Powering Your Upper Body With Clapping Push-Ups

By Stephen E. Alway, Ph.D., FACSM

Traveling can take a serious toll on all of your training achievements unless you are able to get into a good gym at least sometime in the day. While most hotels have some equipment, few are equipped adequately for a good workout. Nevertheless, that does not mean that you have to waste away, either. Clapping push-ups are an overall upper body and core activator. This exercise is excellent for recruiting triceps, back, shoulder and abdominal muscles and they can be done in your hotel room or even if it is off in a corner of an airport terminal when you are waiting for your lift out of town.

Muscles Used

The ballistic nature of clapping (plyometric) push-ups recruits fast types of muscle fibers first. These fibers are the strongest and contract the most quickly, but they also are injury-prone and fatigue the most rapidly.1 The muscles that will be activated include the pectoralis, triceps brachii, upper back and shoulder muscles.2 The clavicular head of the pectoralis major begins on the anterior (front) surface of the clavicle (collarbone), whereas the sternocostal head of the pectoralis major attaches along the lateral edge of the sternum and the upper six ribs.3 Both heads of the pectoralis major muscle come together and attach on the humerus bone of the upper arm near the shoulder joint. Together the pectoralis major works to flex the humerus bone (move the humerus bone of the upper arm anteriorly) during the upward phases of the exercise, and in shoulder adduction (bringing the arms close to the midline of the body) in the clapping phase of the exercise.3 The long head (“inner head”) of the triceps brachii muscle achieves the greatest activation of this three-headed muscle because it both extends the arm at the shoulder joint (pulls the upper arm backwards during the controlled descent) and extends the forearm at the elbow joint (straightens the elbow) during the upward movement.3 The long head of the triceps runs from the scapula (shoulder blade) just below the shoulder joint and it joins the medial and lateral heads of the triceps, which begin along the posterior side of the humerus bone.3 All three heads of the triceps brachii come together at the triceps tendon, which attaches to the ulnar bone in the forearm. All three contribute strongly to elbow extension by raising the body from the floor during each repetition.

The serratus anterior muscle is very active in clapping push-ups.4 It attaches to the first eight ribs and then runs posteriorly along the lateral side of the thorax. The other end is attached along the medial border of the scapula (shoulder blade).3 This muscle pulls the scapula forward (protraction) and holds it against the thoracic wall as an anchor so that other muscles can use the scapula as if it were a fixed bone (even though it is a free-floating bone).

The superior (upper) portion of the trapezius muscle is strongly activated by pulling the clavicles upward (superiorly) during clapping push-ups.55 The superior part of the trapezius muscle begins along the base of the skull and the seventh cervical (neck) vertebrae and attaches to the lateral part of the clavicle and along the scapula.2

The anterior fibers from the deltoid muscle are activated by pulling the humerus bone forward with each push upwards in this exercise.6 These muscle fibers begin along the lateral part of the clavicle bone and attach to the head and upper (front) region of the humerus bone.3

Exercise: Clapping Push-ups

1. Position your body face down (prone) with your feet about shoulder-width apart. Place your hands shoulder-width apart and begin with your elbows flexed and chest on the floor.
2. Push upwards by straightening your elbows. Do this quickly (~0.5 seconds). Keep your torso straight. Only your palms and toes should contact the floor.
3. Without stopping at the top of the movement, bring both hands together so that they “clap.”
4. Quickly return your hands to the position of the push-up, as by this point you will be falling back to the floor.
5. Lower your chest towards the floor. Absorb the contact at the floor and your hands by slowing your torso by contracting your triceps. Your feet should remain on the floor throughout the exercise.
6. When your chest touches the floor, immediately start the next repetition upward as quickly as you can with a ballistic thrust.
7. Continue until your set is done (e.g., 20 reps), rest 60 seconds then start again for the next set. Three sets should be enough to make you feel like you have not missed anything at the gym.

A wider hand placement will place more activation and stretch on the sternoclavicular portion of the pectoralis muscle. If your hands are closer together, (especially if they are touching) you will activate the inner fibers next to the sternum and especially the triceps brachii. It is much harder to do with closer hand positions because the triceps are required to take most of the load and the forces at the elbow increase to more than 75 percent of your bodyweight. When your hands are shoulder-width apart, the force at the elbow that the triceps need to overcome is about 45 percent of your bodyweight.

Don’t think because it is a simply designed exercise that it will be simple to perform, because you will experience inferno flames flaring across your chest, shoulders and triceps in your upper body that will rival most of your regular gym workouts. While you might not want to replace bench presses and flyes at the gym with clapping push-ups on a regular basis, this is an excellent upper body exercise if you are traveling. Furthermore, you will find that you can develop significant muscle power and endurance7 if you do it once a week, even when you are not traveling.

References:

1. Macaluso F, Isaacs AW, Myburgh KH: Preferential type II muscle fiber damage from plyometric exercise. J Athl Train 2012;47:414-420.
2. Garcia-Masso X, Colado JC, Gonzalez LM et al: Myoelectric activation and kinetics of different plyometric push-up exercises. J Strength Cond Res 2011;25:2040-2047.
3. Moore, K.L. and A.F. Dalley Clinically oriented Anatomy. Fourth Edition. Baltimore, Lippincott Williams & Williams, Kelly, P.J. Editor, 1992, pp. 180-185;297-303;432-437;441-451.
4. Andersen CH, Zebis MK, Saervoll C et al: Scapular muscle activity from selected strengthening exercises performed at low and high intensities. J Strength Cond Res 2012;26:2408-2416.
5. Tucker WS, Bruenger AJ, Doster CM et al: Scapular muscle activity in overhead and nonoverhead athletes during closed chain exercises. Clin J Sport Med 2011;21:405-410.
6. Tucker WS, Campbell BM, Swartz EE et al: Electromyography of 3 scapular muscles: a comparative analysis of the cuff link device and a standard push-up. J Athl Train 2008;43:464-469.
7. Koch J, Riemann BL, Davies GJ: Ground reaction force patterns in plyometric push-ups. J Strength Cond Res 2012;26:2220-2227.

Illustrations by William P. Hamilton, CMI

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