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Dynamic strength

Clap Push-Up

Push up hard enough that your hands leave the floor, clap, and land on your hands again with soft elbows. In one lab study it was the most intense of the four plyometric push-ups compared.

Four separate positions of one repetition; the figure jumps from one to the next and nothing is drawn in between. In the air the hands clap in front of the chest, which this view cannot show. The toes stay on the floor in the drawing, which the studies do not state. The angles are this page's model.
Difficulty
Intermediate
editorial estimate
Steps to it
3 steps
Intermediate → Advanced
Usually done on
Floor
Start with the first stepHow it is done

Prepared by Calisthenics Balkan. Not yet reviewed by a qualified coach. 6 sources

The road at a glance

A short overview with links. Every step is explained in full under Progressions.

Helps to have first

This skill

Clap Push-Up

Leads towards

No movement in the Atlas builds directly on this one yet.

01

What it is

A clap push-up is a push-up pushed so hard that the hands leave the floor. The hands clap in the air and come back to the floor for the next repetition. In the main kinematic study, people began in a push-up position, lowered, pushed explosively into the air, clapped and put their hands back on force plates.145

That study (21 recreationally active men) compared the clap push-up with push-ups in which the hands drop onto low boxes. The clap push-up had the highest peak vertical force under the dominant hand and the largest elbow movement of the four, and the authors called it the most intense of the variations examined.1

A second study (22 healthy active men on force plates) found peak force similar across the four, but the highest loading rate and propulsion rate for the clap, a shorter ground contact time than for the two lowest box drops, and faster loading on the dominant hand than on the other.2

A third study (27 healthy active men) compared a push-up done at maximum speed (the study calls it a countermovement push-up), a jump push-up similar to the clap, and a fall push-up in which kneeling people drop onto the floor. The maximum-speed push-up gave a higher rate of force development than the jump push-up, a higher maximum force than the fall push-up and no impact force; the fall push-up had the highest impact forces.3

All three studies tested healthy, active men in a lab. None followed people over time, so none says how often a clap push-up hurts anyone or whether any step before it prevents injury. A review of the second study notes that its force plates were harder than a typical gym floor.1236

Push up fast enough to leave the floor, clap, and land softly with slightly bent elbows.

02

How it is done

  1. Start in a straight line

    Start in a high plank with your hands under your shoulders, your core braced and your body in one line from head to heels. In the main study people began with the arms fully extended and the toes on a platform level with the hands.145

    CueKeep a straight line from head to heels.45

  2. Lower with speed

    Lower your chest close to the floor. WebMD says to lower quickly through the largest range you can manage, stopping a few inches off the floor; Caliverse says to bend the elbows to about 90 degrees and keep them slightly tucked.45

  3. Push so hard the hands leave the floor, and clap

    Drive through your palms with enough force to leave the floor, then bring the hands together in the air. Caliverse says to time the clap so the body stays controlled, and WebMD says to think of pushing the floor away.45

  4. Land softly

    Put your hands back on the floor as softly as possible, with the elbows slightly bent to absorb the landing. A stiff landing is on Caliverse's list of mistakes.45

    CueLand with slightly bent elbows.5

03

Progressions

These steps let you record the version you do now. They are this page's order, not a rule from the sources, and they are not compulsory unlocks or a repetition programme.

What to have first

  • Strict push-ups and a strength base

    Caliverse lists trying claps before you have strict push-up form as a mistake, and WebMD says to build a strength-training foundation first because these push-ups rely on strong ligaments and tendons. Neither gives a number of push-ups or a test.45

  1. Step 1Intermediate

    Fast push-up

    A push-up pushed up as fast as you can. The 27-man study measured push-ups done at maximum speed and found a high maximum force and rate of force development without an impact force.

    Technical note: No source calls this a step before the clap push-up; it is this page's first step, and the study measured forces, not who is ready for what. The abstract does not say whether the hands stay on the floor; drawing them on the floor is this page's reading of 'no impact force'.3

  2. Step 2Intermediate

    Hands leave the floor

    Push hard enough that the hands leave the floor, then put them back as softly as possible, without the clap. WebMD's steps describe pushing with enough force to leave the ground and returning the hands softly; the clap comes after.

    Technical note: The no-clap order is this page's choice. Brookbush's review puts box-drop push-ups before the clap instead; WebMD lists box-drop push-ups among its variations without ranking them against the clap push-up; see Variations.46

  3. Step 3AdvancedGoal

    Clap push-up

    Lower, push off, clap in the air and land softly on both hands.

    Technical note: Full describes the movement, not a number of repetitions; the sources give none.15

04

Community

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05

Common mistakes

  • Landing stiffly

    Caliverse lists a stiff landing as a mistake and asks for slightly bent elbows; WebMD asks for the hands to come back as softly as possible.45

  • Losing the body line

    WebMD lists the lower back sinking or the hips rising, rounded or raised shoulders and the head dropping out of line; Caliverse lists losing core tension.45

  • Not lowering enough

    Caliverse lists not lowering deep enough, and WebMD says to lower through the largest range you can manage.45

  • Flaring the elbows

    Caliverse asks for the elbows slightly tucked rather than flared out.5

  • Trying it without the base

    Both pages list starting claps before strict push-up form or a strength base is there.45

06

Variations and related skills

  • Box-drop push-up

    The hands drop from the floor onto low boxes beside the body and push back to the floor. The studies used 3.8, 7.6 and 11.4 cm, and the clap push-up measured as the more intense. Brookbush's review recommends going through these heights before the clap push-up. WebMD lists box-drop push-ups among its variations of the plyometric push-up and does not say where they fall in order.1246

  • Incline, knee and slow versions

    Caliverse lists incline or knee clap push-ups, slow negatives and band-assisted push-ups as regressions. It does not explain how to land from the knees or an incline, and this page does not draw them.5

  • More than one clap

    Caliverse lists adding multiple claps and increasing jump height as power and control improve. No source says how much height or how many claps are reasonable.5

  • The strict push-up the clap push-up is built on.5

Related skillsOne-Arm Push-UpHandstand Push-Up

On Calisthenics Balkan

07

Sources

6 sources

What this page relies on. Titles and publishers are written as published.

The small numbers in the text point to the entries below

  1. Kinematic Analysis of Four Plyometric Push-Up VariationsMoore LH, Tankovich MJ, Riemann BL, Davies GJ · International Journal of Exercise Science 2012;5(4):334-343; full text read 19 Oct 2026; 21 recreationally active men, clap push-ups against box-drop push-ups from 3.8, 7.6 and 11.4 cm, force plates and motion tracking in a lab; it says nothing about injuries (research S-0135)
  2. Ground reaction force patterns in plyometric push-upsKoch J, Riemann BL, Davies GJ · Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 2012;26(8):2220-2227; abstract read 19 Oct 2026, the full paper was not opened; 22 healthy active men on force plates, the same four push-ups as the study above (research S-0204)
  3. Myoelectric activation and kinetics of different plyometric push-up exercisesGarcía-Massó X, Colado JC, González LM, Salvá P, Alves J, Tella V, Triplett NT · Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 2011;25(7):2040-2047; abstract read 19 Oct 2026, the full paper was not opened; 27 healthy active men, three push-up types on a force plate with EMG (research S-0136)
  4. How to Do Plyometric Push-upsWebMD · written by Venkat S.R., medically reviewed by Shruthi N, MD, 7 Aug 2024; read 19 Oct 2026; an article about plyometric push-ups in general rather than only the clap, with steps, mistakes and a plain warning for beginners (research S-0205)
  5. Clap Push Up (exercise page)Caliverse (Caliverse AS, Norway), no individual author · read 19 Oct 2026; steps, cues, mistakes, regressions and progressions from its FAQ, and a few safety lines; an exercise-library page (research S-0206)
  6. Research Review: Ground Reaction Force Patterns in Plyometric Push Up VariationsBrookbush Institute · written by Arran McManus, edited by Brent Brookbush; read 19 Oct 2026; a review of the Koch study that adds its own recommendation of a box-drop order before the clap, which is the reviewer's view and not a finding of the study (research S-0208)

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