The plank is a hold rather than a rep count. The clock runs while your body line holds and stops when it breaks, so the number is time under a standard, not time on the floor.
The median is 47 seconds: half of the adults who take this test hold less than that. The lowest published rung is Beginner at 8 seconds (10th percentile), and the table tops out at Elite, 176 seconds (2:56) (90th percentile).
Ladder variants are scored against every adult who takes them, with no split by age or sex, so this is one table for everybody. The percentile still compares you against all adults rather than gym regulars, which is why the middle of it looks reachable.
| Tier | Hold | Percentile | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | 8 seconds | 10th | Ahead of the bottom 10%. |
| Novice | 21 seconds | 25th | Ahead of the bottom 25%. |
| Intermediate | 47 seconds | 50th | The median. Half of this group does fewer. |
| Advanced | 95 seconds (1:35) | 75th | Top 25% of this group. |
| Elite | 176 seconds (2:56) | 90th | Top 10% of this group. |
Provisional reference table. The same curve scores you when you take the test, and it compares you against all adults rather than gym regulars. These numbers are our own working estimate, not a published dataset: they are here to place you roughly, and they get replaced by camera-verified results as the board fills.
The median is 47 seconds, so half of adults hold less than that. Beginner starts at 8 seconds (10th percentile) and the table tops out at Elite, 176 seconds (2:56) (90th percentile).
176 seconds (2:56) is the Elite rung, the 90th percentile, which is the top 10% of everyone who takes this test.
Because the ladder exists to give everybody a real score, not to slice one into eight thin ones. Full push-ups are the cohorted test, split by age and sex; plank hold are published as a single table for all adults.