Quick question about push-ups.

DarwinsFavoriteTortoise

How much of your weight are you actually lifting? For example, is it like 70 percent of the your body weight or something like that?

Just wondering because I don't have access to weight lifting equipment, so I'm just wondering how much I can bench press, since I imagine that the two are actions are very similar (right?).

jclast

Between 35 and 55%.

I'd Fuck Chuck Lidell Up

ultimately it depends on how your weight is distributed, but a good guess as to if you can lift your own weight is againstthe wall pushups (the closer to vertical you get the more weight you are lifting)

also pushups are different from bench presses in a lot of ways, but yes it is the same muscle group

Thanatos

I'd Fuck Chuck Lidell Up wrote: »

ultimately it depends on how your weight is distributed, but a good guess as to if you can lift your own weight is againstthe wall pushups (the closer to vertical you get the more weight you are lifting)

also pushups are different from bench presses in a lot of ways, but yes it is the same muscle group

It is some of the same muscle groups. I would assume that a lot of the stabilizers that get worked in a bench press don't get worked in a pushup, and vice-versa. Those stabilizers are going to be your bottleneck when doing a bench press.

ruzkin

Also depends on your hand positioning when you do the pushup - close in hands (ie, triangle pushups) use a different balance of muscles than wide-spread pushups.

I'd Fuck Chuck Lidell Up

Thanatos wrote: »

I'd Fuck Chuck Lidell Up wrote: »

ultimately it depends on how your weight is distributed, but a good guess as to if you can lift your own weight is againstthe wall pushups (the closer to vertical you get the more weight you are lifting)

also pushups are different from bench presses in a lot of ways, but yes it is the same muscle group

It is some of the same muscle groups. I would assume that a lot of the stabilizers that get worked in a bench press don't get worked in a pushup, and vice-versa. Those stabilizers are going to be your bottleneck when doing a bench press.

this is what i mean by different in a lot of ways.

BlochWave

For example, is it like 70 percent of the your body weight or something like that?

Oh heavens no!

Aren't your thighs the heaviest part of your body (I wanna say 20% of your mass in there, then a bunch of in your butt and stomach, all fairly far from the point where you're applying force)? And you barely lift those. I was doing push ups when I was about 130 pounds and could do 20-30 in a set, and when I started lifting weights I could just eke out a few reps of 95 pounds on bench. Remember that doing a lot of reps of an exercise isn't going to be the best way to increase maximum strength, and push-ups quickly become a high rep exercise.

Also depends on your hand positioning when you do the pushup - close in hands (ie, triangle pushups) use a different balance of muscles than wide-spread pushups.

Well since you can do close and wide grip bench press, I think it's fair to assume he was asking how much he can do of the "equivalent" bench press. If the OP isn't aware, putting your hands close will shift the load from your chest and shoulders to your triceps, and spreading them will put it more on your shoulders.

ultimately it depends on how your weight is distributed, but a good guess as to if you can lift your own weight is againstthe wall pushups (the closer to vertical you get the more weight you are lifting)

Do you mean handstand pushups? In that case, the closer to vertical you are, the more you're really doing the equivalent motion to a military press (which focuses on shoulders and triceps) than a bench press.