Is it possible to improve your bench press with push-ups at home?
Push-ups target the pectorals, deltoids, and triceps muscles, which are also the main muscles used for the bench press.
Push-ups can help increase muscle mass , muscular endurance, and muscular strength in these muscle groups. This will in turn increase your bench press strength.
Whether you are a gym goer, a bodybuilder or an athlete, many people want to have a big bench press.
Coaches and lifters have their own philosophies on programming and exercise selection to increase bench press.
But a common question we receive frequently is...
Do push-ups help bench press?
Yes, push-ups help the bench press.
Push-ups help bench press performance by improving work capacity, building chest muscle mass.
But also, shoulders and triceps, and maintaining healthy function of the shoulder joint and shoulder blades for longevity of training.
In this article, we'll look at exactly how push-ups can help the bench press, who should and shouldn't do them, and how they can be incorporated into your workout to help the bench press.
How Can Push-Ups Help Bench Press? (3 Ways)
The three ways push-ups can help the bench press are:
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Push-ups work the same muscles used in the bench press.
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Push-ups keep your shoulders healthy for pushing exercises.
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Push-ups can help eliminate sticking points in the bench press.
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Push-ups work the same muscles as the bench press.
Push-ups target the pectoral muscles, deltoids, and triceps, which are also the main muscles used for the bench press.
Push-ups can help increase muscle mass, muscular endurance, and muscular strength in these muscle groups.
If you are used to bench pressing or doing horizontal strength training exercises with higher intensity loads, you can benefit from push-ups.
Push-ups can be performed at high repetitions on a low-load exercise to add a new stimulus for muscular endurance and muscle hypertrophy.
This will increase the work capacity of your bench press workout (i.e. you will be able to perform more sets and reps than before).
If you're a beginner or intermediate lifter, push-ups can provide enough of a stimulus to increase muscle mass and strength (especially if you perform the reps to failure).
This will in turn increase your weight bench strength.
Muscle mass is important for long-term muscular strength gains, as research shows that muscle mass is correlated with strength performance in powerlifters.
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Push-ups help keep shoulders healthy for pushing exercises.
Push-ups allow greater freedom of movement of the shoulder blades and activate muscles such as the serratus anterior (the muscles that surround the rib cage).
This muscle is important for keeping the shoulders healthy during pushing movements.
When we perform the bench press and other common pressing exercises such as the dumbbell bench press, we often keep our shoulder blades stuck back and down.
Over time, we risk overuse injuries in the shoulders and pectoral muscles, especially if the pectorals are trained through a very stretched range of motion.
Push-ups can help by training a similar movement, but allowing more natural range of motion in the shoulders.
Training these stabilizing muscles such as the serratus anterior is helpful for shoulder health and longevity.
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Push-ups can help eliminate sticking points in the bench press.
Push-ups can help address sticking points in the bench press by performing them in different hand positions.
For example, if you tend to flare your elbows too much and fail in the middle position of the bench press, you might benefit from a push-up with a narrow hand position where your elbows are tucked in more.
This also helps target the triceps more, because when you tuck your elbows closer to your side, it reinforces the correct position of your elbows in the bench press, while increasing the range of motion in your triceps.
Who should do push-ups for bench press?
Here are 4 types of people who should use push-ups to increase bench press strength:
- If you have little gym equipment
- If you experience shoulder discomfort while bench pressing.
- If you want to develop your working capacity for the bench press.
- If you hit a plateau in your bench press
- If you have little gym equipment
- If you're someone who works out at home, you may find yourself lacking equipment if all you have is a barbell and a weight bench.
By changing the way you position yourself, you can change the difficulty of the push-ups as you improve (wider to activate the pecs, narrower to activate the triceps).
You can also place a weight on your back to increase the intensity of the push-ups (such as a weight plate).
If you experience shoulder discomfort while bench pressing
If you are someone who does a lot of bench presses or does a lot of bench presses with your shoulder blades stuck back, it may be beneficial for you to do push-ups where you allow yourself to reach and spread your shoulder blades further apart.
As with all ailments and injuries, you should always consult a qualified healthcare professional or physiotherapist to assist you in this area.
But push-ups can be a great alternative to the bench press if you can't perform a loaded dumbbell bench press without pain.
If you want to strengthen your bench press working capacity
Push-ups are an exercise that can be performed at high repetitions as you improve.
This means that you can use push-ups to increase your muscular endurance and energy systems to improve your overall work capacity.
Increasing your work capacity means you can do more bench press work (more sets and reps over time), which is important for sustained progress over the long term.
If you plateau on the bench press
If your bench press is plateauing, you may be struggling to find a position in the bench press range of motion or struggling to perform more reps.
Push-ups are a good way to solve both of these problems:
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They can be performed at high repetitions to increase your rep strength.
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They can be performed with a load to increase maximum strength.
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They can be performed in different positions to overcome sticking points.
Who should not do push-ups for bench press?
Here are two reasons why you shouldn't do push-ups for bench presses:
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If you have trouble keeping your shoulders back during the bench press.
- If you want to improve your bench press technique
- If you have trouble keeping your shoulders back during the bench press
Many beginner lifters have difficulty keeping their shoulder blades back during the bench press. This is an important point in being able to perform the bench press safely.
The push-up movement encourages you to bring your shoulder blades forward (your shoulders are in a more forward position), which is not desirable for the bench press.
So if you are trying to train yourself to keep your shoulders back during the bench press, you should avoid doing push-ups.
Alternative exercises to push-ups that can help the bench press are the incline bench press, close grip bench press, and dumbbell bench press.
If you want to improve your bench press technique
If you are looking to improve your bench press technique because you are inconsistent between reps or have tremors, then you should not do push-ups.
Instead you should focus on the bench press movement and do more work and specificity on the bench press.
Having push-ups in your routine will add a lot of variation, which is not what you want in this case.
Useful variations that you can benefit from with this problem are the tempo bench press where you spend more time lowering the bar to your chest or the long pause bench press where you spend more time holding the bar by your chest.
How to Do Push-Ups to Improve Bench Press? (3 Variations)
Push-ups can be performed in a variety of ways.
So here are 3 variations to try, and the problems they can solve:
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Pumps in deficit
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Narrow Handle Push-Ups
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Push-Ups with Weights
- Pumps in deficit
Deficit push-ups are push-ups performed with the hands elevated.
You should take a look at the following articles that will help you do deficit push-ups:
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Rotating push-up handles
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Wooden push-up handles
Deficit push-ups allow for increased range of motion and a greater stretch in the pecs, making them useful for anyone looking to build more muscle or increase chest strength while bench pressing.
Closed Handle Pumps
Close-grip push-ups are push-ups where your hands are slightly closer together, shoulder-width apart, and held at chest level.
Close grip push-ups are useful for anyone who wants to further stimulate the triceps.
It is also useful for anyone who tends to spread their elbows too far apart when bench pressing, to the point where their elbows are no longer under the bar during the bench press.
Push-ups with weights
Weighted push-ups are regular push-ups where you place a weight on your back.
`This method is useful for anyone who is proficient at push-ups to the point where they can perform a high number of push-ups.
Weighted push-ups are suitable for anyone looking to increase their bench press strength in general, without a specific sticking point.
Week 1
Day: 1
- Push-Ups
3 sets of 8 repetitions
Day: 2
- Push-Ups
2 sets of 8 repetitions
Week 2
Day: 1
- Push-Ups
3 sets of 8 repetitions
Day: 2
- Push-Ups
3 sets of 8 repetitions
Week 3
Day: 1
- Push-Ups
3 sets of 9 repetitions
Day: 2
- Push-Ups
2 sets of 10 repetitions
Week 4
Day: 1
- Push-Ups
3 sets of 9 repetitions
Day: 2
- Push-Ups
3 sets of 10 repetitions
Intermediate Push-Up Program for Bench Press
Week 1
Day: 1
- Push-Ups with Weights
3 sets of 8 repetitions
Day: 2
- Narrow Handle Push-Ups
2 sets of 8 repetitions
Week 2
Day: 1
- Push-Ups with Weights
3 sets of 8 repetitions
Day: 2
- Close-Grip Push-Ups
3 sets of 8 repetitions
Week 3
Day: 1
- Push-Ups with Weights
3 sets of 9 repetitions
Day: 2
- Narrow Handle Push-Ups
2 sets of 10 repetitions
Week 4
Day: 1
- Push-Ups with Weights
3 sets of 9 repetitions
Day: 2
- Close-Grip Push-Ups
3 sets of 10 repetitions
Advanced Bench Press Push-Up Program
Week 1
Day: 1
- Push-Ups with Weights
3 sets of 8 repetitions
Day: 2
- Narrow Handle Push-Ups
2 sets of 10 repetitions
Day: 3
- Deficit Push-Ups
2 sets of 10 repetitions
Week 2
Day: 1
- Push-Ups with Weights
3 sets of 10 repetitions
Day: 2
- Close-Grip Push-Ups
3 sets of 10 repetitions
Day: 3
- Deficit Push-Ups
2 sets of 10 repetitions
Week 3
Day: 1
- Push-Ups with Weights
3 sets of 11 repetitions
Day: 2
- Close-Grip Push-Ups
3 sets of 10 repetitions
Day: 3
- Deficit Push-Ups
3 sets of 10 repetitions
Week 4
Day: 1
- Push-Ups with Weights
3 sets of 12 repetitions
Day: 2
- Narrow Handle Push-Ups
3 sets of 10 repetitions
Day: 3
- Deficit Push-Ups
3 sets of 10 repetitions
Conclusion on Push-ups That Help You Increase Your Bench Press
When you want to increase your bench press, it is important to understand that push-ups are a critical component.
If you don't have good technique, try these and see if it can improve your performance.
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