Clap Push Up Overview
The clap push up works your chest. It also works your triceps and shoulders. The triceps are the muscles on the back of your arms. You need no equipment. You do a push-up, then push up hard. Your hands leave the floor and you clap. The clap push up is a hard, advanced move. It builds explosive power in your chest and arms. You must push with full force to fly off the floor. This move is for lifters who are already strong. Use it early in a workout while you are fresh. It fits well in a power circuit. Master the plain push-up first.
What Is The Point of the Clap Push Up?
The clap push up builds explosive upper body power and strength. It trains your chest, triceps, and shoulders while improving athletic performance and coordination.
How To Do The Clap Push Up
- Start in a standard push-up position with your hands a little wider than shoulder-width and your body in a straight line from head to heels. Grip the floor with your fingers and set your shoulders down and packed.
- Brace your core hard and squeeze your glutes so your hips do not sag or pike. Keep this rigid plank line throughout, since a loose body leaks the power you need to launch.
- Take a breath and lower your chest toward the ground under control, letting your elbows tuck to about 45 degrees rather than flaring wide. Load up like a spring at the bottom.
- Explosively press through your palms with maximum force to launch your hands off the floor. Think about pushing the ground away as hard and fast as you can.
- As your hands leave the ground, quickly clap them together in front of your chest while your body is airborne. Keep your core tight so your torso stays in line during the flight.
- Bring your hands back apart fast to catch yourself before you land. Speed here matters, since your hands need to be ready to absorb the impact.
- Land softly on your palms with your elbows bending to cushion the descent, immediately reloading into the bottom of the next rep. Absorb rather than crash.
- Repeat for a low number of crisp, powerful reps and stop when your speed drops. Aim for sets of 3 to 8 explosive reps for 3 to 4 sets with full rest between sets.
Clap Push Up Form Tips
- Keep your body in a straight line the whole time.
- Set your hands a bit wider than your shoulders.
- Lower with control before you explode up.
- Push up with full force to leave the floor.
- Clap fast while you are in the air.
- Land soft with bent arms to soak up the landing.
- Keep your core tight so your hips do not sag.
- Breathe in as you lower. Breathe out as you push up.
- Keep your neck in line with your back.
Common Mistakes to Avoid for the Clap Push Up
- Letting your hips sag or pike during the launch. A drooping or piked body leaks power and puts your lower back at risk on an explosive move. Brace your core and squeeze your glutes so your body stays a rigid straight line from head to heels.
- Not generating enough force to fully leave the ground. A half-hearted press means your hands barely lift and you cannot get the clap in safely. Drive through your palms with maximum explosive force so your hands clear the floor with time to clap.
- Landing with stiff, locked elbows. Catching yourself on straight arms sends the shock into your wrists, elbows, and shoulders. Land with your elbows bending to absorb the impact and flow straight into the next rep.
- Flaring your elbows straight out to the sides. A wide 90 degree flare stresses the shoulders and weakens your press off the bottom. Keep your elbows tucked to around 45 degrees so the chest and triceps drive the launch and the shoulders stay safe.
- Rushing reps without control. Firing off sloppy clap push-ups with no reset destroys the power quality and leads to ugly, risky landings. Reset your plank and absorb each landing before exploding into the next rep.
- Attempting these before you own strong regular push-ups. Jumping to clap push-ups without a solid pressing base leads to face-plants and hurt wrists. Build strength with standard and explosive push-ups first, then progress to the clap.
- Cutting the lowering phase short. Barely dipping before you launch gives you no range to build power from. Lower your chest close to the floor to load the muscles like a spring before pressing explosively.
- Losing core tension in the air. A slack midsection lets your torso pike or sag during the flight, which throws off your landing. Keep your abs and glutes tight so your body stays in one line from launch to catch.
- Landing loudly with a hard slam. A jarring, loud landing means you are crashing onto your joints instead of absorbing softly. Aim to land quietly with bending elbows so your muscles cushion the impact.
- Not clapping quickly enough to catch yourself. Dawdling on the clap leaves you no time to get your hands back down to land. Clap fast and snap your hands apart so they are ready to absorb the landing.
- Grinding out reps once your power fades. Pushing past the point where your hands barely leave the ground trains fatigue, not power, and invites injury. End the set when your launch height and speed drop off.
Clap Push Up Workout Tips
- Treat clap push-ups as pure upper-body power work. The goal is maximum explosive force off the floor, not a high rep count, so keep every rep crisp and fast.
- Build a strong pressing base first. Own plenty of strict push-ups and try explosive push-ups without the clap before you progress to clapping, so your joints are ready for the impact.
- Keep your reps low and your rest long. Sets of 3 to 8 powerful reps with full recovery keep each launch explosive rather than slow and fatigued.
- Lower close to the floor to load the spring. A deeper dip gives you more range to generate force, so use it to drive a bigger, cleaner launch.
- Land soft with bending elbows every rep. Absorbing the impact through flexed arms protects your wrists, elbows, and shoulders and lets you flow into the next rep.
- Keep your elbows tucked around 45 degrees. That angle protects your shoulders and keeps the chest and triceps driving the press, which is where your power comes from.
- Brace your core and glutes hard. A rigid body transmits force from your arms cleanly and keeps your hips from sagging during the flight.
- Program clap push-ups early in your session when fresh. Power work belongs before you fatigue with strength or conditioning, so your muscles are sharp for explosive reps.
- Warm up your wrists, shoulders, and chest first. A few regular push-ups and some wrist prep get the joints ready for the impact of landing.
- Progress toward the clap gradually. Explosive push-ups where your hands just leave the floor are the stepping stone, so master those before adding the clap.
- Use them to build athletic pressing power. The explosive push carries over to any sport that needs a fast, powerful upper body, making them more than just a party trick.
- Stop the set when your launch height drops. Once your hands barely clear the floor you are training fatigue instead of power, so end the set and rest.
- Land on a forgiving surface if your wrists are cranky. A mat or padded floor softens the catch and is kinder on the joints while you build tolerance.
- Keep your core tight through the whole rep. Maintaining that plank line from launch to landing keeps you stable and safe in the air.
- Pair power push-ups with heavy pressing over the week. Building strength with weighted presses and expressing it explosively here is a proven way to develop a powerful upper body.
- Be patient and let the power build. Explosive strength develops steadily over weeks of quality reps, so keep each rep sharp and keep showing up.
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