The pull-up is a blunt honesty test for upper-body strength. You either lift your whole body over the bar or you don't, and no machine setting can hide the number. Data compiled by Strength Level from 4,852,758 logged lifts puts the average count for men at 13 reps and for women at 6 reps.
Those averages come from a self-selecting group of people who track their training, so the population number for untrained adults is lower. The table below groups the Strength Level data by age and skill tier, which the platform ranks against every logged result for a given age.
Age | Beginner (men) Also read: How eating mango every day can affect your gut, blood sugar and immunity | Intermediate (men) | Elite (men) | Beginner (women) | Intermediate (women) | Elite (women) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
15-40 | <1 | 8-13 Also read: What you eat every day may be shaping your depression risk through your gut | 21-30 | <1 | 5-6 | 18-19 Also read: Adding omega-3s to a weight-loss plan may lower breast cancer risk in high-risk women |
45 | <1 | 11 | 27 Also read: 7 signs glaucoma may already be damaging your vision, and when to get checked | <1 | 4 | 17 |
50 | <1 | 9 | 23 | <1 | 1-2 | 5-14 |
65+ | <1 | <1 | 4-11 | <1 | <1 | 5-14 |
Strength Level places a lifter in the intermediate band once they outperform 50 percent of logged results at their age, and in the elite band once they beat 95 percent. A single strict pull-up already puts an adult ahead of most beginners in the dataset.
Why the bar is harder than the floor
A push-up asks you to press roughly 65 percent of your body weight. A pull-up asks you to move 100 percent of it, and the pulling muscles are usually smaller and less trained than the pressing ones. That is the reason the population norms for push-ups sit much higher than the pull-up numbers on the same body.
There is also a hidden limiter. A 2025 trial published in the peer-reviewed literature and indexed by the National Institutes of Health reported that "many individuals struggle to perform PUs due to two commonly undertrained factors: grip strength and core stability." When the researchers added dedicated forearm work for eight weeks, the trained group increased their repetitions by 222.5 percent.
Why the number falls after 40
The Strength Level data drops sharply from age 50 onward, and biology explains most of it. The National Institute on Aging describes sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle mass and strength, as a "big culprit" behind physical decline. The institute says "muscle power and performance decline slowly and linearly at first, and then faster after age 65 for women and 70 for men."
Pulling strength matters beyond the gym. The NIA reports that about 30 percent of adults over age 70 have trouble with walking, getting up out of a chair, or climbing stairs, the small mechanics of staying independent.
Building toward your first rep
If you cannot lift yourself yet, the fastest route is the slow lowering phase. Jump or step to the top position with your chin over the bar, then take three to five seconds to descend under control. Coaches at Built With Science recommend pairing these negatives with band-assisted reps and reducing band thickness as you get stronger. Most beginners who train the negative twice a week reach their first unassisted rep within four to eight weeks.
Grip and core deserve their own slot. Dead hangs from the bar for time, plus a plank or hollow-body hold, address the two limiters the NIH-indexed trial identified. Test again in a month and see where you land in the table.
This article is made and published by Jesper Bengtson, who may have used AI in the preparation.