Are weighted push ups a valid substitute, for endurance, strength, and power? Is it safe to put weight on your back? I’m up to point where i can do 135 pounds on my back 8 times…is that safe? is it ok? i feels great on my shoulders compared to benching but is it possible to make the same gains?
Thanks for your time.
moving weight is moving weight.
Don’t over think the situation, i’m sure your body looks alot better and feels stonger than when you could do 10lbs on your back.
If something is painful you will feel it. If something feels great you will know.
actually there are 2 kinds of moving weight and they are quite different. there are closed-chain movements meaning the body itself moves against the resistance as in a push up and open-chain movements like a bench press where the body remains stationary and the restistance moves.
it’s been said that closed-chain movements are superior to open chain ones. so this suggests that push ups are superior to bench presses, pull ups are superior to pull downs and squats superior to leg presses. but of course the weighted push up is just too troublesome amd impractical to use with very heavy weight for obvious reasons. but they do come in handy when super setting.
after a set of heavy dumbbell flys or cable crossovers, immediately go into a set of weighted pushups. believe me you wont need much weight to reap the benefits.
Weighted dips perhaps?
1morerep I think I’m going to have to try that, good suggestion.
A weighted pushup compared to bench seems to be kind of like a leg press compared to a squat, there isn’t as much body stabilization involved in doing a weighted pushup, or, I should say, there is a different kind of stabilization and to a lesser degree. How do you throw that much weight on your back? just a backpack with three 45 lb. plates in it or what?
weighted dips are fantastic. again closed chain - body moving agaist resistance. and thanks StevenF…yes give it a try. you will not believe the pump you get.
the best and safest way to put weight on yourself would be a weight vest, however they can be quite expensive. I haven’t heard of any other safe ways to stack weight on yourself. One thing I might add is to remember to do your push-ups using dumbbells as it’ll make it easier on the wrists and you’ll get a better contraction.
[quote]Tulkastaldo wrote:
A weighted pushup compared to bench seems to be kind of like a leg press compared to a squat, there isn’t as much body stabilization involved in doing a weighted pushup, or, I should say, there is a different kind of stabilization and to a lesser degree. How do you throw that much weight on your back? just a backpack with three 45 lb. plates in it or what? [/quote]
well that’s what i meant…it isn’t practical. but if used in a super set where you’re per-exhausting your chest with a fly movement, you don’t need a lot of weight on your back to reach failure. and you could always get a hot girl to sit on your back!
My chest and triceps blow up like crazy when I do push ups, BUT...it's all pump and no substance. You have some 'body weight only' routines out there but look at the guys who do them- not too good of an endorsement (dont say matt furey because he was a power lifter before he made up hos crazy system). You can try doing these push ups for a while but you'll soon hit a maintenance level that you can't move beyond...well...because it's just push ups.
I think they are actually very good. As mentioned they are open-chain which allows the serratus anterior to get involved because the shoulder blades are allowed to move. This can be good if you experience winging or have any imbalances with your shoulders.
If you have a work out partner just have him load the plates on your back and balance them while you push. We have safely done 4 plates and are thinking of rigging a sled with padding or something and shoulder straps so we can go heavier and not have plates sliding all over the place.
I like them a lot, and there is a much greater stabilization component to them, contrary to what somebody said earlier.
The only thing I would be concerned about is your joints, particularly your wrist. But I don’t know enough about the subject of weighted push-ups to know whether that is a valid concern. Save to say, that is the one thing that pops to mind.
For instance, I can do ~100 pushups unweighted, but afterward I feel like I just put a very excessive and probably dangerous stress on my wrists. So I use push-up bars(fancy way of saying, my dumbbells) or I do them on my knuckles. I can’t do quite as many this way, but it feels a lot more natural of a movement?
I’ve tried doing weighted push-ups in the past, but I could never figure out a good way to do them really. I don’t have a weight vest or anything like that, so I just tried putting a bunch of 10s in a backpack, strapping the pack on really tight and going at it. It worked for a few reps, but then the weight started to slip around and it again felt like injury territory.
I couldn’t fit 45s in the backpack, and I didn’t have any 25s at this time… or a hot girl laying around… oops.
I sincerely hope you’re joking. A weighted pushup would involve a lot more stabilization. A weighted pushup is the equivalent oif a weighted dip and squat. Trouble is its very difficult to hold trhe weight on your back, and you can end up damaging soft tissue.
[quote]Tulkastaldo wrote:
A weighted pushup compared to bench seems to be kind of like a leg press compared to a squat, there isn’t as much body stabilization involved in doing a weighted pushup, or, I should say, there is a different kind of stabilization and to a lesser degree. How do you throw that much weight on your back? just a backpack with three 45 lb. plates in it or what? [/quote]
[quote]u_mombooto wrote:
I sincerely hope you’re joking. A weighted pushup would involve a lot more stabilization. [/quote]
not at all. The weighted pushup might involve core stabilization and such, much like the normal pushup, but in the bench press the weight is applied to the wrists, forcing stabilization of deltoids, pecs and triceps in order to keep the weight from crushing you.(or the weight sliding off if you’re one of those people who don’t use clips)
In the pushup, regardless of how much weight you use, you have a nice solid floor to push against,and your back to stabilize the weight. The stabilization comes then from the proximal end of your arms because the weight is behind you instead of in your hands. The support of the weight is more evenly distributed and therefore less intense.
While you equate the pushup with a squat, I’ve never felt it in my quads when doing pushups with 100 lbs. in a backpack, (unless you count the process of standing up afterwards.)
Moving weight is moving weight my friend.
I’d be interested in any other ways people have added weight without risking injury on this movement.
[quote]gswork wrote:
I’d be interested in any other ways people have added weight without risking injury on this movement.[/quote]
If me and my friend get that sled rigged I will let you know how we did it.
[quote]bealedozer wrote:
Moving weight is moving weight my friend.[/quote]
as i said earlier…not true. open chain and closed chain movements…big difference!