Bench press vs Push ups

I have been asked if how heavy I bench press and I politely replied “50”. I can do 50 push up in minute. The girl looks puzzle.

I have been hitting the gym for almost 30 years already. The first time I have ever stepped in a gym was in my college days. It was funny then because they referred the gym as PRT. Maybe it means Physical Resistance Training. Anyway one of the famous PRT gyms I used to go was Baseline and Body Centrum. To my recollection, I have never seen anyone doing push-up. Anyway, so the question now is which is which, bench press or push?

We need to know the comparison between the 2 in terms of Form & Function, Muscle activation & Strength gains.

Form and function

Bench press: When doing a bench press, one usually lies on the bench which stabilizes your back, core and legs. Avoid arching your back and hyper extending your elbows. Aim for full range of motion. Try to put your legs up or put it on top of the bench and avoid pushing the floor which usually results in arching your back.

Spotter are usually there to assist you in times of trouble especially if you are lifting heavier weights but it does not mean the spotter will carry the load for you. 

The heaviest I have lifted in the bench press was 240 lbs. which was around 109 kgs.(single rep only)

Push up:  In the Biggest Loser Camp, the first exercise they ask me to do was push up. Surprisingly I could not do a single PUSH UP.

Your body is constantly moving when you are doing the push up, so the exercise involves more joint motion, more muscle recruitment and core activation for stabilization. But again same with the bench press one can’t achieve maximum gains with the perfect form. One basic form one should focus on is drawing an  imaginary sloping line that starts from your head, back butt, leg and your heel. This line must be constantly straight as your move up and down, bringing your chest down almost an inch or 2 away from the floor.

Muscle activation and strength gains

Bench Press and Push up mainly have similar muscle activation. The main muscle involve is the Chest, and recruitment muscles are tricep, shoulder and back.  The bench press thou is more focused & isolated on the chest muscle because your back is stabilized which eliminates the movement of the core and back.

Both have similar strength gains when performed with proper form and load. With the bench press the loading is easier as you only need to add weight plates, compared to push up where in there are tons of variations on the push up which makes it harder. Bench press also has variations like using dumbbell which also simulates more movement because separate weight load in each hand. Then there is the inclined bench press and declined bench press which target specific parts of your chest muscle. But again this can be achieved with the push up, some simple variation of push up is simply leaning your body forward makes it harder. You can also elevate your feet which simulates the decline push up. Then there is the position of hands which activates different parts of your chest like diamond push up, close grip, crucifix push up or the one hand push up.

The push up simulates more of the real life functional movement like throwing, shooting, catching or punching. Because of the stabilization movement it benefits your core, hips, legs almost every part of your body. Bench press thou can gain strength faster with lesser reps and you can push yourself to the limit with the help of a spotter which can put your muscle to exhaustion and translates to faster maximal strength gains. But sad to say it can’t be translated directly to real life functional movement. Although getting stronger in Bench press does not directly mean you get stronger in push up or vice versa. Bench Press is about absolute faster maximal strength gain, pushing the most weight possible.

To summarize, the main benefits of BENCH PRESS are focus on maximal pushing power and strength. Faster and lesser time working out and additional load progressing or regressing is easier, simply by adding weights plate, without changing the movement. It isolates and focuses the targeted muscle and it is easiest way to make your activate the chest muscles with less reps. PUSH UP, on the other hand, does not need any equipment, so you can do it anytime, anywhere and still have gains. You can focus on functional body weight strength movement especially if you are into competition in race or game like situation. Although progress load is tougher and needs skills to perform but it activates and recruits more muscle thru core activation and stabilization.

The problem with people going to the gym is that they let mouth do the exercise. Some may be more on focus on his or her gym attire and talk more than they exercise. Others are also more focus on the after gym party where they go out and drink and eat.

For me, it all depends on your goals, gaining or muscle burning fat, both exercises can make you build muscle, burn muscle, get fitter and look better. What is important is to constantly change your workout routine to keep your body guessing.

I always recommend mixing it up both Bench press and Push up to get maximal benefit from strength, power, core activation, whole body or more muscle recruitment and most of all the real life, functional movement benefits.

You can visit my website at www.alanchoachuy.com at www.facebook.com/metafitcebu. For comments, you can reach me at [email protected].