As a flight surgeon in a fighter wing I had the opportunity to get around 75
hours in F-16's, and asked the same question. Both previous posts were
correct- most planes can take more positive G, and a half roll and pull is
much easier to tolerate than bunting over. (a 8-9 G sustained pull is hard
to take, but a sustained push would be much much worse) Besides,as I recall
a 16 is only rated to around minus 3 to 4 G and +9 (depends on load
calculated by the on board computer, which limits the amount of G the
airplane will take regardless of how hard you pull or push).

With a good pull or push the G it is possible to load the airplane at a rate
of around 5-6 per second, so a hard push is very uncomfortable.

Of course, most of the pilots are envious that I fly an Extra 300, which
rolls faster than a 16 and is rated for +/- 10 G!