Baby Clap Pushups
For lack of better have to I call these “Baby Clap” pushups because they are a great way to start your workout progression that will lead to clapping pushups. Clapping pushups are a great ballistic exercise that is good for all punching sports but even when you can easily do normal pushups, its a BIG leap to move up to clapping pushups. This baby clap pushup is a great intermediate step but its still an advanced exercise, if you cant do 8 pushups with flawless, slow form then please do my basic pushup progression instead. This baby pushup is also a great exercise to work up to doing a one handed pushup.
OK lets get started with the baby clap. You need a step about as long as your forearm in height and it needs to be sturdy and one which wont tip over. First let me explain the motion of this pushup:
 |
Starting Position: Normal pushup position with hands touching on a sturdy, stable footstool. Torso is straight as an iBeam and abs are tensed. Try and hold your shoulders back with your chest thrust out during the whole exercise. |
 |
Jump off: Push up ballistically and off the footstool and spread your hands for landing. Try to keep your torso straight and your core flexed. Because you are on a footstool and you don’t have have to clap, you have a lot more time to move your hands into the landing position. |
 |
Land: The landing puts a large, sudden load on your pecs – enjoy the good pain! |
 |
Crawl back up: Now crawl back up onto the footstool one hand at a time. You can alternate which hand you crawl up with or alternate doing 4 with your left hand and then 4 with your right hand, its up to you |
So thats it for baby clap pushups which will help you develop strength so you can do clapping pushups as well as one handed pushups. Now lets talk about a 5 step progression you can do to help you work up clapping pushups.
Workout Progression For Clapping Pushups
- baby clapping pushups (this exercise)
- hopping pushups from the knees. Its a clapping pushup minus the clap, just get the hands airborne above the takeoff position.
- clapping pushups from the knees
- hopping pushups from the feet. Its a clapping pushup minus the clap, just get the hands airborne above the takeoff position.
- a real clapping pushup!