Beat the Bot: the push-up game
The bot never gets tired and never breaks tempo. Match it rep for rep as the cadence climbs. Two mistimed reps and you're done.
Play
Press start, get into position, and tap on every lockout.
Tap anywhere on the mat, or press the space bar, at the exact moment the bot locks out at the top. The metronome clicks on every beat, so you can play this face down without watching the screen.
New personal best
How the levels work
Every ten reps you clear pushes the tempo up one level, and the timing window narrows with it. Level 1 is a slow, controlled push-up tempo that most people can hold for real. By the time you're in double figures it's a reaction test, not a strength test - which is exactly the point at which you should be tapping rather than pressing.
| Level | Reps | Cadence | What it feels like |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1-10 | 30 / min | A controlled 2-second push-up. Comfortable for real reps. |
| 2-3 | 11-30 | 35-40 / min | Brisk but honest. Still a full range of motion for most people. |
| 4-6 | 31-60 | 45-55 / min | Fast. Your form is the first thing to go here. |
| 7-9 | 61-90 | 60-70 / min | Around one rep per second. Tapping territory. |
| 10+ | 91 and up | 75 / min | The cap. Pure reaction and rhythm, endless until you miss. |
You get two lives. A rep is missed if you tap outside the window or let the window close without tapping at all, so mashing the screen won't save you - being early is just as costly as being late. Perfect reps are the ones landed near the dead centre of the window; they don't change your score, but they're the honest measure of how well you actually held the tempo.
Reps that actually count toward something
Beating the bot is a good way to kill five minutes. Building a push-up habit takes something that remembers you. The free RepDrop app turns push-ups into a 30-day challenge you can log with one tap, with a progress ring, a streak and reminders that reach you when the tab is closed. The Push-Ups challenge is free - no account, works offline.
Using it as a tempo drill
Rushed reps are the most common way to make a push-up easier without noticing. A metronome fixes that, and the first three levels here are a usable one: 30 to 40 reps per minute is a sane range for controlled work, roughly a second down and a second up. Play those levels with real push-ups and stop the run yourself when your form softens - the score matters less than the fact that every rep looked the same.
If you want a number rather than a game, run the standard assessment in our push-up test by age guide. If you want a plan instead, the push-up challenge generator turns a rep goal into a daily schedule, and your first push-up covers the scaled versions worth starting from.
Frequently asked questions
How do you play Beat the Bot?
The bot on screen does push-ups at a steady cadence. Tap anywhere on the mat, or press the space bar, at the exact moment it locks out at the top of each rep. Land inside the timing window and the rep counts; miss it and you lose a life. Two misses end the run. Every ten reps the cadence steps up a level, so the window gets harder to hit.
Do I have to do real push-ups to play?
No. It works as a pure timing game with your finger, and it also works as a pacing drill where you actually press up on every beat. If you are doing real reps, form comes first: at the faster levels it is better to keep a clean rep and take the miss than to rush a sloppy one. Scale to incline or knee push-ups whenever the tempo outruns your form.
How fast does the game get?
Level 1 runs at 30 reps per minute, which is a slow, controlled tempo. Each level adds 5 reps per minute and the cadence tops out at 75 reps per minute from level 10 onward. That top speed is far quicker than most people can do a full-range push-up, so treat the late levels as a reaction game rather than a rep target.
Is it free, and does my score go anywhere?
It is free, with no account and nothing to install. Your best run is saved in your own browser using local storage and is never sent to a server. Clearing your site data clears your best score. The result card is plain text, so you can copy it and post it wherever you like.
Want the long game instead of the fast one? Read the 1,000 push-up challenge guide or the honest breakdown in 100 push-ups a day. Stuck at a desk? The free desk break timer gets you moving every hour.
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