Pushups and pullups are both calisthenic exercises, body-weight moves you do with no equipment. Both exercises can be part of any training plan, whether your goal is to build muscle, increase strength, burn fat or get more fit. They can also be used as a diagnostic tool. A significant difference in the number of pushups and pullups you can do can indicate that you have a strength imbalance, which may put you at risk for an injury.

Muscles Worked

Pushups are generally regarded as a chest exercise, but they actually do a little more than that. They also hit your shoulders and triceps hard, recruiting your upper back and traps as secondary muscles, and your abdominals, lower back and biceps as stabilizers. Pullups mainly work your upper and mid-back as well as the biceps. Like pushups, however, they also challenge your abdominals and oblique muscles. Pullups are harder than chin-ups, as they're performed with a wide overhand grip, rather than a close underhand one.

Weight Lifted

When you perform a pushup, you're only lifting around 70 percent of your total body weight, writes trainer Ross Enamait in "Never Gymless." Contrast this with pullups and you can see there's quite a big difference, as pullups require you to lift your entire body weight. To be perfectly balanced, you should be able to get 70 percent as many pullups as you could pushups if you were to perform a maximum set on each exercise.

Issues with Strength Imbalances

Strength imbalances can be a big problem, writes strength coach Eric Cressey in "Maximum Strength." Most people tend to be anterior-dominant, meaning their chest and shoulders are stronger than their upper backs; they will score much higher on pushups. An imbalance like this not only means your performance in the gym will be compromised, but it creates bad posture and leaves you highly susceptible to shoulder injuries.

Test Concerns and Improvements

The pushup and pullup test is a fairly good indicator of strength imbalances, but it could be improved upon. The main issue is that pushups are a horizontal plane exercise and pullups a vertical plane exercise. You're generally always stronger in the horizontal plane, meaning that the test isn't quite as accurate as it could be. Instead, strength coach Ben Bruno recommends substituting pushups for incline pushups with your feet on a bench and pullups for inverted rows. To perform an inverted row, set a bar in a power rack or Smith machine to chest height and sit underneath it. Place your feet on a weight bench and grab the bar, then pull yourself up until your chest touches the bar, then lower back down to full extension. These two exercises are more evenly matched and should allow you to get a more accurate strength imbalance comparison.


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