The Way of the Weighted Push Up | Making a Good Exercise Great
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Overview
The Problem
You'd be hard pressed to find an exercise more well known than the push up. For many people, it was likely the first formal exercise they ever did. It's a highly functional movement, works almost all of your upper body pushing muscles in addition to your core, and allows for natural hand placement and scapular movement. This all sounds pretty good, so why do so many people end up choosing to do similar exercises, like the bench press, instead?
In short, adding weight to the push up isn't as straightforward as using free weights. Let's consider the barbell bench press. Assuming you have access to a full array of plates, the bench press can easily be loaded anywhere from 45lbs to 500+lbs. Weight can be added in small increments as you progress. You also know exactly how much you're lifting, making it easy to track your progress over time.
The bench press is a undoubtedly a great exercise, but can its ease of loading be combined with the more natural and safer movement of the push up?
Adding Weight
Over the years, there have been many attempts made to try and successfully answer this question. Some are good, some are not so good. We'll start with the ones that, while not necessarily bad, aren't viable long term for one or more reasons. After that, we'll get into what I believe are the best ways to weight the push up.
This Is Not The Way
Each of these methods work to some degree and may be useful depending on your situation. However, each has at least one significant downside.
Resistance Bands
Resistance bands seem like the ideal method. They're cheap, light, and can add a decent amount of resistance to the push up. If you only need to add a bit of resistance or are traveling, they're a great choice. Be sure to have the resistance band across your back as pictured above. Having it across your shoulders, as pictured below, is much less comfortable since the band hits your arms.
Unfortunately, they also come with a lot of drawbacks. They don't apply weight evenly throughout the rep, often applying no extra resistance at the bottom of the rep. They can get uncomfortable, especially with higher resistance bands, and are fairly limited in the maximum amount of resistance that can be added. It's also almost impossible to know just how much resistance they're adding, making tracking your progress difficult.
Chains
Chains suffer from the same major problem as resistance bands in that it's almost impossible to know how much weight they're adding. While they're much more comfortable than resistance bands, they're also not super cheap and pretty heavy.
Weight on Back
Most people's first thought when trying to add weight to the push up is to simply place a plate on their lower back. And this works pretty well up to a point. It becomes difficult to load and balance the weight alone after about 1 plate unfortunately. This can be alleviated with the help of a spotter/training partner, but even with a spotter, stacking more and more plates gets increasingly precarious.
Resistance Vest
Resistance vests come in two standard types. The first isn't adjustable, is usually 20 lbs or less and is simply a vest filled sand or beads. The second is adjustable, has a max weight of around 40 to 60 lbs and has pockets that hold individual bags filled with sand or beads.
Either way, they're generally better than any of the options so far. You know how much you're lifting, and the weight is securely attached to you. However, they can only go so heavy.
Ruck Plate Carriers
A ruck plate carrier is essentially a backpack that perfectly fits a specific weight plate. It's a slightly more streamlined resistance vest that was designed specifically for military PT. While it can't be loaded very heavy, about 30 lbs at most, it's designed to allow you to comfortably perform all types of exercises. Not ideal if you're only looking for a way to weight your push ups, but could be an option if there are other dynamic exercises you'd like to add a small amount of weight to.
This Is The Way
Standard Backpack
Similar to having the help of a spotter, using a backpack can help with loading and balancing the weight on your back. However, most backpacks simply aren't built to safely hold more than a plate or two. This means, that just like balancing weight plates on your back, they're only good for adding weight up to a certain point.
This seems like a pretty serious downside, and it is. However, depending on the sturdiness of the backpack, you may be able to load it with a high enough weight to challenge you for quite a while. This, combined with the fact that most people already have a decent backpack is why it makes the good list.
Load Trainer
A load trainer is like a backpack that you can load weight plates onto. They're usually used for hiking but in our case are a direct improvement over the standard backpack because they can safely handle a lot more weight. The main downside in this case is the cost. The load trainer and frame come to about $200 from Rogue.
Kensui Ez Vest
The Kensui Ez Vest solves most of the problems of the standard resistance vest. Since it's loaded using standard plates, the weight is easily adjusted and can be loaded much heavier. It also positions the weight more directly above the shoulders. This is good because it takes some stress off your core and your arms are loaded more directly. As with the load trainer, the main downside is the cost, which ranges from $100 to $250 depending on weight capacity.
Elevated with a Dip Belt
Another strong contender is adding weight by using a dip belt placed just below your scapula. Since the weight will be hanging down, you'll need to elevate your feet and hands, leaving space for the weight to hang freely. While the set up is a bit involved, this method allows you to safely load a large amount of weight, know exactly how much weight you're adding, and do so (usually) at minimal cost.
For a great demonstration and explanation of the set up, check out this video by FitnessFAQs for tips.
Tracking Your Progress
One of the main difficulties with the push up (and many calisthenics exercises in general), is precisely tracking your progress and progressing incrementally. Using one of the recommended methods above allows for incremental progression, but how do you figure out just how much weight your pushing?
It's actually fairly easy to get a decently close estimate. Performing a standard push up (in which your hands and feet are level) has you pushing about 70% of your bodyweight on average. Figuring out how much actual resistance the added weight is creating depends on where it's placed. If it's directly above your shoulders, then 100% of it is being pushed by your arms. However, if it's on your lower back, then only 75% of it is being pushed by your arms.
Based on where the added weight is, pick a number between 75% and 100% (90% is a good estimate for most of the recommended methods). So, the equation is: Weight = (Bodyweight * 70%) + (Added Weight * 75% to 100%).
Not too complicated. However, if you don't want to have to do all that math each time, be sure to check out Worked Out Fitness' workout tracking feature. It automatically includes the actual resistance from your bodyweight, calculates your estimated 1RM, and much, much more.
Alternatives
Adding external weight to the push up is definitely a good way to progress your push up. However, it takes away one of its main benefits, which is that the standard push up doesn't require any equipment. Not requiring any equipment means it can be done pretty much anywhere and doesn't cost you a penny.
So, if you're looking to progress your push up without using any equipment, there are two general ways to increase the resistance. The first is by shifting more of your bodyweight onto one arm as you work toward the ultimate goal of doing a one arm push up. For a more thorough explanation on this method, check out this article.
The second way of increasing the resistance is by reducing your leverage by working toward the planche push up. For more info on this method, check out this article.
