Anyone out there doing weighted pushups?

sakfjgadsyukgf

sakfjgadsyukgf

Orange Belt
Joined
Aug 26, 2014
Messages
397
Reaction score
169
Considering replacing benching with it. I'm old, have a SLAP tear on one shoulder, and my elbows don't really appreciate benching anymore either. Looking for an exercise where I can stay strong but not stress my joints a ton as I get older here. I also don't put a ton of emphasis on pushing movements and don't really care if it's subpar, so long as I'm doing something and kinda checking that box.

I read a bunch of articles online that said weighted pushups are a great exercise- more natural ROM for the shoulders & elbows, uses the serratus muscles more, and so on. Anyone like them? Get good results out of them? I guess I'm gonna start by just kneeling, holding a weight on my back and then lowering myself into position. (Guess I'll have to just shrug the weight off at the end, haha). Just looked at weighted vests on Amazon- $60 for the lighter ones is OK I guess, $300 for the heavier ones is highway robbery.

I'd be open to trying dumbbell bench too, but it seems awful risky with my SLAP tear- that arm would be pretty unstable once I'm fatigued
 
If you get to 1000, you can order the 400 Bench Club shirt


Spent months doing variation push ups after massive flood changed living situation. 2 cinder blocks and would do leg elevated, hands on blocks, spring up push ups, pike push ups, hand stand push ups. You can use the 8 inch or 16 inch height of them.

If you want to weight load solo, get a bench (or 2 chairs) and do feet on floor dips. You can balance a few plates on yourself and slide into position.
 
Thinking about this a little more- if I got strong enough and putting weights in a backpack got to be too annoying- there has to be a machine I could use to add more weight. Like those leg drive machines- I could just stand in front of it and put my hands on the push plate, instead of my feet- right? Would still be a closed chain exercise, and you could add almost unlimited weight that way
 
I did them previously as part of one of the Sheiko variants I was running. I like them. I've done them mainly the way you mentioned, with a plate on the back, but lately have seen a few people doing them with a dip belt around their waist and weights hanging from it, doing the push-ups between a couple of medium-high hurdles with feet on a plyo box, which seems like a cool way to give them a go.
 
sakfjgadsyukgf said:
Thinking about this a little more- if I got strong enough and putting weights in a backpack got to be too annoying- there has to be a machine I could use to add more weight. Like those leg drive machines- I could just stand in front of it and put my hands on the push plate, instead of my feet- right? Would still be a closed chain exercise, and you could add almost unlimited weight that way
Click to expand...

Lever arms or Rogue 50cal trolley . Can be set up for different angles of push or bench. Gonna cost a few hundred to a thousand if you already have a rack.
 
I was having shoulder tweaks on bench that I was blaming on the unracking process since I lift alone. I bought monolifts and I really like them, no more unracking and no more shoulder pain. Good for squats too. I've read that multigrip bars can help make bench less painful, but I don't have any experience with them.
 
Poon Goon said:
I was having shoulder tweaks on bench that I was blaming on the unracking process since I lift alone. I bought monolifts and I really like them, no more unracking and no more shoulder pain. Good for squats too. I've read that multigrip bars can help make bench less painful, but I don't have any experience with them.
Click to expand...

I'd go for the full set of angled grips. Not the ----I I / \ I I----
but the ones that look like ----/ / / / \ \ \ \----

Those parallel handles aren't shoulder friendly at all on bench. After 5-6 reps, have to rerack and change grip. If you can afford the Kabuki Kadillac that one supposedly rotates (not sure) to take the stress off.

The Yukon feels good, able to lower it more than a flat bar to stretch the pecs. As will dumbbells.
 
I think it would be hard to load them too much after a while. I have an 80lb vest. At full capacity, just putting that thing on is a fucking chore. If you're doing mostly higher rep stuff, that might not be a problem.

Another good option would be to make overhead pressing your main upper body movement and leave bench variations just as assistance, if it's easier on your shoulders. You can get pretty strong with overhead pressing.
 
Have you tried doing weighted dips? I've had much easier time self loading and unloading the extra weight with a chain belt. You can experiment with different variations and see if there's one which doesn't hurt your shoulders. You can change the width of the bars, how much you lean forward, etc.

For push ups, I've played around with different hand placement (width), elevating feet, tempo, as well as doing one arm push ups. I've had a training partner stack plates on my back (for weighted ones) but it becomes increasingly difficult to balance them as well as the need to have a 2nd person to help out.
 
I have done them a lot and i will do them again soon. I started because i injured my left shoulder in a bike accident in 2020 and it never properly healed. And bench pressing aggravates my injury all the time while push-ups do not, at less not to the same extent. I literally started bench pressing again two weeks ago and here i am with my injury flaring up again and a huge setback in my rehab again.

I do them with the plates on the back version, i found out i could put 2 plates without balancing problems. You just have to get used to it.

Be very careful to not place the plates too high on your back, do not let them touch or cover the shoulder blades. The main benefit of pushups is that they let the shoulder blades move freely which is the way our shoulders were meant to function when pressing. If you put the plate too high on your back you lose that benefit.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Oh yea, obvious answer slipped trying to over think it. Resistance bands. Grab each end and put the band on your back. Now regular push ups pull you back to ground.

giphy.gif
 
Researching it a little more, apparently this is the best way to go heavy. I can't figure out how to embed images here, so either skip to 3:30 on the video, or just to visualize it- you set up three benches, use a dip belt to hang weights off your torso, and do pushups off of that. Looks cool

 
Soft bumper plates stack fairly well but it's still difficult once you get to 100 lbs.
I made a sleeve to load plates together. Helps with balance but still difficult to setup without a partner if you're going very heavy.
I don't really like loading up with bands, puts way too much pressure on your wrists.
 
Fahcough said:
Oh yea, obvious answer slipped trying to over think it. Resistance bands. Grab each end and put the band on your back. Now regular push ups pull you back to ground.

giphy.gif
Click to expand...

Problem with bands is that they offer almost no resistance at the bottom, where your chest works the most. They're good for overloading the top of the movement and the triceps tho
 
Bands and chains are a good option but the loading is uneven compared to weights. Both provide more resistance at the top than the bottom. However in the absence of weights or space, they are solid options.
 
I like using bands for pushups. I hold on to the base of my rack while I use one band like in the gif above. Then I also use reverse bands from the top of my rack. I push myself up and then pull myself back down. That way I can get two birds stoned at the same time by doing my rows at the same time I do my pushups. Keeps things in balance.
 
I do a lot of landmine presses and floor presses if my shoulders start bothering me. I grease the groove with regular bodyweight pushups throughout the week as well.

Played around with weighted pushups in the past and like everyone says, loading them becomes impossible at a certain point. You could always go for higher reps if max strength isn't your thing. Throw 25lbs in a back pack and try to get through one of those 100 pushup programs with the extra weight. That should keep your entertained for a while.
 
Last edited:
I use banded pushups as an assistance exercise. They're cool.
 
Iron Monger said:
Problem with bands is that they offer almost no resistance at the bottom, where your chest works the most. They're good for overloading the top of the movement and the triceps tho
Click to expand...
Depends on the band you're using. Use a strong or mammoth band from EliteFTS and the resistance comes in immediately.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,236,972
Messages
55,458,152
Members
174,787
Latest member
Freddie556

Share this page

Back
Top