What will make you stronger in a shorter amount of time: push-ups or free weights?
This question depends on where you are at physically. If it has been a while since you have been in a regular workout, I recommended pushups. One of the best exercises there is, and almost impossible to do wrong, unlike free weights.
Plus, this is a good precursor to getting back into free weights, which takes more time on top of the equipment or gym membership you would obviously need.
13 Answers
First off, everyone is different. I've never really had any success or noticeable gains by doing fly's but have done them to keep those muscles in check with the others I work. However, that doesn't mean that they won't help you.
Push-ups will give you functional strength and also tone up your muscles, and David is correct, form is important. If you're cheating then you're not helping anything.
Free weights will give you both strength and size. Higher reps with lower weight to get stronger while maintaining lean muscle mass. Lower reps higher weight to get bigger and lift heavier weight faster.
I'd say it sounds like push-ups are what you're looking for. Strength and toning. Check out this program to get you to 100 push-ups in no time: http://hundredpushups.com/
Think of push ups as an endurance exercise where you are using low/moderate weight for high repetitions (15+).
If you use free weights in the same fashion (low weight/high reps) you will yield identical results.
Muscle building exercise done in a low weight/high rep fashion is great for endurance, but doesn't build strength quickly.
To achieve your goal, you want to work with a higher volume of weight using fewer repetitions.
So the question now becomes: which method is easier to increase the weight, free weights or push ups?
While you can always have someone sit on you while doing push-ups, free weights are going to give you a lot more flexibility and growth potential.
I've been doing p90x for about 2 months now and it's pretty good. You gain strength and endurance along with getting ripped. You utilize some weights (dumbbells), but it's mainly calisthenics (pushups, pullups, etc.) Look it up online.
Generally speaking any exercise that allows you to use your own body weight is better for you (chair dips, push-ups, pull-ups, lunges, etc). It allows you to "lift" more weight and it should be easier to keep the correct form and not hurt yourself. (not to mention being cheaper than buying a whole set of weights)
For example; if you do pull-ups/chin-ups your arms are able to lift more weight and your body will always be in good form.
To answer your question - comparing push-ups to free weight bench press, I'd vote for push-ups because you can do more reps with less rest.
Personally I like to do push-ups on my knuckles because it gives me a few more inches of movement and less strain on my wrists.
I have been having pretty good results from doing multiple things. I do my regular ups (push, pull, sit) along with free weights. I also use a 25 pound kettle bell.
What I've been doing is using a gym timer (using the gym boss, cheap and works just fine). I choose five different activities I want to do and those are for my 90 seconds. I don't push myself too hard, but I try to do more than previous days if that makes sense.
What I do is alternate cardio, for this I do jumping jacks, weighted jump rope, run in place, or shadow box, and an exercise. I do the cardio for 60 seconds, then I do an exercise. I do this for two full reps so I do everything twice. By the end I'm sweating and feeling good.
Before that I do about 15 minutes of stretching out just about every muscle and a good 30 minute brisk walk with the dog. When I get back into the flat I start up the routine I have chose for the day.
I do this twice a day, once in the morning once in the evening. I walk about 6 miles a day with the dog. She gets quite a few walks and it only takes me about 15 minutes to walk 1.25 miles at the pace I generally walk at.
Being stronger won't make a world of difference if you don't keep up with other activities.
It depends.
Free weights will give your workout more variety and allow you to add additional weight. That being said, both exercises are completely useless if you are not using correct form.
why not use both? Try mixing push ups with presses, but focus a lot of your time on flyes.