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Push ups vs Bench Press
- Thread starter fitwes16
- Start date
Push-ups are a great upper body work out focusing on the arms and chest while benefiting the back & shoulders. I know a number of fighters & grapplers that make push-ups a staple exercise because the strength that is being developed is total body as opposed to an exercise that enhances one muscle group. Its like any other exercise you get out what you put into it.
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Chuck
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Chuck
fitwes16 said:ok wait a minute i guess there are a ton of different ways to do push ups. Could someone show me a routine or something involving all of these i am not sure about any of them except for the standard push up.
Try these links for great info on strength training with body weight exercises
Personally if im no where i can bench press, i'll take two chairs of equal height, spread them apart a little wider than should width and do push ups off of them. I'll do a set like that, then i'll move the chairs further apart and do some really wide push ups (burns like crazy especially since using the chairs allows you to dip MUCH lower than a standard push-up on the ground), and i'll finish with a set of push ups with the chairs close together which works the tri's.
I still bech press but its good every now and then to throw a routine of doing this with 3 sets as i described above each with 12-15 reps.
I still bech press but its good every now and then to throw a routine of doing this with 3 sets as i described above each with 12-15 reps.
lma1973 said:Personally if im no where i can bench press, i'll take two chairs of equal height, spread them apart a little wider than should width and do push ups off of them. I'll do a set like that, then i'll move the chairs further apart and do some really wide push ups (burns like crazy especially since using the chairs allows you to dip MUCH lower than a standard push-up on the ground), and i'll finish with a set of push ups with the chairs close together which works the tri's.
I still bech press but its good every now and then to throw a routine of doing this with 3 sets as i described above each with 12-15 reps.
wow that sounds like a good workout on your pecs I am going to try that! Thanks!
Those are the good ol' Charles Atlas PUs
You have to realize that in an incline position, you are pushing less of your body weight. try doing those with your feet on a stbility ball and feel the difference.
You have to realize that in an incline position, you are pushing less of your body weight. try doing those with your feet on a stbility ball and feel the difference.
Don't be fooled by to the "Gun Slingers"
What is a Gun Slinger? The guy that can be found, usually within eye shot of the mirror, who is throwing around impressive amounts of weights with absolutely no form or proper technique. Gun slingers usually have very narrow-minded, and usually wrong, ideas about physical fitness that most get out of a half-a$$ed read Men's Health mag.
Building muscle is based on two things; tearing and healing muscle fibers. That means the best way to gain mass is to most effectively breakdown the fibers and provide the body with enough protein and calories to do what it does and repair those micro-tears. Those that say you must bench-press to gain size clearly don't know biology. While bench-pressing is an effective way of building muscle, heavy lifting (anything more than 60% your max) is usually counter-productive because: 1- you hardly ever use the muscles you're trying to build and typically add "cheat" muscles to lift. 2-you typically only do a few reps before you can't effectively lift the weight. 3- you are more prone to injury which means you have to take time off and potentially loose whatever bonus lifting heavy may have giving you.
By lifting lightweight, you can focus on both form and the muscles you are trying to make larger (i.e. the chest, tri's, shoulders), do more reps, and avoid injury- all leading to effective muscle fiber breakdown. Accompany this with pauses, squeezes, and slowing down your reps, and I guarantee you will gain size; this especially with push-ups because it is a complex exercise which requires several muscle groups to perform properly. I know several big guys in the army, as well as Jay Cutler (the champion bodybuilder not the QB) use this philosophy with great results.
A great push-up exercise I use is a tri level, high-rep super-set. I set up two platforms, one at a height of 2-3ft and one at 1-2ft, and give myself room to perform regular push-ups as well. Knock out a set of 10-20 on each station, starting from highest to lowest, with no breaks between stations (so 20 incline, 20 half-incline, 20 flat for 60 total without stopping). 2-3 full sets of this (minimizing rest time between full sets) will smoke you.
If you can do more than twenty on each, slow down your reps and decrease rest time (to nil if you have to) so you are hitting muscle failure around your last push-up.
So which is better Push-ups or Bench-press? It really depends on your fitness goals. If your goal is athleticism, health, or endurance related, having a push-up heavy routine may be quiet beneficial. If mass is your goal, a combination of both is great for keeping the muscles guessing (remembering eating has a lot to do with mass gains). If show muscles are your goal, I'm afraid I can't help you; just keep on slinging!!
What is a Gun Slinger? The guy that can be found, usually within eye shot of the mirror, who is throwing around impressive amounts of weights with absolutely no form or proper technique. Gun slingers usually have very narrow-minded, and usually wrong, ideas about physical fitness that most get out of a half-a$$ed read Men's Health mag.
Building muscle is based on two things; tearing and healing muscle fibers. That means the best way to gain mass is to most effectively breakdown the fibers and provide the body with enough protein and calories to do what it does and repair those micro-tears. Those that say you must bench-press to gain size clearly don't know biology. While bench-pressing is an effective way of building muscle, heavy lifting (anything more than 60% your max) is usually counter-productive because: 1- you hardly ever use the muscles you're trying to build and typically add "cheat" muscles to lift. 2-you typically only do a few reps before you can't effectively lift the weight. 3- you are more prone to injury which means you have to take time off and potentially loose whatever bonus lifting heavy may have giving you.
By lifting lightweight, you can focus on both form and the muscles you are trying to make larger (i.e. the chest, tri's, shoulders), do more reps, and avoid injury- all leading to effective muscle fiber breakdown. Accompany this with pauses, squeezes, and slowing down your reps, and I guarantee you will gain size; this especially with push-ups because it is a complex exercise which requires several muscle groups to perform properly. I know several big guys in the army, as well as Jay Cutler (the champion bodybuilder not the QB) use this philosophy with great results.
A great push-up exercise I use is a tri level, high-rep super-set. I set up two platforms, one at a height of 2-3ft and one at 1-2ft, and give myself room to perform regular push-ups as well. Knock out a set of 10-20 on each station, starting from highest to lowest, with no breaks between stations (so 20 incline, 20 half-incline, 20 flat for 60 total without stopping). 2-3 full sets of this (minimizing rest time between full sets) will smoke you.
If you can do more than twenty on each, slow down your reps and decrease rest time (to nil if you have to) so you are hitting muscle failure around your last push-up.
So which is better Push-ups or Bench-press? It really depends on your fitness goals. If your goal is athleticism, health, or endurance related, having a push-up heavy routine may be quiet beneficial. If mass is your goal, a combination of both is great for keeping the muscles guessing (remembering eating has a lot to do with mass gains). If show muscles are your goal, I'm afraid I can't help you; just keep on slinging!!