Bench Press vs. Push-Ups: Which Builds More Muscle? (What 4 Studies Found)

Last updated: June 2026

Bench Press vs. Push-Ups: Which Builds More Muscle?

When intensity is matched and both exercises are trained close to failure, push-ups and bench press produce statistically similar muscle growth in the chest and triceps. This is the consistent finding across four independent peer-reviewed studies. The difference between the two exercises is not which one builds more muscle — it is how you apply progressive overload, what muscles are activated differently, and when one stops being a useful training tool.

The short answer to “which is better”: bench press is easier to load progressively and demands more shoulder stabiliser activation. Push-ups build more total-body tension, develop core stability simultaneously, and can match the bench press for hypertrophy when programmed correctly. Most people would benefit from having both in their training.

Muscles Worked: Push-Ups vs. Bench Press

Both exercises are horizontal pressing movements involving the same primary muscles. The differences are in which secondary muscles are recruited and to what degree.

Muscle	Push-Ups	Bench Press	Key Difference
Pectoralis major	Primary	Primary	Similar activation in both
Anterior deltoid	Higher (eccentric phase)	Lower (eccentric phase)	Push-ups demand more shoulder stabilisation on the way down
Triceps brachii	Lower (concentric)	Higher (concentric)	Bench press drives more tricep activation on the push
Biceps brachii	Lower	Higher	Bench press recruits biceps for stabilisation against barbell instability
Core / abdominals	Significant	Minimal	Push-ups require active planking throughout; bench press is stabilised by the bench
Glutes / quads	Moderate (body tension)	None	Push-ups engage lower body for total body rigidity
Serratus anterior	High	Moderate	Push-ups drive more scapular protraction at the top

The EMG finding that matters most practically: push-ups produce lower tricep and bicep activation in the concentric phase but higher anterior deltoid activation in the eccentric phase compared to bench press at equivalent load. This means push-ups train the “lowering” portion of shoulder stabilisation more than bench press does — relevant for shoulder health and functional strength.

What the Research Shows

Study 1 — Kikuchi & Nakazato (2017), Journal of Exercise Science & Fitness. Two groups of untrained men trained at 40% of their 1RM for 8 weeks — one group using the bench press, the other using push-ups. After 8 weeks, pectoralis major thickness increased 18.3% in the push-up group and 19.4% in the bench press group. Triceps increased 9.5% and 10.3% respectively. Neither difference was statistically significant. Conclusion: at matched intensity for untrained individuals, push-ups and bench press produce equivalent chest and triceps muscle growth.

Study 2 — Kotarsky et al. (2018), Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Twenty-three moderately trained men — people who already had gym experience — were split into a bench press group and a progressive calisthenics group. The calisthenics group progressed through increasingly difficult push-up variations over 4 weeks. At the end, both groups increased their bench press 1RM by a comparable amount. Conclusion: a properly progressed push-up programme builds the same pressing strength as the bench press itself, even in trained individuals.

Study 3 — Calatayud et al. (2015), Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Thirty trained university students were assigned to a 6-rep-max bench press group, a banded push-up group (elastic band for resistance), or a control group. EMG testing confirmed equivalent muscle activation in both exercise groups. After 5 weeks, both training groups improved 1RM and 6RM by similar amounts; the control group did not improve. Conclusion: when a push-up is loaded to match the effort of bench press, it produces identical strength gains.

Study 4 — Lopez et al. (2021), Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. A network meta-analysis pooling 28 studies and 747 healthy adults found that hypertrophy was load-independent when training was performed close to volitional failure. Whether the load was light, moderate, or heavy — the muscle growth was similar. Conclusion: your muscles respond to the tension and proximity to failure, not the specific weight on the bar or the specific exercise name.

Why Push-Ups Produce More Reps at Equivalent Load

One counterintuitive finding from the research: when the bench press is loaded to match the weight you lift during a push-up (approximately 65% of bodyweight), people consistently complete more reps on the push-up than the bench press at that same load.

In a 2020 EMG study (Alizadeh et al.), men completed on average 25.6 push-ups but only 12 bench press reps at the equivalent load. Women completed 15.5 push-ups and only 3.5 bench press reps at the matched weight. This disparity is not because push-ups are easier — it reflects several biomechanical advantages:

First, in a push-up, your centre of mass moves a shorter vertical distance per rep than in a bench press at the same load. Second, the push-up engages the serratus anterior and core to stabilise the movement in ways that reduce the demand on the prime movers. Third, the closed-chain nature of the push-up creates axial compression in the shoulder joint that the open-chain bench press cannot, which provides inherent stability that reduces the energy cost of joint stabilisation.

The practical implication: you can do more reps of a push-up at the equivalent bench press load, which means a push-up session can accumulate more volume — a key driver of hypertrophy — without adding more weight.

Key Practical Differences

Factor	Push-Ups	Bench Press
Equipment needed	None	Barbell, bench, plates (or dumbbell alternative)
Progressive overload	Harder variations (angle, leverage, added load)	Add weight in small increments
Core engagement	Continuous throughout every rep	Minimal (stabilised by bench)
Shoulder health	Closed-chain — natural compression, low joint stress	Open-chain — more shoulder stabiliser demand
Max loading potential	Limited to ~75–80% BW without equipment	Unlimited with added plates
Skill curve	Low — moderate form coaching needed	Higher — technique under heavy load requires coaching
Injury risk	Low (no external load to fail under)	Moderate (barbell failure can cause injury without spotter)

Which Is Better for Each Goal?

Goal	Better Choice	Why
Building chest muscle (hypertrophy)	Either — with progressive overload	Research shows equivalent results when trained to near-failure
Maximal pressing strength	Bench press	Allows higher absolute loads; strength is specific to the movement
Total-body functional strength	Push-ups	Engages core, glutes, and stabilisers simultaneously
Shoulder health and stability	Push-ups	Closed-chain movement creates natural joint compression and scapular stability
Training without equipment	Push-ups	Can be done anywhere with no equipment
Beginners building base strength	Push-ups first	Safer learning curve; strength gained transfers to bench press (not always vice versa)

Can Push-Ups Replace Bench Press Entirely?

For most people who are not competitive powerlifters or athletes with specific pressing-strength requirements, yes — push-ups can replace bench press as the primary horizontal pressing exercise, provided you are applying genuine progressive overload.

The critical caveat is the phrase “provided you apply progressive overload.” Standard bodyweight push-ups stop being a meaningful strength stimulus once you can do 25–30+ reps comfortably. At that point, doing more reps of the same exercise is building endurance, not strength or muscle. Progression has to come from making the push-up harder: elevating the feet, adding a weighted vest, using deficit push-ups for greater range of motion, or working toward one-arm push-up progressions.

What research does show, interestingly, is that strength gained from push-up training transfers to bench press performance — people who train push-ups improve their bench press even without bench pressing. The reverse is less consistent: heavy bench press training does not reliably improve push-up performance, because push-ups require core stability and proprioception in the suspended position that the bench press does not train.

How to Convert Between Push-Ups and Bench Press

Because a push-up lifts approximately 65% of your bodyweight (varying slightly based on your body proportions), you can estimate a rough relationship between your push-up performance and your bench press capacity.

A 2020 study by Alizadeh et al. derived regression equations from 20 resistance-trained participants: for men, predicted bench press reps = –12.94 + 0.973 × (push-up reps) at equivalent load. For women, predicted bench press reps = –2.117 + 0.362 × (push-up reps). These are estimates, not precise conversions — individual body proportions, training history, and grip position all affect the relationship.

What this means practically: a man who can do 30 push-ups should be able to complete approximately 16 bench press reps at 65% of his bodyweight as the load. This can help coaches and trainees design initial bench press programmes from a push-up baseline — particularly useful for beginners who have not yet established a bench press 1RM.