Is doing a pushup the same as benching your weight?
Olivia Hensley
Updated on March 12, 2026
Although push-ups are a killer overall exercise, lots of people consider them no match for the weight you can heft with a bar and iron plates. It's true, a push-up just can't replace a bench press if you're looking for massive gains and already benching a lot more pounds than your body weight.
Is a pushup the same as benching body weight?
Bench Press is about absolute strength – pushing the most weight possible, whereas Push Up is about relative strength – how efficiently you can use your own body-weight. It all depends on your goals, both exercises can make you build muscle, get fitter and look better.Do bodybuilders do push-ups?
Most bodybuilders do not use push-ups to develop these muscles, as they can do so many; it is more of an endurance workout than a muscle building workout. True muscle building workouts involved sets with a very maximum of 12 reps, and it's usually less than 8 reps.Do push-ups build bigger chest?
Shown to target your chest, front deltoids, and core, the push-up is an excellent upper body exercise that can increase chest size, strength, and endurance. Whether you are just starting your fitness journey or you're a fitness junkie looking for new ways to get a bigger chest, push-up variations are the answer.Can push-ups replace weightlifting?
A January 2015 study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research showed that when comparable in resistance, the push-up and bench press provide similar muscle gains. This means weights and push-ups can offer the same benefit, as long as you're able to make the push-ups hard enough.Can you replace the Bench Press with Weighted Pushups?
Why can I do a pushup but not bench my weight?
While doing push-ups, you don't push your whole body weight. You have your toes on the ground, so your body weight is distributed between your feet and your arms. While benching, you have no support from feet. You hold the whole weight with your arms, so benching your body weight is always tougher.Will pushups increase my bench?
Do push-ups help the bench press? Yes, push-ups do help the bench press. Push-ups help bench press performance by improving work capacity, building muscle mass in the chest, shoulders, and triceps, and maintaining healthy function of the shoulder joint and shoulder blades for training longevity.How much can you bench based on push-ups?
Full Push-upUsing the above information, the following could be concluded: For a 140-pound person doing a modified push-up, he or she would be lifting: Approximately 75 pounds of his/her bodyweight in the up position. In the down position, he/she would be lifting approximately 86 pounds.
What percent of your body weight is lifted in a pushup?
Push-Ups and Bodyweight PercentageFortunately for fitness buffs, the Cooper Institute found that you support 69.16 percent of your body weight in the up position of a push-up, and 75.04 percent in the down position.