Bench press weight v. pushups

[Rotwang]

It's been too long since I took physics in high school, although I remember doing problems like this. I weigh 180 pounds. When I do a pushup, what is the approximate equivalent bench press weight?

Just curious.

[Irishdazza]

66%x180=120

[jruck37]

I'm not sure what the formula is. However, you could try getting into pushup position with your hands on a scale. That might be your most accurate way to figure it out. Also, keep in mind that while similar, the pushup is not exactly the same movement as the bench press. Thus, your results may vary.

[Alcoholiday]

pushup=closed chain movement

bench=open chain movement

[Rotwang]

Alcoholiday, does "closed chain" and "open chain" refer to the fact that one has to keep one's body stiff during the movement?

[Frank.S]

Im not so sure there is much relation. I weigh around 190lbs.
Now, I can do about 90-100 real pushups.

But there is no way I could rep out 135lbs 100x on a bench press.

[Alcoholiday]

Originally Posted by Rotwang

Alcoholiday, does "closed chain" and "open chain" refer to the fact that one has to keep one's body stiff during the movement?

i'm pretty sure it refers to the fact that one's arms or feet are free to move during the movement, and not in a set pattern (open).

Correct me if i'm wrong eric or tony.

[Mountain_marc]

Originally Posted by Frank.S

Now, I can do about 90-100 real pushups.

Non-stop, in a row?

[Frank.S]

Originally Posted by Mountain_marc

Non-stop, in a row?

Maybe lock out at the top for a little and take a few breaths, but more or less. Just somthing ive always been able to do, old fitness tests in high school was pretty big focuses on pushups so I just practaced them alot.

[spankdat]

Originally Posted by Frank.S

Maybe lock out at the top for a little and take a few breaths, but more or less. Just somthing ive always been able to do, old fitness tests in high school was pretty big focuses on pushups so I just practaced them alot.

That's pretty good, but try this once, just for grins. Hang a bar from some straps on each end so it floats a few inches off the floor. Elevate your feet on something stabile by the same amount and see how many pushups you can do on the bar. I'd be willing to bet it would be pretty darn close to the same number of reps you can do with 135 lbs.

By the way, I did the scale trick just this past weekend and Irishdazza is correct, standard pushups are approx. 66% of bodyweight. Feet elevated 18" is approx. 76%.

[Frank.S]

Originally Posted by spankdat

That's pretty good, but try this once, just for grins. Hang a bar from some straps on each end so it floats a few inches off the floor. Elevate your feet on something stabile by the same amount and see how many pushups you can do on the bar. I'd be willing to bet it would be pretty darn close to the same number of reps you can do with 135 lbs.

By the way, I did the scale trick just this past weekend and Irishdazza is correct, standard pushups are approx. 66% of bodyweight. Feet elevated 18" is approx. 76%.

Thats pretty interesting I bet your right.

I have some flex bands that I put around a powerrack and tried to do pushups off of them (sorta hard to explain). But it was much harder I could do about 2.

Ill try that pretty soon!

[bipennate]

Originally Posted by Alcoholiday

i'm pretty sure it refers to the fact that one's arms or feet are free to move during the movement, and not in a set pattern (open).

Correct me if i'm wrong eric or tony or bip.

Oh, what was that? Someone asked me a question? :p

Open chain movement is a movement where the distal segment (i.e. the far bone, away from the joint) is moving on a fixed proximal segment (i.e. the closer bone leading to the joint). Take a leg extension vs. a squat (the classic example): in a leg extension, where the tibia (shin bone) moves on a fixed femur (thigh bone), there is an arthrokinematic rotation of the tibia into the epicondyles of the femur (called the "screw-home mechanism). On the other hand, in a squat, you have the femur moving on a fixed tibia (looking at the kinesthetic chain, you see that the tibia is fixed to the floor by nature of its attachment to the bones of the foot, which means that the femur must move instead), and the femur, therefore, will rotate into the condyles of the tibia.

There are some differences in muscle activation and supporting structures (think ligaments and tendons), but otherwise there isn't a big impact on the worth of the exercise (you should realize, however, that there are implications for training your neural patterns, especially for a "real-world" or athletic purpose, where most upper body movement is open chain, and most lower body movement is closed, or possibly mixed in walking and running. There are also very important implications with rehab, as well).

[Irishdazza]

Jeez Bip! He didn't ask that!He asked whether he was wrong! I don't know give a guy some super fitness related qualification, let him publish a few articles, have loads of people respect and value his opinion and it all goes to his head!Thanks by the way....I almost understood some of that!

[EdChap]

If only there was a smiley to show my head exploding!

[Rotwang]

I lost it around the word "distal". Thanks for the answer, Bip.

[spankdat]

Originally Posted by bipennate

Oh, what was that? Someone asked me a question? :p

Open chain movement is a movement where the distal segment (i.e. the far bone, away from the joint) is moving on a fixed proximal segment (i.e. the closer bone leading to the joint). Take a leg extension vs. a squat (the classic example): in a leg extension, where the tibia (shin bone) moves on a fixed femur (thigh bone), there is an arthrokinematic rotation of the tibia into the epicondyles of the femur (called the "screw-home mechanism). On the other hand, in a squat, you have the femur moving on a fixed tibia (looking at the kinesthetic chain, you see that the tibia is fixed to the floor by nature of its attachment to the bones of the foot, which means that the femur must move instead), and the femur, therefore, will rotate into the condyles of the tibia...

Okay, so if I apply this example to the bench/pushup open or closed chain question and interpret it correctly, Alcoholiday is right, bench is open and pushups are closed. Yes?

[bipennate]

Originally Posted by spankdat

Okay, so if I apply this example to the bench/pushup open or closed chain question and interpret it correctly, Alcoholiday is right, bench is open and pushups are closed. Yes?

Yep!