Help with my conditioning question?

[Black Jack]

Just curious as to the main differences between when I bench press and when I do my push-up routine.

Here are some of the things I am experiancing and can someone give me there educated idea on why.

1. I am 10 times more tired after doing my push up routine than when I am done doing my bench press routine.

I have been weight lifting for a long time, my standard work-out on flat bench press/wide grip, is 1 quick warm up set of 135lbs of 15-20 reps, then to my 5 escalating sets.

Like all workouts, somedays I feel alot stronger, sometimes a lot weaker.

1-155lbs-25 reps, 2-175lbs-20 reps, 3-195-15 reps, 4-205-12 reps, 225-8 reps, done-though soemtimes I will play around and end at 235-240lbs if I have time and a workout partner.

I weigh 175 lbs.

After that I go onto some dips or flys.

2. Push-ups- 5 Sets of 60/alternating between fast counts of ten and slow counts of ten.

I then end with 3 sets of traingle push-ups for my triceps.

When I am done with my push-up routine I am BLASTED, I FEEL ten times more wasted then when I do my weights, I don't have the same external pump, though it is pumped, but my chest is redder and it seems "fuller" inside somehow.

What gives?????????????????????????

How come one does not cross over to the other, or am I just an out of shape *******?

Bench press is a compound excerise for functional strength so I don't get it, I also just re-started my non-iron workout program, trying out some of the old farmer burns and old time workout stuff in addition to the weights.

Any clues?

[Royal Dragon]

When you do push ups, you have the whole body involved as the trunk, back and legs must "stabalize". Where as with the bench your on your back, and the bench isolates the chest, shoulders and arms. The entire rest of the body that would normally "Stabalize" during a pushup, is instead at rest on the bench.

Your just plain not doing as much with a bench press.

Try it Monk style, put a big rock, or a 50 pound wieght on your back and then do pushups and see how that goes. It's way harder than benching 100, and does more for full body than a bench.

[IronFist]

Answers:

Just curious as to the main differences between when I bench press and when I do my push-up routine.

The main difference is that pushups, after 15-25 reps, become primarily an endurance exercise. In other words, you will NOT build raw power with pushups. If you did, powerlifters would train with pushups instead of bench pressing.

1. I am 10 times more tired after doing my push up routine than when I am done doing my bench press routine.

Naturally. Doing pushups involves more muscle fibers over a longer period of time. Which makes you more tired? Squatting a 1RM (1 rep max) or running 8 miles? The running, obviously. While the pushups may not leave you as sore as lifting weights, you are "10 times more tired" because of the endurance factor.

btw, soreness is not indicative of an effective workout.

Like all workouts, somedays I feel alot stronger, sometimes a lot weaker.

That is to be expected.

1-155lbs-25 reps, 2-175lbs-20 reps, 3-195-15 reps, 4-205-12 reps, 225-8 reps, done-though soemtimes I will play around and end at 235-240lbs if I have time and a workout partner. I weigh 175 lbs.


How long do you rest in between sets? 225x8 isn't bad for someone who is 175lbs. These are full reps, bar to the chest, right?

2. Push-ups- 5 Sets of 60/alternating between fast counts of ten and slow counts of ten.

5 sets of 60? That's 300 pushups. That's why you feel more tired.

When I am done with my push-up routine I am BLASTED, I FEEL ten times more wasted then when I do my weights, I don't have the same external pump, though it is pumped, but my chest is redder and it seems "fuller" inside somehow.

You got a pump. Your bench routine above should give you a pump, too, with those weights and those reps. You never said how long you rest in between bench press sets? If you aren't getting enough pump, and that is what you want, reduct the time between bench press sets to between 30 seconds and 1:30.

Note also that like soreness, a pump is not indicitive of a good workout or size/strength gains.

How come one does not cross over to the other, or am I just an out of shape *******?

The same reason running doesn't carry over to your 1RM squat.

Bench press is a compound excerise for functional strength so I don't get it, I also just re-started my non-iron workout program, trying out some of the old farmer burns and old time workout stuff in addition to the weights.

You are getting functional strength from bench. Functional strength does not mean being able to do 300 pushups, it means being able to lift big heavy things in everyday life without trouble. It means using your whole body together to do this. In other words, isolation movements (machine curls, for example) do NOT build functional strength because there is never a time in real life when you need to use ONLY your biceps by themselves.

Hope this helps,

IronFist

[Black Jack]

IronFist,

Yeah they are full range, bar to the chest bench presses, my rest time, though I have never really gauged it is around 2:00+ minutes on the higher weight ranges, in the lower weight ranges I balst right through them with maybe a minute 30.

I do feel pumped with the bench, its just that when I am doing my push ups I am freakin hurting, though now thanks to your post I understand why.

That 175-180 rests on a short 5'7 frame, 17 and half neck so I think thats where I get alot of mine power, either that or I am just strong for my size.

Which makes sense as I can not blast from one set to another as I can with the lower weighted bench presses, they take a bit of recovery time, due to the fact that I am using a lot of other things.

Do you think that my push-up routine will benefit my bench-press in any regard and on a off question, do you think that a push-up routine as mine, will lead to more muscular steration/definition and do you think push-ups are worth it?

Thanks for the advice yee-all.

[Royal Dragon]

The human body develops the quickest, and most profound with a VARIETY of exercises. So, every few week mixs up you routine.

Bench for a wile, then walk away from it, and do a routine of different kinds of push ups, and back to Benching. Alternate in cycles of irregular intervals.

Your push ups will improve your benching, and your benching will improve your pushups. In addition to that, find more ways to work those muscle groups in a large variety of ways. Maybe stop and do tricep curles fro a wile, or make up new exercises to do with your body wieght, or modern wieght set.

[SevenStar]

Iron took the words outta my mouth

[yu shan]

Chiropractic tells me bench press is not good. A very unhealthy movement of the shoulders. What do you think, seeing all the shoulder/dell injury`s, not to mention rotatercuff. Sorry didnt spell right.

[Black Jack]

I think that flat benchpress is one of the best compound workouts for upper body strength on the planet, if somebody said you can only have two free weight excerisces to do for the rest of your life, it would be the bench and squat.

The only reason I am adding this push up routine is because I am experimenting, but I would never gice up weightlifting.

[Royal Dragon]

But I'd have to get to do Traditional Chinese 18 weapon training instead!!:D

[IronFist]

Some people prefer overhead shoulder press to bench press. They say it's more suited to functional strength or something. I personally prefer bench, however, but overhead shoulder press is a cool movement as well that apears to stress the shoulders less than bench.

IronFist

[fa_jing]

Proper form will help prevent injury during bench press. That means arching the back, feet flat on the ground, bring the bar lower than most do, to a line an inch or two BELOW your nipples. That's the form shown me by a world champion power lifter.

PS. My back IS to f'd up to bench anymore, at least for now. But mine is an unusual condition.

-FJ