Push-ups with bands and bench presses increase strength equally

According to a study conducted at the University of Valencia in Spain, push-ups with bands (band push-ups) and bench presses increase strength equally when the levels of muscle activity are the same. The subjects trained three times a week over a 5-week period and performed either a set of bench presses at their maximum weight for five repetitions in the bench press or a set of band push-ups at their maximum load for five repetitions in the band push-ups. The scientists used electromyography measurements to ensure that muscle activation was the same for both exercises. At the end of the training phase, strength was tested with both bench press and banded push-up tests. The strength gains were the same for both techniques.

What does this study teach serious bodybuilders? Athletes can increase their strength using a variety of training techniques as long as they ensure significant overload. However, while resistance bands are effective in some respects, it is extremely difficult to maintain maximum muscle activation levels when strength increases significantly.

These results are important for people at a recreational athlete level, but are probably not transferable to serious bodybuilders due to the difficulty in achieving maximal muscle activation with elastic bands in strength athletes.

(Journal Strength Conditioning Research, 29: 246 - 253, 2015)