The bench press and the push-up are both really great pressing
motions, and they present very similarly. They differ greatly, however, in
terms of the shoulder motions they involve. Understanding their differences
requires an explanation of open-chain vs. closed-chain movements.
Open-Chain
Movements: When the limb that you are moving is not in contact with a
stable surface. For example: bench press, shoulder raises, and throwing things.
For the most part, many of the tasks we perform with our arms throughout the
day include open-chain movements.
Closed Chain
Movements: When the arm or leg is in contact with a stable surface-most
likely the ground-and the rest of your body is moving. For example, push-ups or
standing up from a chair.
Now that we’ve gone over what closed- and open-chain
movements are, we know that benching is an open-chain movement and push-ups are
a closed chain movement.
But now what does this
have to do with the shoulder?
When you switch between open- and closed-chain activities, the
movement of the shoulder ‘s ball-and-socket joint flip-flops. During a bench
press, the “ball” is moving on the socket. During a push-up, by contrast, the
socket is moving on the ball (figure 1).
Figure 1:
Differences in how the shoulder moves between benching and push-ups.
Our joints move in ways known as “rolls” and “glides.” As
you can see in Figure 1, when benching, the ball of the joint rolls up and
glides down. When switching to a push-up, the socket rolls up on the ball and
glides in the same direction.
Simply alternating between benching and push-ups causes the
joint to move differently. This is an important distinction, especially if
benching bothers your shoulder. Sometimes switching to a push-up can keep you
from aggravating your shoulder like you would when benching. If you think
push-ups are too easy and want to make them harder so you don’t lose all your
“gains,” check out my article on push-up progressions, “6 Ways to Increase Your Push-Ups,” and check out the YouTube video “Push-Up Progression.”
Ryan Goodell, CSCS
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I don't doubt your infinite weights and stuff-related knowledge but as far as the shoulder's concerned for these two isn't the main motion flexion/extension, making the arthro's for these motions just a spinning of the humeral head? I guess this would have to be assuming the humerus is on a retracted scapula and staying in the sagittal plane the whole time
ReplyDeleteNo, in the bench you are in a supine position. As you lower the bar in the bench press you will have a posterior roll and an anterior glide at the glenohumeral joint. Depending on how you bench, the osteokinematics will consist mainly of horizontal ADDuction and ABDuction, with possibly minimal flexion/extension motion thrown in there. In addition, if the main motion was flexion/extension how would you get pectoralis activation during the press? The two prime movers in a bench press are the pectorals and triceps. One of the main functions of the pectorals are horizontal ADDuction.
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