank Exercise For?
- How Much Should I Be Able To Squat? (Squat Standards)
- How Much Should I Be Able To Deadlift? (Deadlift Standards)
18 but that was 25 year and 2 stone ago still get 9/10 on a good day
I hear ya, Anthony! Pull-ups were a lot easier when I was a good 20-30 pounds lighter. I really have to earn those reps now.
And hey, 10 reps is a solid number for pull-ups. Keep up the good work.
Im 16, 146 pounds, 5’8, and everyone tells me I’m shredded although I don’t think so. I can do about 8 chin ups and about four sets of that but I’m gonna try’n see what my max is maybe today or tommorrow. I can’t wait. hehehehehehehehehe x3
Four months back ,i started doing pull ups with max 8 reps now i m doing 15-20 reps and 22 is my max reps… I guess its a good progress.. Still working hard to get to the 50 reps milestone…and its really a good exercise unlike other guys i enjoy doing pulls never take it as a burden….
That makes two of us! I’ve always loved pull-ups – ever since I was a kid.
I’m up to 6 chinups at 49…female
That’s awesome, Mary! Congrats on the progress!
I really love doing pull ups best exercise and of course you can incorporate your entire body with lots of different exercises on the bar. I have been doing pull ups for about 5 months I really don’t concentrate on doing high rep sets a lot even though I can do them but since I like to do a lot of pull ups I spread them out in smaller sets of 5 – 8 reps depending on how I feel. The good thing is I have really worked my endurance up where I can do sets like this all day and of course I still throw in higher sets. So right now I am working on getting my muscle up down I am just having some issues in the transition with it but with all things pull up related it takes time to develop strength and technique. I would still consider myself a newbie it really takes several years experience at an activity to truly master it but for me it is really enjoyable and the benefits have been astounding for me.
I’m glad to hear it, Jeffrey! Keep up the good work!
I can do 17 and I’m 15 years old and 120 pounds, around what percentile would I be at? Also do you have any tips for me to reach 20?
I am 17 180 pounds and can do 26 is that good and how would I improve that number
In the 60’s in high school gym class weighing 110 pounds with the coach and everyone trying to discount every rep I was able to do I managed 90 chin-ups (by the coach’s count). I was the skinny nerd that was gonna be a rock star so I worked out with weights and pushups in my Dad’s basement at least twice a day, seven days a week so I would be able to play guitar all night. I couldn’t catch or throw a ball, or play any sport. Now I’m almost almost 67 years old; weigh 168 pounds, still never been a rock star although I can still play for many hours when the occasion arises. Haven’t been in a gym since high school and I haven’t worked out at home since I was in my early 20’s. Yesterday against my 34 year old son I found I could only crank out 10 (I HAD to tie him and my last few were sloppy). My lungs are damaged from a lung infection in my mid twenties which limits my endurance. Wondering if there is any chance for me to return to my glory days?
Not happening
Randy, you can start by doing assisted pullups in the gym and lower the counter weight over time. It will allow you to do 15 or more reps and your muscles to addapt.
I worked my way up to 8 while weighing about 150 pounds, and I’m feeling very good about it. I’ve had a goal of doing 10 since I was 18 years old. I just turned 33, so I’ve been working at it for awhile.
I am 13 and I can do 10 pull-ups in a row. I haven’t tried past that because I don’t want them to get sloppy.
Oh yes, and I’m female and a rock climber.
So is 10 with 30lb weights on a 150lb body ok-ish for 22? Guessing: good not great?
I’m 5’10” and weigh 132lbs. I’m up to 13 pullups and i can do 7 with 15lbs on my back……just curious how much i should be able to do weighing so little.
The sky’s the limit, Dan.
I’m 35 and can do 33 pull-ups.
I’m 74 and can do 269 pull ups
I’m 51 and did 26 at the gym today..shooting for 31 :-)
Thx for the inspiration. I weigh 270 @ 5’9″
Oops 170 lol
I’m 39, and I was asked for some marines at their booth alongside my buddy to give it a go. (30 reps would get you a shirt, 20 a water bottle)
I did 19 and got a bag.
Ian
I weigh 220 and can do 6 non-stop.
I’m 16 and I’m able to do 20 on a good day, 16-18 on a normal day and at least 12 any day. Male 5’7 138. Best ever was 25 I think.
I am a 49 old kid. Almost stagnated at 7reps. I am pretty warmed up my shoulder girdle structure after a few laps of swimming, and then I go for some stretching, after which I attack the chinning bar with proper form.
I wish to go for a 12 rep one a single go.
I’m 60 and I do 16 now, but that’s after I do my core workout of 100 sit ups, 70 leg raises and 30 ab rollers. Never tried them alone and fresh. I’m still building. When I was in high school I set the school record with 60 in 60 seconds and 80 bar dips in 60 seconds, so I probably have a bit of a nack.
i doubt you can actually do any pullups. my max is 0 btw
Nice job man. I started doing pullups earlier this year and could barely get 2. Now, on a good day, I’m able to get 12 or 13. I’m 33, 6 feet tall and 212 lbs. I really want to be able to get 20 but I’m kind of in a bulking mode right now so I’m carrying a little extra fat. I definitely would be much closer to 20 if I lost this 10 extra lbs I’m carrying.
these stats are for small guys, if you’re over 200 pounds, 9 reps is excellent
Also these stats are probably for reverse narrow grip, wide grip is much harder
Ahh pull ups. My PB for strict chin ups is 28 yet I can only manage 4 pull ups with good form. What gives? I surf in my spare time so I know my back is pretty strong. Bugs the bejeezus out of me!
I can do around twelve pull ups– at one point I did 14 but then I dislocated my elbow and I’m building my strength back up.
When I was doing pull ups, I started out the first day of my workout going until I couldn’t do any more, then I just added one more pull up each day, knowing that I was capable of doing a certain amount it was easy to just add one more. Before I knew it I was up around 30-35. If I could not do one more the the day before, I’d take a quick rest then go to fatigue.
Female, age 64. I worked 9 months with a trainer to reach my goal of doing one pull up. He said my progress was blocked by any of these things: too much training, too few calories, or less than 8 hours sleep per night. I adopted these three adjustments. Ten days later, I could do a pull-up from a low bar (my feet were just touching the floor.) Now my goal is to do a pull-up from a dead hang. I train for it 3x week. Hope this next step produces results within 3 months.
Im 14 and can do 21 pull ups
Best ever was 35 when I was 12 yrs old
Now I am 61 and 193 lbs. most recent best is 16 dead hang full extension military pull ups and 29 monkey motion pull-ups.
I am 2 months out from 60 and I have been regularly doing 26-27 after my long runs on Sunday. Last year I did 30 one time. I can also do a muscleup with a kip. When I was in elementary school I couldnt do 1, nor could I do them when I was a 137lb distance runner in my 30s. I now weigh about 160lbs having done a lot of calisthenics the last 7 years and much less running and my pullup game has improved.
I turned 50 this year. I can do around 20 wide grip pullups. I weigh about 195lbs. I’m trying to get in shape to pole vault this year. Forever young
I am 14 and my max is 35 chin-ups and 28 pull-ups. Just was curious on the average.
I’m 37 and can do 5 and a half :)
Hey John my name is Mark Maher and I’m 65 yrs old. Last week at the gym I set a personal best for pull ups, full extension full compression chin over the bar I did 35 non-stop , and I have it on video. My goal is 50 by the time I turn 66. If this is of interest to you my phone #is [removed]
Hi Mark, Congrats on the personal record! 35 pull-ups is an incredible accomplishment. I just sent you an email to see if I can pick your brain a bit.
I’m 17 135 pounds. I have been working out at home all my life so far. Yesterday, I managed 37 pullups! A few day before that I managed 85 push-ups. Quite nice for a 17 y/o I should think!
John, you done well. I like the idea of not tying the numbers to the age which so many sites do these days. I think that really takes away from what people can do. I can only do 2 at this time and have been away from training for a few years, but recommend them to the kids out doing roofing and such. It is on my personal list along with the dragon flag for core and upper body workouts.
I am fat at 245 pounds but can knock out 11 pull-ups from dead hang.
Im 42 and weigh 169, 5’7″ tall. After a few years of doing pullups in my barn while my horses eat breakfast, and nursing a shoulder injury, I am able to do 18 perfect pullups a set. The same for reverse grip, thumbs always matching the fingers. My elbows cant handle more than 18. The other day I did about 205 in one day, a personal best. I usually do 2x sets per day. Im still a bit skinny and Im so dang hungry when I do a pullup binge!…Which then makes me a bit doughy. And I still get butterflies when I grab the bar. I only do narrow grip, wide is unpleasant for my narrow frame. But its a great challenge that I find fulfilling.
My 30 lb, 5 year old daughter can do 8! She starts kindergarten next year.
Nice post, but I think you should take weight into account. I can do 7 pullups. According to your standard, I’m an intermediate. However, I weigh 258lbs and so it’s completely different to someone who weighs 150lbs.
You are stronger than most people.
I’m 19 and working my way to 100 pull ups in a row. Right now I’m at 61, I expect to reach my goal within the next year.
that is great, and you are above average indeed!!!
Im 14 and i can do 17 pullups in a row.
Im 14 and i can do 17 pullups in a row.
I can do 70 … in 8 hours.
I am 15 years old and I have just managed to get my record up to 41 pullups in 1 minute. I physically can’t do any more, any tips on how I can increase this? Thanks
Most ever in one set was 12 at 215lbs… then set of 10, 8, and 8 following the first 12. I just lost 35lbs, shooting for 180 then I’m going to pull up all winter til I hit my first goal of 25 in a single set
I’ve been working on them since February. I am a female and could do chin ups but not pull ups. I can do 8 strict pull ups as of Nov 1st. My goal is 10 by the end of year.
Hi I am Paul-David
I am 46 and can do 27 chin ups in a minute, 20 pull ups in minute and can do assisted 1 arm pull-ups.
everyone is lying here. most guys cannot do a single pullup. The most an average guy can do is two or three. The idea that a regular guy should be able to do ten is laughable. Nobody I know can do ten.
I’ve got to agree with you David (not with whether anybody here is lying but that most guys, average guys, can’t do these numbers). People on here are fitness buffs not average people. 20 years ago in my mid 30s and 30 pounds lighter than I am now and in the best shape of my life I could do 4-5. Granted at the time I did not specifically train for pull-ups but I’d do a set a couple of times a week as part of my back routine. I just started back to working out 6 weeks ago, now in my mid-50s and I’ve been using the machine at the gym that allows you to apply a counterweight to assist with pull-ups and dips. I typically do 5 sets of 5 reps with a 28-lb counterweight or I can do 3 sets of 5 reps with a 22-lb counterweight. Then I have to either increase the counterweight or I’m done. Without the counterweight I can do one, maybe two pull-ups now. Couldn’t do any when I started. I’m working on it but it’ll be a few months before I can do 10-12 unassisted pull-ups and that’s with specifically training that 3 times a week now.
As for the average being 9 for men on the Military Candidate Fitness Assessment, that might be true for Marines who tend to be young, motivated and know that pull-ups are part of their physical fitness test. I’m sure they train before they even get there. I know I did before Army Basic. I since was in the Army we didn’t do pull-ups and I suspect weren’t as motivated as the average Marine. I remember guys coming into Basic Training and failing the initial screening assessment because they could not do a single push-up or sit-up and they’d get sent to the remedial PT platoon. And that was in the 80s. I’m more inclined to believe John’s estimates:
Newbie = 1st unassisted pull-up
Beginner = 2-5 repetitions
Intermediate = 6-10 repetitions
Advanced = 11-15 repetitions
So I’m still in the newbie range. Anyway, I’d like to get to where I can do 3 sets of 12 unassisted pull-ups. I suspect I will have been working out 6 months by the time I reach that level. Once that becomes easy I’ll add a weight belt. I don’t really see much purpose to doing 20, 30, 40+ pull-ups at a time.
Well I’m 66 and I just started doing pull ups again as about 1 1/2 years ago I hurt my shoulder probably from doing pushups and chin ups. Since I am starting from scratch I am doing 15 pushups and 4 pull ups. My goal is to get to 20 push ups and 8 pull ups and do that for the rest of my life, certainly into my eighties. So I think that any one can do this sort of stuff, you just have to do it. There is a kayak trip that I like to do, it is 13 miles long. I will be really sad when the day comes and I can no longer do this. Further more I am not a really strong person, the old guy across the street from me is 84, does more exercise than I do. I hope to be doing as well as he is at the same age.
David, it’s been about 6 weeks since I left my last comment and I’m still working on my pull-ups. I haven’t tried it unassisted in a while so I’m not sure if that has gotten any better. I’ll give it a try this afternoon. I’ve done significantly better with push-ups and dips than pull-ups. The other day I did three sets of dips, 12-10-8 reps unassisted so I’m not far from my goal of 3 sets of 12 reps there. I didn’t normally do push-ups until just recently when I added close grip push-ups to my workout to work the triceps more but a couple of months ago I was able to knock out 30 regular push-ups and probably could have done a couple more. But the biggest difference I’ve found being older is not what I can do in terms of strength or endurance but rather how much more sensitive my joints are to the shock. I need to move slowly and carefully by comparison to what I would have done 25 years ago or my back or knees or shoulders will be screaming at me. Keep working at it and you’ll be able to stay active to a ripe old age.
Well it took two months but I got up to doing 24 pushups, 10 chin-ups and 50 sit-ups. I chose to stop at those numbers as I would like to be able to do them until my last breath. I had imagined that the chin-ups would have gotten easier but I must say that it is still hard to reach 10 even though I’ve been doing them for 2 months 4 months since start. I feel like if I haven’t done any for say six hours then I guess I could do 11 or at best 12 although I haven’t tried. I really thought it would get easier but I still intend to keep it at 10 forever.
When I was 175 pounds in high school, I could do around 20 pull-ups.
Now much older, I let my fitness slide, then decided to work out hard for around 1.5 years ago.
I started doing the pull-up machine so I could get clean reps. I weigh 280 pounds and my assist is 60 pounds. I can do 17, sloppy after 15, but I am struggling for bonus reps.
I was 271 then went down to 263 and up to 285, but lifting heaviest I ever have. Bench max 320. Leg press max estimated 400+ as I do lots of reps like 40.
Recently incorporated running into the mix and working up the speed and duration. Also training for Savage Race. Lots of monkey bars.
Today did 2 pull-ups on a tree branch at a park. We were training as a family for the Savage Race.
Certainly if I can keep my strength the same and lose some weight, I can do more pull-ups. Would be great to be able to do 10. Shooting for that!
As far as anyone doubting me, could care less and other people also should care less.
I am working out to better my health and be manly. I want to feel right. Having goals give me motivation and something to work together towards as a family. Guess I am far from average!
I never did pull ups before. How many time would it take for me to do about 8 repetitions? I need that to get to my country’s army.
I’m 54, 6’0″, 201lbs. I do between 12 & 15 per set, with an average of 13. I do 4 – 5 sets on back days. Fun to do them!
I just turned 70 about 2 weeks ago. I have been doing chin ups for about 4 years. I started to do them after my right shoulder ‘aged-out’ on me and curls left it very sore (osteoarthritis). Yesterday, I did 4 sets (36,31,27,26). I competed in a Senior Olympics Strength event in CA last year at the age of 69 and did 33. I have done 37 before and I am aiming for 40 reps (Olympian status). Yes, my form is excellent. I do them quickly and consecutively. I have not tried to see how many I could do if I stop on the bar and hang between small sets. I am 5′ 11″ and weigh 179 lbs.
I’m also a Richard and turn 70 in early October.
I see your numbers, and need to drastically lift my game. I’ve got just over 3 months to 70 so thanks for the inspiration.
56 year old man i great shape, never did pull ups. just gettig started can do 6 to 10 reps for 3 sets and of course the number drops lol.
38 non stop in my day, Mid 20’s to late 30’s was my best shape, and that was directly after running 5 miles…
Now at nearly 61 I can do like 6-8….depending on if I have been working on those or something else for a few weeks… I can still do like 15 one armed Pushups directly after 4 sets of 30 chair pushups… …my Push up record back in the day again, was 308 without stopping and 65 one armed pushups without stopping…. I still walk like 3-6 miles a day, do some powerwalking/shadowboxing with 5 lb heavy hands and use 50 lb dumbells for my biceps, triceps, shoulders and the Bench presses/Squats or lunges… I still do like 3 sets of 50 cruches followed by 2 – 1 minute planks, and 3-4 sets of dumbell deadlifts and mad cats old horses for the lower back…. but that is a far cry from my 1150 full sit-ups and I stopped as it took so long and I could just go on forever with those back then….
I started a routine about a year ago doing push ups and pull ups. I was a soccer player and did not use my arms much, between ectomorph and endomorph build, 5’10” 150lb. I figured I could not hurt myself doing pull-ups and push ups. I’m approaching 67. Never did pull ups in school and remember being in 7th grade and being able to do only 1. Today I did 11 pull-ups on my first set with a short rest and 5 more, then 200 pushups and another set of 10 followed by 5. My goal is 20 pull ups max; 100 pullups and 2000 push-ups in an hour. I work out about 3 times a week doing a little more than I am comfortable doing.
This is a good body of work however, unfortunately there is no relevance to the aged. By factoring by age these standards would change significantly. I live part time in a very fit retirement area in northern Arizona. I see hundreds of fit men and women daily. I rarely see anyone over 50 even hang from a bar much less do pull-ups on it. Again, I’d love to see realistic numbers based on age. I’m 68.
I’ve been doing four sets of 25 Pull-Ups since I was a teenager. But now at age 61 the first set is painful and I can only do 20 at a time. Suggestions please
Ok, I have read all the responses. The true test of upper body strength is to take your pullup to bench press ratio, the smaller, the better. For example, after doing an hour of cardio, I can crank out 20 pullups and do a single rep max on the bench of 230lbs. I am 44 years of age and weight 169. This would give me a ratio of 20/230 = .086, if you can do 20 pull ups and bench 300lbs, your score will be 0.066. If you can do 15 pullups and bench 250, your score will be 0.060,……20 pull ups with a 400 lbs press (which is unreal) would be, 0.050… go ahead and see where you stand.
im 19 weigh 180 and can do 40 pull ups in one set (:
I am 44 years of age and can do 25 dead hang proper pull ups. My goal is to get to 35 by 45 years of age. I weight about 175, 5’11. I have been incorporating weighted pull ups as part of my training. Seems to help a lot. When I was 12, In the 6th grade, I set a school record with 30 pull ups. Like my father used to say, records are meant to be broken.
Can anyone give me a ball park figure what 40-50 year old males are knocking out these days?
I’m 15 and I can do 32 from a deadhang in a row
I’m 15 years old Male and weigh about 130 pounds, i’m able to max out at about 60 consecutive pull-ups, although I do 50 every day, along with pushups as well.
wow, 60 dead hang pull ups? That is very impressive for any age
I just turned 60 this past fri. aug. 10th,and did 45 pull ups,I weigh 166 lbs ,and have been doing pull ups since I was 12,people at my work were wondering if this is close to any record for 60 year old
Since this appears to be the spot to post what you can do, I’m 6’ 2, 24 years of age, weigh 220 and I can do 25 dead hang pull-ups.
41 in one set. Just turned 50, weigh 133 lbs. I’ve been working my way up for the last 8 years and hit 41 consecutive pull ups last week. I improve my numbers through a mix of different types of pull ups in sets of 20, but especially by using a 40 lb weight vest (I max out at 21 with the weight vest). I do 240-320 pull ups per workout, 2-3 times per week, as a mix of muscle ups, archer pull ups, open grip, closed grip, neutral grip, and weighted pull ups. What funny is I don’t look like much – I mean, I’m clearly lean and fit, but I don’t look at all exceptional.
I’m encouraged to read posts by 60 and 70 year olds above still going strong – I was wondering if it was possible to keep going at this level at that age. Sounds like it is.
I’m guessing that many of these respondents are,..ummm…overstating their ability somewhat. I’m 66 years old and in very good condition and I can do 10 pullups. maybe a couple more with a gun to my head. The truth is that the average man over 50 can do ,maybe two or three if he’s lucky. And most cannot do even one.
David, Look around online and you will see that plenty of people can do monster numbers of pull ups. You can find video evidence all over. If you think it is doctored, look for video of Murph competitions where you have to be able to run 1 mile, do 100 pullups, 200 pushups, 300 squats, run another mile, while wearing a 20 lb weight vest. I’m only 50, not that far in age from the people doing those things and they are easy for me now (I don’t wear the weight vest for my Murph – too unpleasant).
I can see how it would seem improbable to you. But it’s really fairly simple, assuming you start early enough, I suppose. You just add one pull up every two weeks or so, then you plateau for long periods, then broaden the type of body-resistance exercises you do and try to add another pull up, one at a time. Little incremental improvements (just the way they teach kids gymnastics). I also used Frank Medrano’s courses – look him up too, it’s very impressive.
just noticed that you’re the same age as me. I posted below that I’ve just gotten to 15 pull ups (think i could have made 17 if I absolutely had to, but 15 was a long goal, so I stopped).
I can’t speak for anyone else, but if I can do it, I’ll bet you can do it. I’m confident I’ll hit 20 by year’s end (though that’s easy to say!). One reason that I’m confident – I found that doing slightly less than a dead hang (i mean just slightly less) is MUCH better for my joints, and not having the pull ups hurt really makes it much more fun to do them. I’m no great athlete by any means. I’ll confess that I did 15 when I was in 10th grade, so it’s pretty satisfying to equal my all time best from 50 years go or so.
You are confused. Reread my post carefully. I said MOST men over fifty cannot do even one pullup. This is not a matter of opinion. It is an absolute fact.
Oh, I’m not disputing that – I agree with you. I thought it was obvious my comment was responding to the part in your comment saying “I’m guessing that many of these respondents are,..ummm…overstating their ability somewhat.” Am I mistaken that you were fairly directly stating your guess that commenters (including myself) were exaggerating their ability?
No biggie either way. In any case, I am also encouraged to hear that at 66 you can still do 10 pullups. I wish you continued good health.
I didn’t mean to suggest that you were overstating your ability. You’re a fitness guy, and I believe you can do as many as you say.What I was trying to say is that if MOST men say they can do 10, then that means that MOST men are overstating their ability. Most men cannot do 10 pullups. I have three sons-in -law. They are 32, 35, and 38 years old. They all look to be in relatively good condition. They’re not overweight. They all go to the gym and work out. We had a pullup contest. One of them could do four, one of them could do two, and one of them couldn’t do any. This is what is actually “average”. So the average man, truth be told, can do between none and five.
You may be right. I am 75 and have been going to the gym working out with free weights for 36 years. I workout 5 and sometimes 6 days a week during which time I work all body parts twice. I agree that most people of age can’t do even one pull up. However, younger people who sufficiently work all muscle groups can do multiple pull ups with ease. I used to do pull ups maybe 15 years ago and for some reason I quit doing them until about a week ago. I was recently inspired to try them by watching a guy I don’t particularly care for doing weight stack assisted pull ups. He’s 58 and he wasn’t particularly good at them, however he is really good at running his mouth. I decided I want do real dead hang pull ups the next time I see him on the machine. So a week ago on a Sunday afternoon when very few were there I decided to give it a try. To my surprise on my first attempt I did three. It didn’t seem hard. I waited a few minutes a did a set of 4, then a few minutes later did 5. I was shocked! As I said, I do workout really regularly and very hard, I just don’t miss. I am 5-11 and currently weigh 192, down from 207 a few months ago. I had 11% body fat at 198. Also, a couple of months ago I max’ed my bench at 215 and currently leg press 500. I’ve never had a trainer, I’ve always done my own thing and I workout by myself. I am driven! I believe that your mind is the driving force combined with resistance training and aerobics. They combine to produce the fountain of youth. I do not feel anywhere near my age. I also, start shooting baskets at the gym a couple of months ago. I couldn’t hit anything, I shot very flat. Now, as of yesterday I was ripping the net with 3 pointers. I currently workout out Genesis in Tulsa Oklahoma and I do take supplements regularly… Protein, creatine, glutamine, citrilene, beta-alanine, vitamins … the regular stuff and nothing weird. I have no joint or muscular problems. I am shocked myself at what I can do. When I started working out I was your typical inactive, soft bodied programmer that sat on his ass for many years. I have no genetics, my dad was was maybe 5-8 and 165 tops, with zero activity. A few years ago my urologist put me on a low level of testosterone, which has not been sustained for various reasons. I don’t notice any difference when I am not on it. My strength has been sustained for many years even though I had auto-immune hepatitis for almost 3 years, up until about a year ago. During that time I had no supplements or testosterone. Believe what you want, every word of this is totally true. My goal is to get up to 10 reps on pull ups and I will do it! It’s up to you and what you want to be! If I can do it, so can you! Think young!
You may be right. I am 75 and have been going to the gym working out with free weights for 35 years. I workout 5 and sometimes 6 days a week during which time I work all body parts twice a week. I agree that most people of age can’t do even one pull up. However, younger people who sufficiently work all muscle groups can do multiple pull ups with ease. I used to do pull ups ( 12, 8, 4 reps ) maybe 15 years ago and for some reason I quit doing them until about a week ago. I was recently inspired to try them by watching a guy I don’t particularly care for doing weight stack assisted pull ups. He’s 58 and he wasn’t particularly good at them, however he is really good at running his mouth. I decided I want do real dead hang pull ups the next time I see him on the machine. So a week ago on a Sunday afternoon when very few were there I decided to give it a try. To my surprise on my first attempt I did three. It didn’t seem hard. I waited a few minutes a did a set of 4, then a few minutes later did 5. I was shocked! As I said, I do workout really regularly and very hard, I just don’t miss. I am 5-11 and currently weigh 192, down from 207 a few months ago. I had 11% body fat at 198. Also, a couple of months ago I max’ed my bench at 215 and currently leg press 500. I’ve never had a trainer, I’ve always done my own thing and I workout by myself. I am driven! I believe that your mind is the driving force combined with resistance training and aerobics. They combine to produce the fountain of youth. I do not feel anywhere near my age. I also, start shooting baskets at the gym a couple of months ago. I couldn’t hit anything, I shot very flat. Now, as of yesterday I was ripping the net with 3 pointers. I currently workout out a local gym in Tulsa, Oklahoma and take supplements regularly… Protein, creatine, glutamine, citrilene, beta-alanine, vitamins … the regular stuff and nothing weird. I have no joint or muscular problems. I am shocked myself at what I can do. When I started working out I was your typical inactive, soft bodied programmer that sat on his rear for many years. I have no genetics, my dad was was maybe 5-8 and 165 tops, with a pot belly and never ever saw the inside of a gym. A few years ago my urologist put me on a low level of testosterone, which was not been sustained for health reasons. I didn’t notice any difference when I was not on it. My strength has been sustained for many years even though I had auto-immune hepatitis for almost 3 years, up until about a year ago. During that time I had no supplements or testosterone. Believe what you want, every word of this is true. My goal is to get up to 10 reps on pull ups and I will do it! It’s up to you and what you want to be! My point is – If I can do it this at 75, so can you! Think yourself young!
Im stuck at 12, cant seem to move past that. Have been doing them for a few years off and on. My pb is 15. I do them slowly with correct form. Have a shoulder injury I try not to agitate. Would be great if I could just add a few more reps to get to 15 on a consistent basis.
I started at 1 and now I am at 20 and my goal is 35. I have gym class and work on them everyday wearing a 20 pound vest. I weight a 140 pounds and I am a male.
I’m 48, I just hit my goal of 8 pullups, wide grip, full drop, no kipping. I could not do that when I was in my 20s. Stay in shape, or after 40 you get old real fast.
I am 15 and I can do 40 pull-ups
I learned something interesting in the last year.For twenty years I’ve been going to the gym and working out, but I always felt like I’d run into kind of a “wall” in that I never felt like I was getting stronger or more fit, just staying the same. Six months ago I took a job as a package handler.All day every day I handle boxes between 20 to 70 lbs. I am now stronger and in better condition that I ever achieved in the gym. I think it’s because instead of the kind of static repetitive fixed exersises I did in the gym, my job requires that I do everything; bending, twisting, lifting, pushing, pulling,walking with a 50 lb. box, all day. Also, despite my having worked out in the gym for 20 years, the first week or ten days at this job everything on me hurt. My arms, my legs, my back, everything. Then the pain simply went away. I’m now in the best condition I’ve ever been in. My advice; quit the gym and get a package handler job.
Cool
I’ve always thought our society should mix the work up a bit. The office people should work just half a day at that and the other half doing labor. We would all be much healthier. Personally I am currently retired at 66 and have to be careful that I don’t get to lazy. Almost all of the older people that are doing well get regular exercise. I hope to be one of those people who is strong and healthy into their 8o’s.
I’m 15, 5’10, and weigh 150 lbs. On a regular daily basis I can do 16 full deadman pull-ups and 20 full deadman chin-ups. On a good day I can do 20 Pull-Ups and 25 chin-ups. The most I’ve ever gotten in one go was 25. I’m currently on my way to doing 30 reps. I workout alot. I go train with my personal trainer 3 times a week (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays) for 1 hour each session/workout. Everyday at home for my daily workout I do 100 push-ups, 200 sit-ups, and planks. I always have my pull-up bar set up at my door so everytime I enter and leave my room I do as many pull-ups as I can. My goal is to hopefully one day be able to do 50 or more pull-ups.
I’ll be 72 in May, 2018 and I do 30 chin ups on a regular basis—good form, no cheating. On a good day I can squeeze out 2-3 more. It pisses off a lot of young guys at the gym and the older guys accuse me of being on steroids–I’m not!
I am 47, 85kg (187lb) and I am doing 11 clean pull up reps with a wide grip. I am aiming for 15 reps before turning 50.
I can do 41 pull ups in a single set and can 1 RM with 60kg added 100% of my body weight added.
So the NAVY SEAL requirement is at least 8, and you’re saying an “average” male adult should be able to perform at least 8 pull-ups, therefore suggesting that the majority of males should qualify for NAVY SEAL? That’s just contradicting and wishful thinking. America is among the highest in the world in terms of BMI, I wouldn’t be surprised if the actual average per male adult is like 2-3, which is why you see a lot of people undergo training before they sign up for just the marines.
I fully agree with you Henry.
Coach, thank you very much for realistic norms…
What about parallel bar dips?
42. I was 145 pounds at the time so it was a little easier but so as not to sell my self short I’ll mention that I’m 6 foot 2 and have long as arms. so in order for them to be legit I have to go up further and down further than most.
I’m 35, 5’7, and around 10% body fat. My max pull-ups atm is 30+ (I lost count) and my Muscle-ups is 5 reps (just mastered it less than a month ago). Beyond that, my form is bad and dropped. Hoping to get 40-50 pull-ups by the end of this 2019. Of course, we all have different frames and all, just give it your best and keep progressing guys! No kipping tho, eurgh.
How many people really do strict form pullups?
That means no kicking, no bucking your midsection. No crossfit style “kipping”. Your lower body and midsection should be totally motionless. Also, I see a lot of people at the gym doing partial range of motion- like only going 1/2 way down, and not going all the way up so the chin is over the bar.
“Strict form pullup” means FULL range of motion- all the way down to straight arm dead hang, to all the way up to chin over bar. And lower body like a statue, no squirming or kicking. If you’re cheating in any of these ways, then the reps don’t count!
My daughter did pull ups for the first time ever last night , she’s 7 and managed to do 6 in a row .. is this good? My friend was amazed by this but I didn’t see the big deal as clueless to training etc
I’m 43 now, 5’5 and weigh about 150. I was a wrestler in high school and college, so pull ups were a huge part of my training. My maximum was 40 my senior year of high school when I weighed about 130. Today I can do 20, but typically after a few months of consistent training I can get back to between 25 and 30.
My goal was to do one pull-up before my 61st birthday, two weeks ago. I was actually able to complete two plus :)
After reading this, my new goal is to do five by the end of the year, wish me luck…. lol
Good luck. Did you reach your goal of 5 by the end of the year?
Started doing pullups about 8 months ago. Ive gone from 5 sets of 3 to 5 sets of 9 in under 20 mins. Chin ups 5 sets of 4 to 5 sets of 10 in under 20 mins. Just wondering f should focusing more on reps rather than sets. Would it be better to do 3 sets of 15 or 1 set of 20? My goal is to get to 5 sets of 10 in under 15 mins
I tried your methods, and lots of others, and I would always plateau. Usually at about 10 or so. I’m 66 now, and a couple of days ago did 15 (I probably could have squeezed out a couple more). I’m pretty confident I’ll get 20 by the end of the year. What has helped me? Doing lots of different types of pull ups, from different types of equipment. I don’t go to a gym, so I’ve spent a pretty good amount on different tools, but I’ve found that keeping it interesting and fun, along with varying the difficulty, seems to do it for me. Some tools I’ve been using – awesome woody tufa (damn, but this one is hard). Various attempts at hangboarding (can’t imagine that finger strength hurts, but I’m so bad at this that it’s fun to work on it), adding various backpack weights (I also ruck), Atomik 9″ globe, rogue dog bone, etc. Starting to work on 1 arm pullups – hangs, offset pullups, etc. You get the idea. Never do the same workout, Set up a bunch of tools that make me really want to do pull ups – so that it isn’t so much a ‘work out’. For me – it has to be fun. I have to look forward to it. Oh, yeah – also – maybe because of my old joints – I’ve stopped doing absolute dead hang pull ups. man, what I think was golfer’s elbow was just tormenting me. I couldn’t fix it (tried various recommendations there also) – I stop just short of a dead hang now. the thing is, that when the pain goes away, it’s much more fun. Everyone is different. don’t take anyone’s recommendations too seriously, but i think that making it fun is part of that.
I’m 51, weigh 235 lbs and can do 8 “strict”, deadhang, pull ups, I think I’d have to lose about 30 lbs to do 15-18. I’d like to see averages by weight and age but I know that’s a lot of fun data collection.
Wow I never knew the standards were so low for this exercise! I guess I just find them easy for being very light but with a high muscle/fat ratio. Being lean definitely helps with this exercise. Fat is just dead weight.
I’m 48, 5’8″ and 185.
I can only do 2.
And I’m in pretty good shape! I can bench 210# 6 times, for example.
I think this particular exercise is really about not weighing much, rather than having incredibly strong lats/back. I guess I’ll cut another 10# and see what I can do then.
I agree that weight is a big factor. I could do 20 pull-ups in high school but I weighed 140 lbs. Now I can’t even do one pull up and I weigh 195 lbs. I’m also 66 years old (age matters). When you lose the 10 lbs. let us know if that helped.
Wow! I’m the only one (among your readers) who can do 30+ pull-ups?
Makes me both lonely but proud! Haha
60 year old male. I haven’t maxed out in a while, but I usually start my workout with 5 sets of 10 pull ups, or 2 of 15, 2 of 10. I have to do my rotator cuff exercises too. :-)
I do 4-5 or 6 sometimes but my hands feel shivering after that . I am 5.8″ 74 kg
I am 52 years young I am 5’8″ I weigh 219 lbs mostly lean bodyweight (my goal is to be 200 lbs solid muscle) and I currently do 10 pull ups & 15 chin ups. I also do 30 dips.
What is the approximate ballpark equivalent of 80 military-style pushups in pullups, assuming the person is as good at pushups as pullups?
I am 66 years old 5′ 10″ tall,and 195 lbs. I can’t even do a single pull-up so to me all of you are impressive. Looking over the other posts for men about my age I think a reasonable goal would be 8 dead lift pull-ups by around the end of September, 2020. We’ll see.
6 feet tall, 195 lbs. Back in 1983 I could do 27 at a time (PR) and typically did sets of 10-20
Now I am about the same weight but the sets are 5-10 (15 if I am feeling awesome)…and I need more rest between sets.
I count “chin over the bar from full extended hang” as a rep. Now about those last few reps per set…ugh..
so I do a couple of “penalty sets” of 5 to make up for those.
Hi there. I’m a 55 year old man weighing 213 pounds. Today I got seven chin up with an extra 45 pounds hung around my waste. Pretty happy for an old guy.
When I was 22 yo, at 5’11 and 150 lbs I could do 24 strict pull ups. At 40 and just under 160 lbs I did 21 not so strict pull ups. At 44 yo and around 165 lbs I can do over 10 and would like going back to 15+ and probably more important stay over 10 for as long as I can. For the record, 3 years ago I had to deal with an injury 3 years ago… reached 182 lbs… didn’t like it. So nowdays my #1 priority is not to hurt myself
Which arm?
I am 47, and just did 9 dead hang pull-ups; my best so far. It took me a long time to do this. I started with jumping pull-ups and ring rows. When I managed to get to 10 – 3/4 of the way down pull-ups, I decided that they shouldn’t count unless I go all the way to a dead hang. I was able to get 4 dead hang at that time, and over the past two months have increased to 9. I love how I am strong enough, that I can get to 8 and take a break just freely hanging before pulling myself up for one more.
40 years old here, started training overhand pull ups maybe 6 months ago and can do around 7, now i can do 18 on good days, 15 on average days.
5’7″ height, 147 lbs
I am 15, and I am a wrestler and weigh roughly 105 lbs. I don’t spend much time working on pull ups, but I recently broke my PR with 22 dead hang pull ups unassisted. I am trying to get to thirty or possibly the superhuman category.
When I was 13yrs old I could do 15 pullups without any strength training background. Any boy in the class could do atleast 5 pullups. The key reason was weight, or rather the lack of it.
30 years later I can do +20 pullups but it has taken over 20 years of training. I weigh 3 times as much when I was a teenager. Looking around in the office I seriously doubt all the males are able to do 5 pullups.
Thus these benchmarks you have (for instance olympian +40 pullups) are unrealistic unless you are competing. If an adult can do 20 pullups he/she is an olympian in my eyes. 99% of the population wont be able to do 20 reps.
Kudos to anyone who can do 10 pullups
I did 5 strict pull ups this morning. If I was being judged I’m sure I could have gotten 1 or 2 more in.
At 61 I do 35. When in my late teens and 20’s I’d do 50. Didn’t think it a big deal til now. I teach and a Marine recruiter had a bar. 20 pull ups get a shirt, I did 20 2X for 2 shirts. I may actually try to see what I can do if I train.
I’m 5′ 11″ and 183bs. I workout at F45 five to six times a week and have been doing so for six months. When I started I was in very average shape for an American and I could do a solid zero pullups. Now, after six solid months of training, I can do 3. Given that I’m now in shape and weight appropriate, and yet can still only do three, I’m going to guess that the average middle-aged guy on the street can comfortably do zero pullups.
I will be 68 in May and just accomplished my personal best in pull ups, 16. 6′ and 160lbs. Are there any age-appropriate competitions around that I could enter? I feel I can be competitive among men my age.
The vast majority of men can – certainly over 35 – could not do 2 decent chin over the bar pull ups. I used to top out at around 25 in my early 30s but I was lean as from running 25-30 miles a week and going to the gym at work 3-4 times a week. 20 years on – an extra stone in weight and no gym work 2-3 decent ones are hard work.
Was able to do 15 – 20 when I was 23, after two years gained 10 kg of fat. Now lost it again. Started working out again. After 2 months can do 12 reps with perfect form. Fun fact that my weight s is not cahnged in 3 months, but i am getting stronger and leaner.
the most i did was 20 when i was 50. am 59 now and went back to exercising after losing 40 pounds that i put on during covid lockdown in march 2020. i am up to 14 though i combine it with pushups, squats and burpees. i think i can do maybe 2-3 more though might affect the rest of my exercises
The average person can’t even do a single pullup
170 pound, 49yrs old. I do a single set of 10 reps every day & that’s the only exercise I bother with.
I rotate my grip daily – wide, narrow, chin-up, parallel, etc.
I hope it lasts forever.