When you are doing a normal push-up how much of you body weight are you lifting?
around 60% I think
I've heard 70%, but would be curious to hear from the more informed.
Drew
take a scale, put your hands on it and do the math :)
I don't think the scale would work I think you would be pushing to hard. Plus I don't have one
"I don't think the scale would work I think you would be pushing to hard."
LOL! That's a joke, right?
sadly I dont think it was
63.72%
Bodyweight: 183
Force on hands in pushup position: 116
APPX. 63.4% of my bodyweight.
Of course there is no exact number across individuals. If you look at gopher's number its just about the same as mine, but slightly higher. This means that he is slightly top heavier then i am. The More weight you have higher up, the bigger the percentage will be.
-doug-
Well according to my scale i weigh 161 lbs, but in a pushup position it shows only 112 lbs of weight, which works out at 69.6%. So yep, looks like the 60-70% figure is pretty accurate.
175 and 122. 69.8....
60-70 it is.
I do lots with my feet on a chair, ringside ect, any ideas on how that changes the % up? I'm assuming handstand pushups must be close to 100% or in the high 90's...
I not sure about this 63.4% of your body weight.
What do you think of this test: take your max number of pushups, try to repeat same number of reps on bench press with 63.4% of your body weight... the number of reps should be close.
What's not to be sure about? Its physics....
the pushup and the bench press are not the same. If you are going to do a test like that, the decline might be better.
-doug-
In upper position: 69.3% (150lbs, 104 on scale)
In lower position: 74.7% (150lbs, 112 on scale)
Fact is, it will be slightly different for everyone, since it depends on 1) your height/weight ratio, 2) how high you push up on your toes, and 3) your morphology (whether you're built more like a triangle or a pear or an upsidedown triangle).
Of course, another point is that while you are not pushing up the weight of your hands or wrists (and much of your upper arm as well), these parts ARE included in the number on your scale. So I'd say you should subtract about 20lbs off of what the scale says.So for me:Upper position: 56% ((104-20)/150)Lower Position: 61.3% ((112-20)/150)Most of you are probably pushing 50% to 60% of your bodyweight.
Would doing a handstand pushup be using 100%?
No; like regular pushups, you are not pressing up the weight of your hands and forearms, and only part of the weight of your upper arms. Same deal with pull-ups. But it's a lot closer to 100% than pushups. But then, you aren't pressing as far, either, because your head gets in the way (unless you are on some kind of riser).
So, for example, many people who can do handstand push-ups fairly easily can't military press their bodyweight.