Push-up question

[MDEMT280]

Question about push-ups. Duh. Figured some of our local fitness freaks (*coughSwitchcough*) might know the answer...

I saw a physical fitness test that required either 10 push-ups OR 10 bench press reps at 50% body weight.

It got me to thinking -- I know we all have our weigh distributed differently, but roughly what percentage of our body weight are we pushing during a push-up? Is 50% a good estimate?

[Monotone]

http://www.bodyresults.com/E2pushupb...ghtpercent.asp

Q: When you do pushups, how much of your bodyweight are you using?

A: You can actually figure this out for yourself. Simply get out a calibrated scale (i.e. set it to Zero) and put it on a tile, hardwood or linoleum floor (no rug or carpeting!) where you will have space to do a pushup. Place your hands on the scale, making sure you aren’t touching the bottom portion of the scale in any place. Allow the numbers to come to rest. Record both. Then, weigh yourself. To find what percentage of bodyweight you’re using when doing pushups, simply divide the first number into the second.

In other words, a 150 pound person who sees 105 on the scale in the pushup position is lifting 70% bodyweight at the top portion of the movement. If you want to really get concise, see how the number changes (if it does) when you go to the bottom position. You can also try this both on your feet and on your knees to compare. Have fun!


based on this, it would appear it could be different for every person.

[MDEMT280]

Heh. My Google-fu was non-existent, and the answer, in hindsight, was pretty obvious.

Thanks for the solution. Here I was expecting some sort of algebra, and all it requires is a scale... Jeez. I guess both of my braincells took the night off.

[Samuel]

I saw a physical fitness test that required either 10 push-ups OR 10 bench press reps at 50% body weight.

Jeez, I sure hope that requirement was for the position of Librarian or something...

[noelchabanel]

Jeez, I sure hope that requirement was for the position of Librarian or something...

Books can be heavy, I think even a librarian could do more than 10 pushups :D

[MDEMT280]

Jeez, I sure hope that requirement was for the position of Librarian or something...

Actually, my bad -- it was 15 pushups or 15 reps! :rolleyes:

Yeah, it's really for a LEO position. *shrug* I don't make the rules.

[William]

Hey,

If you have a solid scale to weigh yourself on, you can get in push up position with your hands on the scale to get a good estimate on what % of you body weight you will be lifting during a push up. (It will vary slightly if you lower your body toward the scale)