Today's Daily Transformation

[jgfergus]

Perhaps by brain isn't awake yet this morning but I don't understand John's Push-ups and Body Weight Daily Transformation of today. John, what do you mean by % of body weight when doing push-ups? Do you mean added weight, i.e. a weighted vest?

Cheers,

Jeff

[JoeJustice]

He's referring to the actual amount of weight you are lifting if you're doing a push-ups. So if you weight 200lbs, you're not pushing 200lbs, you're pushing 50%-65% of 200lbs.

-Joe

[jgfergus]

Ah, I get it....thanks guys!

[John Peterson]

Hey guys,

One thing about the bathroom scale is that you must position your hands at exactly the same spot relative to your shoulders in order to get an accurate reading. If you place your hands directly beneath your sternum it will reflect much more weight.


---John Peterson

[Nathan]

This is actually very neat. I will be trying this very soon. :smile-big:

[chris64]

I tried this recently using the gyms scales. They are the type you see at A boxers weigh in so I am assuming very accurate. I am about 67 kg (no poundage on the scale but just under 150 pounds).

I think my hands are slightly narrower in position than usual and maybe 5 inches higher off the floor but in the up position I measured 43.5 kg and in the down just under 50kg so perhaps my bodyweight pitches forward slightly as I descend during a push up?

In any case it looks as if I moving about 2/3 rds of my bodyweight.

[John Peterson]

Hey Chris64,

Your experience matches my own. It seems most of us with an upper body dominant weight distribution are 2/3 or better on how much weight we move with each Push-Up. Naturally the Atlas III and IV utilize much closer to 90% or more due to how much higher the feet are. The same is true for dips performed on parallel bars.

---John Peterson

[chris64]

Thanks John,

I was a little surprised, I thought the ratio would be about half bodyweight. So for someone with more body mass carried in their mid section, does that mean they are moving less percentage of their total bodyweight when they do push ups?