Male-Female Differences in Push-up Test Performance at Various Cadences

Rozenek, R, Byrne, JJ, Crussemeyer, J, and Garhammer, J. Male-Female Differences in Push-up Test Performance at Various Cadences. J Strength Cond Res 36(12): 3324-3329, 2022-Push-up (PU) testing is widely used to assess upper-extremity muscular endurance. However, little information exists regarding the influence of cadence on PU performance. Forty-four healthy men and women (age range = 21-36 years) completed 4 PU test sessions on separate days in a randomized order using standard PUs. Cadences of 30, 45, and 60 PU·min -1 were used for 3 tests, whereas a fourth test was performed at a self-selected (SS) cadence. The total number of PUs completed, vertical ground reaction forces (vGRFs) acting on each hand and the feet, and the sum of the vGRFs were determined for each test. Results showed men performed more PU than women at any cadence ( p ≤ 0.05) and had a faster mean SS cadence (49.9 ± 11.4 PU·min -1 vs 42.8 ± 8.4 PU·min -1 ) ( p ≤ 0.05). The maximum number of PU were performed when using either the SS cadence or 60 PU·min -1 , with little difference observed between them ( p ≤ 0.05). The sum of vGRFs was greatest at 60 PU·min -1 and when scaled to body mass (BM) represented 1.58 ± 0.14x and 1.33 ± 0.08x BM for men and women, respectively. As cadence increased, men shifted more weight to the hand contact points compared with women ( p ≤ 0.05). Distinct differences in SS cadence and distribution of forces were observed between the sexes suggesting different strategies while performing the PU test. These differences should be considered when selecting a protocol for PU testing.