30 Days Of Clap Push-Ups: The Gains I Didn’t Expect

After the success of my previous challenges, I wanted to keep my dynamic momentum going. I’m a huge fan of push-ups because of the many variations and useful benefits they offer. What better way to continue than by performing another dynamic push-up that fits with my lifestyle?

I used to perform the clap push-up regularly but phased it out for other movements that became my training staples. Now, I want to bring it back in with a much higher exercise volume to see what benefits I’m missing. 

Clap push-ups are normal push-ups with explosive claps. It requires excellent upper-body coordination and increased core activation. Below are my clap push-up benefits after a month of performing them!

Doing Clap Push-Ups Every Day For A Month — My Experience

In another article, we’ve talked about how many push-ups you should be able to do. This mainly depends on your age, gender, and ability level. As an experienced gymgoer at a fairly young age, I’ve decided to start with a fairly high volume: three sets of 20 repetitions. 

I’ll build from there depending on how I feel. I want to perform them every day to see how far I can push myself without overtraining. In this first section, I’ve documented my thoughts and feelings throughout the challenge to give you a better idea of what you might experience. 

Week 1

I’m familiar with the clap push-up movement as I used to perform them when my bodyweight training was still developing. Because of this, I’ll start with a fairly high volume. The aim for this week is to do three sets of 20 repetitions each day. 

I’ll be splitting the sets throughout the day while fitting them around my travel schedule. Hopefully, this will give me enough rest to lower the chances of fatigue and overreaching. This refers to muscle soreness above what’s usually expected.

I’m at the halfway point in the week and enjoying the familiar memories. Despite being a bodyweight exercise, exploding up and clapping isn’t as easy as you think, especially with a high volume. However, so far so good. 

I would say that the main thing I’m still getting used to is the correct hand placement as I come back down. I’m sure I’ll be able to correct that in week two.

Week 2

It’s the beginning of week two, which means it’s time to perfect my form. I’ve got some markers on the floor to help with my hand position. 

The goal for this week is three sets of 25 repetitions. I’m finding the starting volume quite hard so I think this is a manageable increase. Hopefully, it will provide the progressive overload I’m looking for. 

One thing I’ve already noticed is that my general confidence is increasing. As you get the movement down, it offers a great way to build this. 

Another thing I like is that I need to focus on activating my chest before exploding up. This is improving my mind-muscle connection, which should benefit my chest by the end of the challenge.

Week 3 

At the start of week three, I noticed that my upper-body coordination had improved. Coordinating my arms while keeping my core engaged and controlling my hand positions is really helping. 

I would say that performing them every day is doable if you’re splitting them over the day. I feel sore but I’m maintaining the correct technique to keep the correct muscle engagement. 

I’ve kept the volume the same for this week. I’ll keep focusing on my form and increase in week four for a final push. 

Like most push-up movements, I’m loving how time-efficient clap push-ups are. You simply drop to the ground in a high plank and start the movement. Perfect for my busy traveling lifestyle! 

Week 4

Now that I’m into the last week, it’s time to push one final time. The goal is to perform three sets of 30 repetitions each day. 

One thing that has surprised me is just how much this challenges your core. In the normal push-up, you use your core to maintain a straight body position. The added dynamic clap makes it even better to build core stability. 

At the midway point in the week, I’m certainly feeling the extra volume. However, there isn’t much time left, so I’ll keep pushing.

My cardiovascular fitness feels great. Most people think it’s just purely a power-building exercise but that’s not the case. You’re moving your body quite a lot! 

At the end of week four, I can proudly say I’ve completed the challenge. The added volume helped me see some noticeable differences. Overall, I would highly recommend it to anyone who’s looking for a dynamic bodyweight challenge! 

Results And Key Changes

These are the five key changes I saw throughout the challenge. Each of them made a noticeable difference to my physical fitness and conditioning.

I Increased My Explosive Strength

My muscular strength is generally quite good. I regularly perform strength-based bodyweight exercises. However, my explosive strength and power could do with work, hence why I chose clap push-ups for this challenge.

The clap push-up requires a high degree of explosive strength to generate enough power off the floor. When you extend your arms, your chest needs to work hard to give you enough room for the clap. Even when using just my body weight, this provided a big enough strength-building intensity.

My Muscle Activation Was Enhanced 

Muscle activation is the process where your brain sends signals to your muscles to activate. It’s closely related to the mind-muscle connection, which refers to how you mentally focus on the activated muscle during exercise. Both are important for efficient power generation and the process of muscle growth, also known as muscular hypertrophy.

To explosively push from the floor, I needed to think about activating my chest. Doing this correctly meant I would be able to generate enough power to come off the floor. Without this, I wouldn’t be able to perform a successful repetition.

Clap push-ups forced me to work on my muscle activation and with it, my mind-muscle connection. Enhancing these was great for improving my upper-body muscle growth and mental awareness when exercising. 

I Improved My Cardiovascular Fitness

In another challenge article, I looked at the benefits of doing push-ups every day for a week. In this, I stated that my metabolism would increase if I kept them up. With the clap push-up being more dynamic, I was hoping the increased volume would enhance this.

Cardiovascular diseases are responsible for an estimated 17.9 million deaths each year. Having good cardiovascular fitness can help reduce common risk factors associated with this. These include high blood pressure and high cholesterol and being overweight and obese.

The dynamic element of the clap push-up provided an excellent cardiovascular challenge. The increased movement helped me burn more calories and improve my cardiovascular fitness.

They Really Helped My Upper-Body Coordination

Upper-body coordination refers to the ability of your upper-body limbs to maintain controlled, efficient movement. Having good upper-body coordination is important for everyday exercise and activities. Examples include eating, writing, and hitting a tennis ball. 

To correctly perform the clap push-up, you need to coordinate both arms while keeping the correct head and body positions. Alongside this, both arms need to come back to the right place while you maintain core engagement. 

At the end of the challenge, I found that my upper-body coordination had improved. I felt more confident that my limbs would maintain the correct positions during exercise and everyday activities.

I Improved My Core Muscle Stability

Core stability is one of the main things I focus on when I perform my resistance training. Performing core strengthening exercises helps maintain function and mobility, both of which are important for my lower back pain.

Keeping a straight body position when performing clap push-ups requires you to continuously engage your core. This makes clap push-ups a great core strength exercise. Using a high exercise volume helped enhance my core stability towards the end of the challenge.

Because of this, the clap push-up is another versatile plyometric exercise that I’ll try to include more in my training. I’ll rotate it with other dynamic push-up variations such as the T push-up and spider push-up.

How To Do A Clap Push-Up

How To Do

1. Find a suitable padded area or exercise mat. The floor can also be used if these are unavailable.
2. Assume a tabletop kneeling position. Your shoulders should be stacked over your hands with your knees on the floor. 
3. Come into a high plank position. There should be a straight line from your head to your heels. Your hands should be shoulder-width apart with your legs straight behind you.
4. Engage your core. Inhale and bend your elbows to lower to the floor. Pause briefly at the bottom position before your chest touches the floor. 
5. Exhale and push yourself up explosively, allowing your hands to come off the floor as you extend your elbows. 
6. Clap your hands together at the front of your chest in one fluid motion. Allow your hands to return to the same shoulder-width position as you finish the clap.

Tips

• Keep your hands shoulder-width apart and legs together when in the push-up. This helps to keep a stable exercise position as you perform the clapping motion.
• Extend your arms, bring them off the floor, and clap using one fluid motion. This ensures efficient power generation and targeted muscle focus.
• Avoid letting your hips dip or come up as you perform the clap. Keep your core engaged at all times to ensure your body remains in a straight line. 
• Focus on engaging your chest muscles as you perform explode off the floor. This increased mind-muscle connection can help to improve muscle activation and muscle growth.

Final Thoughts

Clap push-ups are a dynamic plyometric exercise that improve your upper-body power and explosiveness. They require no equipment, can be performed anywhere, and provide a great workout challenge. 

At the end of the challenge, I was pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable they were to perform. I liked the dynamic push element and the increased conditioning aspects they offered. Overall, I would say they are an excellent push-up progression movement.

Frequently Asked Questions