Set a timer for 60 seconds. Lie on the floor with your knees bent to about right angles, feet flat, hands resting on your thighs. Sit up until your fingers slide up to the tops of your knees, then lower back down. Count every clean rep before the alarm goes off.
That single number, taken with a stopwatch and no equipment, is one of the oldest measures of core muscular endurance in adult fitness assessment. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) publishes fitness norms in its assessment manual, and the 1-minute sit-up score has long been used to place adults into performance bands from "very poor" through "excellent," decade by decade and separately for men and women.
The full sit-up scorecard
Reference norms first compiled by Golding and colleagues, and widely republished in fitness assessment materials, show how many reps typically separate an average adult from a strong one. Counts fall with each decade, and the male and female bands run on different scales. A 30-year-old man in the "good" range hits about 40 to 45 reps in a minute; by 55 he is aiming for 29 to 35. For a 30-year-old woman, "good" sits at 33 to 39. For a 55-year-old woman, it drops to 22 to 27, according to the reference table for the 1-minute sit-up test.
The full men's table (reps in one minute):
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Rating | 18-25 | 26-35 | 36-45 Also read: Are you getting too little salt? These are the signs to know | 46-55 | 56-65 | 65+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Excellent Also read: After 50, your muscles may need up to 50% more protein than you're getting | >49 | >45 | >41 | >35 Also read: Your bird feeder could be helping bird flu spread | >31 | >28 |
Good | 44-49 Also read: How to take control of your alcohol habits after the holidays | 40-45 | 35-41 | 29-35 | 25-31 | 22-28 |
Above average | 39-43 | 35-39 | 30-34 | 25-28 | 21-24 | 19-21 |
Average | 35-38 | 31-34 | 27-29 | 22-24 | 17-20 | 15-18 |
Below average | 31-34 | 29-30 | 23-26 | 18-21 | 13-16 | 11-14 |
Poor | 25-30 | 22-28 | 17-22 | 13-17 | 9-12 | 7-10 |
Very poor | <25 | <22 | <17 | <13 | <9 | <7 |
And the women's table:
Rating | 18-25 | 26-35 | 36-45 | 46-55 | 56-65 | 65+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Excellent | >43 | >39 | >33 | >27 | >24 | >23 |
Good | 37-43 | 33-39 | 27-33 | 22-27 | 18-24 | 17-23 |
Above average | 33-36 | 29-32 | 23-26 | 18-21 | 13-17 | 14-16 |
Average | 29-32 | 25-28 | 19-22 | 14-17 | 10-12 | 11-13 |
Below average | 25-28 | 21-24 | 15-18 | 10-13 | 7-9 | 5-10 |
Poor | 18-24 | 13-20 | 7-14 | 5-9 | 3-6 | 2-4 |
Very poor | <18 | <13 | <7 | <5 | <3 | <2 |
Why one minute of sit-ups tells you something real
Core muscular endurance, meaning the ability of the abdominal and trunk stabilizers to keep contracting without fatiguing, is one of the clearest markers of long-term back health. The 1-minute sit-up score is a rough but useful window into that capacity.
Research from Stuart McGill, professor emeritus of spine biomechanics at the University of Waterloo, has long argued that endurance in the trunk muscles matters more than raw strength for avoiding low back pain. The reasoning is straightforward: poor movement patterns, awkward lifts and rotated postures tend to happen when the muscles supporting the spine tire, not when they are fresh.
A 2014 study in the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy that developed norms for the front plank echoed the same principle, noting that sit-ups and even curl-ups may reflect trunk strength as much as endurance and that timed isometric holds are a safer alternative for people with sensitive lower backs.
Where the sit-up test still fits in
Modern ACSM assessment materials actually favor the partial curl-up, capped at 75 reps, as the standard laboratory abdominal endurance test, because it puts less shear stress on the lumbar spine than an anchored full sit-up. But the 1-minute sit-up is still the version almost every adult has done at some point in gym class, and as a self-check it is fast, free and easy to repeat.
The practical takeaway is not to chase the "excellent" column. If your number lands in the middle band, a few weekly sessions of curl-ups, side planks and slow, controlled core work will move it up. Similar principles apply to strengthening the core through low-impact mat work. If you fall in the bottom tier, or have a history of back pain, talk to a doctor or physical therapist before pushing hard.
Retest yourself in eight to twelve weeks. That gap is the honest one: enough time for endurance to actually build, short enough to still care about the number.
This article is made and published by Jesper Bengtson, who may have used AI in the preparation.