pushups or bench press

[713832281]

which one would be more beneficial to a more defined chest? Is one better than the other or are both about the same?

[New England]

Bench pressing is generally considered a mass building type excercise
if you want to be bigger a gross movement like a bench press shoudl be in your routine


pushups are better for building athletic muscles in my opinion

but if you are looking to bulk up they wont be enough


i used to lift weights six days a week

if you want my advice
go for a run instead
it's better for your health and performance as an athlete

[SplitSecond]

bench presses will define ur chest, leave ur arms heavy and give u muscle for show

[Sugarj]

Well it really depends on the weight you lift, the amount of reps you do and how good your technique is (no jerking movements, full range of motion to chest and back).

If you bench press a weight comparable to the weight of a pressup you will likely get a similar result with both exercises (if technique is good). It isn't difficult to rattle off 50-100 pressups in one go with moderate training.

The thing is, the bench press is usually used to build muscle, therefore heavier weights are usually used with lower reps. Pressups with quite a high number of reps are very much a toning/aerobic/cardio building exercise.

In my opinion the bench press is of benefit because you can also train on an incline or decline, thus giving upper and lower pectorals better development than the standard pressup.

I do both, excellent exercises...

[Jack3d]

Bench pressing is generally considered a mass building type excercise
if you want to be bigger a gross movement like a bench press shoudl be in your routine


pushups are better for building athletic muscles in my opinion

but if you are looking to bulk up they wont be enough


i used to lift weights six days a week

if you want my advice
go for a run instead
it's better for your health and performance as an athlete

bench presses will define ur chest, leave ur arms heavy and give u muscle for show

[Toy Story 3]

From my experience bench press is better. Makes your chest and arms stronger. I felt faster and stronger than ever when I was weight lifting. Stretch after you work out. It helps recovery and lets those amino acids flow. Push ups are good for stamina/endurance type of training. It's up to you whatever you want to do.

[BrooklynBomber]

Bench press, now I dont mind all sorts of bodyweight programs, but honestly, if you want a decent chest you gotta press heavy weights. push ups really serve a different purpose rather then build chest, they are there for an overall muscular endurance and coordination of movement(more complicated forms of push ups)

[Bastian Loc]

Pushups are far superior and provide you with functional strength unlike benching which just isolates one part of the body.

Don't listen to all this disinfo, you can be plenty ripped doing pushups alone and bodyweight exercises in general are just better for all around fitness.


Pushups also work out more parts of the body at once so you get more bang for your buck doing one pushup.

Weights are literally a waste of your time except for very narrow uses.

I'm pretty sure there are guys here that can bench a **** load of weight and look cool at they gym in front of other guys but probably couldn't do the more difficult push up variations, much less something like a one handed pushup or a planche pushup.

[BrooklynBomber]

Pushups are far superior and provide you with functional strength unlike benching which just isolates one part of the body.

Don't listen to all this disinfo, you can be plenty ripped doing pushups alone and bodyweight exercises in general are just better for all around fitness.


Pushups also work out more parts of the body at once so you get more bang for your buck doing one pushup.

Weights are literally a waste of your time except for very narrow uses.

I'm pretty sure there are guys here that can bench a **** load of weight and look cool at they gym in front of other guys but probably couldn't do the more difficult push up variations, much less something like a one handed pushup or a planche pushup.

I read the bolded and had the "lmao" moment.
You do realize that bench press movement starts with the legs, it is NOT an isolation movement. Correct bench press form, the form that lets you actually press serious weight, recruits almost every major muscle group on your body.
Now, I got to admit that bench press is not the best exercise in the gym for overall strength or fitness, but to dismiss it as "for the show" is completely bias and unnecessary.

[Bastian Loc]

I read the bolded and had the "lmao" moment.
You do realize that bench press movement starts with the legs, it is NOT an isolation movement. Correct bench press form, the form that lets you actually press serious weight, recruits almost every major muscle group on your body.
Now, I got to admit that bench press is not the best exercise in the gym for overall strength or fitness, but to dismiss it as "for the show" is completely bias and unnecessary.

We're talking about traditional benchpressing here right? With your back on a bench?

I don't ever remember benchpressing and feeling as though my legs were involved in any significant way.

It always felt like a complete isolation movement on my body.