in gym i am able to do a flat bench press of up to 40-45kg.....20-25kg feels like nothing.....but i am not able to do push ups ...maximum i have done in my life is 20 pushups on some lucky day...if i am doing 5 pushups rather 2 push up they does not feel effortless ....my first push up will feel like i am doing 100th....why is it so.....?i read some where that it is because of unbalanced training ...but on Wikipedia i found that both exercise target almost same muscle group...can some one clarify???
The bench press doesn't engage your core as much as push-ups do. A perfect push-up means your body stays in a straight line all throughout the movement -- a requirement that doesn't apply to the bench press. Work on your core strength with exercises like the plank. If you can't hold the top of a push-up for more than 15 seconds, you have a very weak core. It might also be that while you have the muscular strength to perform a push-up, you don't necessarily have the muscular ENDURANCE to perform A LOT of push-ups. Best way to work on that is...lots of push-ups! Just bang out as many as you can, whether it's 10 or 20 or 100, whenever you can.
Just take a push little by little until you will come up as many as you can.
20 pushups are actually great,if you do them correctly and without cheating! Usually those who cant do alot of pushups usually have neglected their shoulders or triceps,so while their chest can handle it,the other smaller muscles cant!Plus pushups require a trained core (lower back and abs) so you can add the plank to your exercises to strengthen your core. Tricep dips (4 sets of 12) are also great to make your arm a lot stronger!
Yes, bench press and push ups do use the same muscles - chest, triceps, deltoids. In essence it is a very similar movement - pushing your arms away from yourself. It's hard to say why you aren't able to do push ups as well as bench press but nevertheless you can improve you srenght in push ups by doing them the easy way first. The easy way being - you in a push up position but your knees on the ground as this will make it a bit easier. I'd say complete as many reps as you can for 3-4 sets this should make you gradually stronger and you soon will be able to do more regular push ups.
