Plyometric Pushups Guide – Benefits, Variations, Tips

You’ve probably seen videos of guys doing almost impossible acrobatic movements while they are doing pushups. These are plyometric pushups. and although you’ve probably only seen advanced variations, you can use them in your workouts to build a lot of muscle too.

What are Plyometric Pushups?

Plyometric exercises are exercises which prioritize moving at high speeds and using large forces in order to generate muscle power. Plyometric pushups are no different. They are pushups which are performed extremely fast and powerfully that your hands leave the floor.

What Muscles do Plyometric Pushups work?

Pushups require you to use almost every muscle in the body in some form or another, either directly by pushing or indirectly by stabilizing the joints throughout the body. Hence, they are full body exercises. Plyometric pushups are no different.

The main muscles actively worked are:

• Chest Muscles- Pectoralis major and minor function to adduct the upper arm, moving it from the side to the front of the body. Serratus anterior functions to stretch the arms forward.
• Triceps Muscles- Triceps brachii extends the arm at the elbow.
• Shoulder Muscles- The deltoid muscles assist in moving the arm at the shoulder joint.
• Core Muscles- The abdominal and gluteal muscles elevate the hips and keep the body in a straight position.

Learn how to use pushups to build muscle here.

How to do Plyometric Pushups?

There are several variations of the plyometric pushup, but all stem from the jump pushup. To do a jump pushup:

1. Get down on all fours.
2. Place your hands shoulder width apart, under shoulder level.
3. Tighten your glutes and abs in order to keep your body straight.
4. Bend your arms at the elbows in order to lower your chest to just above the floor.
5. Explosively push up by extending your elbows so that your hands leave the floor.
6. Bend your elbows as you return to the floor to cushion your ‘jump’.
7. Lower your chest back to the floor and repeat.

All other variations of plyometric pushups simply include an additional movement to perform while midair to truly test your speed.

Beginner Plyometric Pushup Variations

1. Incline Jump Pushup

Perform this variation by placing your hands on an elevated surface instead of on the floor. This can be a chair, table, staircase or even a wall. Keep in mind that the higher you place your hands the easier this exercise becomes. Learn more about incline pushups here.

2. Chest Tap Pushups

This is easier than the jump pushup as it doesn’t require you to lift your entire bodyweight up off the floor. Simply, push up explosively while removing one hand from the floor and using it to tap the opposite chest.

Advanced Plyometric Pushup Variations

There are countless plyo-pushup variations. Here are the most common ones:

1. Clap Pushups

To do this variation clap your hands together when you are midair during a jump pushup. To progress your plyometric pushups to even further test your speed you can try:

• Clapping multiple times while midair.
• Clapping behind your back while midair.

2. Gorilla Pushups

Perform this variation by channeling your inner ape and slapping your chest with both hands while you are middair.

3. Decline Plyometric Pushups

Perform a set of jump pushups, clap pushups or gorilla pushups with your feet on an elevated surface. Learn more about decline pushups here.

Tips for Proper Form on Plyometric Pushups

1. Hand Placement

Keep your hands shoulder width apart and under shoulder level, so that the force you are producing with your chest is directly in line with your hands. This is also the safest position.

2. Don’t Flare your Elbows

If your elbows are flared out to the side then you wouldn’t be able to efficiently produce a force strong enough to lift you off the floor. This position also puts your shoulders at risk of injury. Keep your shoulders tucked into your side.

Aim for your upper arm to form a 45⁰ angle with your upper body.

3. Retract your Shoulders

If your shoulders roll forward then the weaker shoulder muscles will be forced to do most of the work. These may not be able to produce sufficient force to lift you off the ground. Mainly, this is an unsafe position to be in.

Actively pull your shoulders back during each repetition of plyometric pushups. Retract your scapulae as if you were trying to pinch something between your shoulder blades.

4. Keep your Body Straight

If you allow your hips to sag then all of the load will go to your lower back. This makes the exercise pointless to perform as your upper body isn’t loaded. Therefore, keep your body straight by tightening your abs and glutes.

5. Cushion Your Fall

The impact when you return to the ground can be painful and cause harm to your joints if you stiffen up. It is important to cushion your fall by bending your elbows so that the momentum of the fall can continue and not blast through your joints.

Benefits of Plyometric Pushups

1. Recruits More Muscle

In order to produce a large enough force to lift you off the ground, you will have to recruit fast twitch Type II muscle fibers. These are the larger muscle fibers and they’re the reason why we train with heavy weights in the gym.

Plyometric pushups recruit and stimulate these muscle fibers, making them beneficial in any muscle building program.

Learn how to build your chest at home with no equipment here.

2. Builds Power, Strength and Speed

The plyometric pushup requires you to move faster and produce greater forces than regular pushups. With frequent training your muscles will be able to contract faster, stronger and more powerfully.

3. Carryover to Sports

All of this power and strength development will improve your athletic performance. In the gym you’ll be able to benchpress more. In the ring you’ll be able to punch harder and faster. On the field you’ll be able to throw a ball further. You get the picture.

4. You can do Plyometric Pushups Anywhere

Plyometric pushups don’t require any equipment. You can focus on building your muscle speed and power anywhere, with nothing but your bare hands.

Disadvantages of Plyometric Pushups

1. Less Safe on Joints

Because of the large forces you are applying and the force at which you’ll be returning to the ground, your joints can take quite a beating. This is especially so for your wrist, elbow and shoulder joints.

You can mitigate this by ‘cushioning your fall’ and performing the exercise on a soft surface like an exercise mat, grass or a thick rug.

Additionally, because of the high speeds you’ll be required to perform plyometric pushups successfully, it will be harder to focus on proper form. This can lead to painful injuries occurring, and that doesn’t even include if you mess up and fall flat on your face.

2. Not Ideal for Muscle Growth

Plyometric pushups are helpful to recruit larger fast twitch muscle fibers and for this they can assist in building muscle. However, because reps are done so quickly the eccentric phase of the muscle contraction necessary for muscle damage and growth is neglected.

As a result, plyometric pushups aren’t effective to stimulate muscle growth by themselves.

How to include Plyometric Pushups in Workouts?

Whether you include plyometric pushups in your workout program is up to you. If you are a beginner without the strength necessary to do regular pushups or you have a history of joint injuries then you should stay away from them.

However, for everyone else I think they can make a great addition to any muscle building upper body workout or any athletic training routine, as long as you program them correctly. Test out plyometric pushups in this great home chest workout.

I suggest using plyometric pushups as a first exercise, when you’re fresh, to recruit the larger muscle fibers and then proceed to stimulate those fibers to grow with other exercises such as pushups. That way you’ll get the most gains out of the exercise.

References:

Masataka Majima, Emiko Horii, Hiroshi Matsuki, Hitoshi Hirata, Eiichi Genda, Load Transmission Through the Wrist in the Extended Position, The Journal of Hand Surgery, Volume 33, Issue 2, 2008, Pages 182-188, ISSN 0363-5023

Ebben, W., Wurm, B., VanderZanden, T., Spadavecchia, M., Durocher, J., Bickham, C. and Petushek, E., 2011. Kinetic Analysis of Several Variations of Push-Ups. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 25(10), pp.2891-2894.

VOSSEN, J., KRAMER, J., BURKE, D. and VOSSEN, D., 2000. Comparison of Dynamic Push-Up Training and Plyometric Push-Up Training on Upper-Body Power and Strength. The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 14(3), p.248.

Hsiu-Hao Hsu, et al. Effect of Push-up Speed on Upper Extremity Training until Fatigue. (2010). Journal Of Medical And Biological Engineering, 31(4), 289-293.

Paul Pei-Hsi Chou, et al. Effect of Pushup Speed on Elbow Joint Loading. (2010). Journal Of Medical And Biological Engineering, 31(4), 289-293.

Cogley, Robert M ; Archambault, Teasha A ; Fibeger, Jon F ; Koverman, Mandy M ; et al . Comparison of Muscle Activation using Various Hand Positions during the Pushup Exercise. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research ; Champaign  Volume 19, No. 3,  (Aug 2005): 628-33. DOI: 10.1519 / 00124278-200508000-00024