Push Up Equivelent To Bench?

[PushUP]

My question is simple...do you guys think weighted push ups are equivalent to bench presses?
For instance say when your doing a push up your pushing 140lbs of body weight, than you throw on a 45lb plate to sum 185. If you can do 10 reps this way. Do you think you can also bench press 185 pounds @ 10 reps?

[Counterweight]

In short, no


You're not pressing 145 lbs of bodyweight, you're pressing the weight of your upper body, regardless of if your knees touch or not. So, no a bw+40 lbs pushup would not equal a 185 lb bench press, not even close.

[tom183]

^--Agreed.

Weighted push-ups also become impractical when compared with bench pressing once you start pressing heavy weight.

[kmagnuss]

Plus adding 45 lbs isn't really adding 45 lbs, as the positioning will dictate how much extra weight you will actually be pushing up. You are effectively using your body as a lever, so it's impossble not to distribute some of the weight down to the focal plane (your feet).

[PushUP]

Okay let me clear this up real quick guys lol...I weight 200 lbs, when im doing a push up im pressing 140lbs which can be demonstrated by getting into a pushup position on a scale...than I add the 45lbs to my shoulder blades and my weight on the scale in the push up position is 185..... So with that considered, what do you think

[Cmanuel]

Okay let me clear this up real quick guys lol...I weight 200 lbs, when im doing a push up im pressing 140lbs which can be demonstrated by getting into a pushup position on a scale...than I add the 45lbs to my shoulder blades and my weight on the scale in the push up position is 185..... So with that considered, what do you think

No. If I want to bench more I train my bench...not my pushups.

[Off Road]

The weight will also change as you push up and change the leverages. In my mind, pushups are a good exercise, but they are inferior to the loading capabilities of the bench press.

[RichMcGuire]

No. Pushups are better than the bench press. Just understand that you're lifting about 60% of your BW and that it is very difficult to load the pushup properly. You might be better off with the benchpress :P

[PushUP]

I defiantly agree with that off road. My whole purpose for asking is because I was at a sticking point with my bench and for the past 2 months did nothing but push ups with 25lb plates and worked up to 45 plates, close to 100 reps a day. My bench went from 205 max to 235 max... I just wanted your guys opinions though. I know what Im asking works...I just wanted the general consensus and to see what everyone else thought. I wont be able to do this again though because I can only load so many steel plates on my back.

[danki]

Pushups are a good exercise, but as others have said, are tough to load. While they probably aren't good for heavier sets of 3-8 reps, you could get a lot of benefit out of doing pushups in the 10-20 rep range...

If you want to bench more, you NEED to bench more. But that doesn't mean you cant benefit from pushups as well. Why not use bench press as your heavy strength exercise, and then use pushups as a "secondary" exercise to get more reps and more volume in.

There are a ton of different ways to progress on them, and it all depends on how you can load them. Chains, bands, plates, backpack, vest, etc. etc. As long as you can load them up you can progress. Again, the 10-20 rep range is where you'd benefit, and you probably want to keep the volume from getting too high, unless you handle volume well or are bulking. 50-60 reps would be plenty.

[Sean S]

I think the reason you saw an increase in your BP with push-ups is that your BP was still relatively low. For someone just starting out, push-ups likely to have a more positive effect on the BP than someone who is already a pretty strong bencher. I suspect for someone already benching 350+, going to a routine of weighted push-ups alone isn't going to increase their bench.
I do think that weighted push-ups could serve as a valuable assistance exercise for the BP, especially a tougher variation like doing weighted push-ups on chain suspended handles or gymnastics rings.

[danki]

I think the reason you saw an increase in your BP with push-ups is that your BP was still relatively low. For someone just starting out, push-ups likely to have a more positive effect on the BP than someone who is already a pretty strong bencher. I suspect for someone already benching 350+, going to a routine of weighted push-ups alone isn't going to increase their bench.
I do think that weighted push-ups could serve as a valuable assistance exercise for the BP, especially a tougher variation like doing weighted push-ups on chain suspended handles or gymnastics rings.

In all fairness, if pushups can work to build a bench to 235, then they could potentially build a bench to 335+. The problems are that its hard to load pushups that much. In addition, as someone gets stronger on a bench press, form/technique becomes more important, as does leg drive. All the weighted pushups in the world wont help with these factors.

But I think it would be a GREAT assistance exercise, and would like to do them more, if I could only find an effective way to weight them and be able to progressively weight them more.

[Sean S]

In all fairness, if pushups can work to build a bench to 235, then they could potentially build a bench to 335+. The problems are that its hard to load pushups that much. In addition, as someone gets stronger on a bench press, form/technique becomes more important, as does leg drive. All the weighted pushups in the world wont help with these factors.

But I think it would be a GREAT assistance exercise, and would like to do them more, if I could only find an effective way to weight them and be able to progressively weight them more.

I'm not sure if you are agreeing or disagreeing with me. The reason I have doubts about push-ups alone building a big bench is because of the problems with heavy loading with push-ups. In general I do think to be truly strong at any lift, you have to do that lift on a regular basis. Again I think push-up variations can be great exercises, I'm just not convinced you can build a truly big bench by doing them ALONE.

[danki]

Ya, Sean i am AGREEING with you.

[MyWeightLifting]

Like everyone else has been saying, push ups will help to a certain extent, but after you're using very heavy resistance, it becomes impractical to use it (at least solely to for the purpose of increasing bench strength, that is). It can be a pain in the ass to load weight on your back if unless you have a weighted vest, a bunch of chains and/or someone to help load/unload the weight. That said, I love it just because it's extremely versatile. Plus it's effective as a tool for scapula/shoulder stability and as an assistance exercise; in my experience, push ups work best when using moderate to high reps - At the very least, it's useful for a warming up for bench press.

[PushUP]

Sean S. I think Ill try to get a max bench of 300 with push ups alone. I have no gym membership nor money to attain one. Just my plates. But bet me I can get to a 300 max!!! Ill even post vids when I get there. Give me until febuary of next year

[danki]

Sean S. I think Ill try to get a max bench of 300 with push ups alone. I have no gym membership nor money to attain one. Just my plates. But bet me I can get to a 300 max!!! Ill even post vids when I get there. Give me until febuary of next year

Well, whats your current body weight and your current max bench? And whats the most you have ever benched?

[PushUP]

Stats are.... 6'2, 195lbs @ 13% bf and my max bench currently is 235!!....according to the bmi index im overweight by 15 pounds haha...Even though im only 13% bf, what a silly thing.

[Sean S]

Sean S. I think Ill try to get a max bench of 300 with push ups alone. I have no gym membership nor money to attain one. Just my plates. But bet me I can get to a 300 max!!! Ill even post vids when I get there. Give me until febuary of next year

If you can't get to a gym, then of course go as far as you can with push-ups. With enough time and work a 300 bench might be possible with push-ups alone. I'm saying benching near 400 or more with push-ups alone is unlikely. I'm just not sure how you would weight the movement effectively enough to get a near 400 bench. If you figure out a way to make that happen, then I will re-assess my opinion.

[Bosch232]

If this has been mentioned already, my apologies. You can also get creative with resistance bands doing push ups.

[danki]

Stats are.... 6'2, 195lbs @ 13% bf and my max bench currently is 235!!....according to the bmi index im overweight by 15 pounds haha...Even though im only 13% bf, what a silly thing.

I'll take you up on this challenge. Im currently, 5'11" 205 @ ~15-20% BF, and my current max is 255. Im training similar to westside but will use pushups in addition to actually training bench.

Id like to see if you hit 300 before me with JUST using pushups. And please keep a log up on here so we can see your methods of how you are weighting them.

[PushUP]

^^Sounds good brother...this should be a interesting experiment. I do want to let you know up front I also train accessory lifts to bench of course with my plates. I do shoulder shrugs and overhead triceps extensions as well as bent over plate rows. I'm sure you do to though so all things considered it will be the compound lift bench vs. old style weighted push ups. In addition I do a 5x10 routine as of right now hitting my chest 3x a week. Mondays @ 80% doing 5x10, wens days 3x10 @ 80% and Fridays being personal rep day so I can load or de-load the next week. Do you want me to start a journal or log it here bro?

[danki]

^^Sounds good brother...this should be a interesting experiment. I do want to let you know up front I also train accessory lifts to bench of course with my plates. I do shoulder shrugs and overhead triceps extensions as well as bent over plate rows. I'm sure you do to though so all things considered it will be the compound lift bench vs. old style weighted push ups. In addition I do a 5x10 routine as of right now hitting my chest 3x a week. Mondays @ 80% doing 5x10, wens days 3x10 @ 80% and Fridays being personal rep day so I can load or de-load the next week. Do you want me to start a journal or log it here bro?

the 5x10 and 3x10 you use; is that bench, or pushups?

And ya, start a log, so we can see how it goes.... I have my log over at teamstaley.com so I can link it anytime.

http://www.teamstaley.com/showthread...=13772&page=44

[PushUP]

For bench. I'll start a journal tom. Kind of tired right now but i def will tom

[RichMcGuire]

Eh, I donno, I kind of think a 300 lb bench from pushups is going to be tough unless you have some natural talent. I know there is some carry over from pushups, but there is still the issue of SAID. And some of the biggest increases people see on any movements comes from specific neural adaptions to that movement from the central nervous system.

But good luck, I'll be curious to see what can be done. I used to do 1,000 pushups in an hour each night and have always been a big fan of pushups. So if they work for your goal, great.