is the pushup as effective as the
benchpress if you're into strength
training then you've probably heard the
discussion where the body weight
training or weight training is the best
form of exercise in this video we will
compare push-ups and benchpress on all
important points we will clear up the
myths and give you the facts first we
will take a look at the mechanics both
movements are similar in terms of
shoulder and arm movement the difference
is that your hands are fixed on the
ground pushing up your body weight when
you do a push-up while it's the opposite
when you do the bench press here you
move your arms up and down while your
body is fixed on a bench this difference
is the key point and affect the pros and
the cons for both movements this leads
us to the most discussed point of this
topic how to progress while you can
adjust the resistance for benchpress
easily by adding up more weight it's
much more complicated for push-ups you
can use a weight vest but most vests are
limited to a certain weight and decrease
the range of motion a little bit it's
also possible to add resistance with a
partner the partner can adjust the
intensity by changing the lever and
pushing more or less weight of his body
on yours the lever can be adjusted by
leaning forwards or backwards with the
shoulders or by moving the feet forwards
or backwards the downside of this is
that it's hard to measure how much
resistance he actually adds to your
push-up one day it could be more and the
next day it could be less and you could
probably never get the exact same
resistance again if you don't want to
use a vest or a partner you can also
vary the intensity with your own body
weight you can change the lever or the
amount of contracting fibers to make the
exercise easier or harder to change the
lever you put hands and feet closer
together or further apart by positioning
your body more horizontal or more
vertical
to change the amount of contracting
fibers you fade between bilateral and
unilateral executions with Archer
push-ups or one-arm push-ups while in an
archer push-up the straight arm gives
you a certain amount of support the
one-arm push-up is the hardest
progression you can do for a normal
push-up because you have to move the
same weight with just one arm and have
the amount of contracting fibers the
one-arm push-up is also a lot more
challenging in terms of stabilization
for your core and legs the downside of
this exercise is that the leap from one
to another progression is very big for
benchpress you can add up small and
exact amounts of weight this will allow
you to vary the intensity very easy and
precise for the next point we take an
eye on the widths of your and the
wrist position no matter if you do
push-ups or bench press you can vary the
grip on both exercises easily you either
place your hands white or closer
together when it comes to the wrist
position you should aim for a neutral
and stable wrist when you do the bench
press when you do push-ups you can do
them on your hands
push-up grips rings or on your knuckles
some beginners struggle with the normal
hand position because their wrist is not
used to this motion in that case you
should integrate wrist preparation and
mobility exercises into your warm-up and
training and you can point your fingers
backwards the placement of the weight is
also different while the force in bench
pressing is concentrated above your
wrist the weight is spread over your
complete body in a push-up now let's
move on to the range of motion the basic
push-up and the benchpress have nearly
the same range of motion with a push-up
you reach the ground with your chest
while the bar touches the chest on the
bench press if you want to increase the
range of motion for a better chest
stretch you can do it on both exercise
for the bench press you can use
dumbbells to get deeper and for the
push-ups you can use rings or push-up
grips to increase the range of motion
when it comes to the shoulder blade
movement both have similarities but also
differences the key on both movements is
to bring the shoulder blades together
and open up your chest in a push-up you
move your shoulder blades forward and
downward in the top position where you
aim for a hollow body while it's the
opposite on the bench on the bench you
pull them backwards together and
downwards the whole time
[Music]
this difference leads straight to the
body position while on the push-up you
aim for a backward tilted pelvis and the
neutral spine all respectively around it
back in the top position you aim for a
slightly arch back on the bench press
how much you arch depends on your
training goal a power lifter will use a
bigger arch than a bodybuilder because
the arch will decrease the range of
motion a little bit the arch in general
occurs because you retract your shoulder
blades this will force the body to
extend the spine a little bit and helps
you to stabilize your shoulder the
position of your legs will also trigger
your posterior chain when you push your
legs into the ground you engage your
hamstrings and glutes which forces your
body even more to extend but when you do
a push-up you are in a plank position so
the gravity pulls your body down to the
front that is why you activate your
anterior chain to stabilize the movement
in a bench press you lay on your back
and there's no down pulling force that
you have to work against the weight is
also not spread over your whole body
like in the pushup it's just right above
your wrist
this difference results in the different
body positions to avoid imbalances you
should aim for the right grip and arm
placement on both exercises if you
choose the wrong grip one side has to
push more than the other and this can
lead to imbalances and injuries in the
long term
[Music]
it's the same for push-ups if your body
is more rotated or placed to one side as
already mentioned you can do push-ups on
rings and bench pressing with dumbbells
here you will see imbalances even
clearer because every arm has to push
more for itself the breathing is the
same in both movements no matter if you
move the bar or your body when moving
down what you breathe in when moving
upward you breathe out as you can see
push-ups and benchpress both have their
advantages and disadvantages the best
option would probably be it to implement
both exercises into your workout to get
the most out of this kind of movement
but even if you decide to do only one
you will be able to build up strength
muscle mass and endurance no matter
which one you choose if you have further
questions just leave a comment thanks
Alex