Weights/cash free training: hand clap press ups
I haven’t been to a gym for over a year and a half and I don’t miss weights or membership fees. To be truthful, I used to visit Koncept Gym and they are one of the most competitive in Cornwall so money was never an issue for me. Might be for you though, if you are signed up to a David Lloyd or similar. Instead I’ve been training and keeping fit for free, using no equipment other than a surfboard or running shoes. Last year we were blessed with loads of sun and waves and I was surfing or body surfing every day. This year, we’re caught in some hideous wet monsoon cycle and the surf has been shocking, so I’ve found other ways to stay healthy and sane.
The video above shows a hand clap press up, followed by a regular press up. Regular press ups are good, hand clap press ups are better because the explosive movement required to push yourself up off the ground contracts more muscle fibres in a shorter space of time – more impact, less time. It’s pretty much my motto for training and I don’t believe in doing anything for longer than 35 minutes. In this vid I’m doing ten clap press ups and ten regular ones and off camera I did two more sets of the same with a 30 second rest in between, so that’s a 2.30 minute chest workout with no spotter required, no leaving the house, no excuses really.
If you’ve got handy weights-free exercises you are into, please let me and others know about it in the comments below 
6 Comments
Although gyming currently a lot my favourite and in my opinion a good gauge of strength to weight ratio are pull ups, even better, strap a weight to your leg and them do em, wide arm short arm etc etc
Bloody good point there Lloydy, pull ups are tough and approaching a compound movement for the upper body I reckon. Good tips there with the different variations and adding weights, have the trick with workouts is to mix them up and keep it interesting
You are so right albeit I am very new to this motivational business (reference made to my abismal squat jump performance) but I like the fact these types of thing can chart progress, either more reps, more weight etc etc, but as soon as your body gets used to doing them or it gets too easy I guess it’s time to move on to a variation?
You know I was about to write something similar in my previous comment – when you pick up training after a long lay off, or start anew, the speed at which your body responds and develops is addiction enough
It can take different people different lengths of time to reach a plateau (both physically and mentally) and when you feel the signs that’s the time to switch it up.
Trainers like Idris are able to create programmes that develop people over time, building different areas of their fitness such as cardio, then a base strength layer, and then speed and explosivity. The sort of guidance and advice you get from a fitness professional is priceless since it will make you live longer and better.
When I wrote this little post I had more in mind the type of guy (I was deffo one of them) who would plug away in the gym for sessions on end with ever decreasing results. The info is out there, there are many ways to obtain it and so long as we’re stoked then we’re doing it right
Coffee morning and some training on Thurs boss?
Gave up gyms years ago – was always travelling so there was no point – did kung fu for a while and used a lot of their exercises a mixture of press ups – sets of 50 on the knuckles (or feet on a chair) – to get depth of movement, A monster group of 5 different ab crunches in one set, hyperextensions for the back, wide and narrow arm pull ups – and if possible dips as well as lots of stretching.
You can get very fit and strong without a gym……but you need to be disciplined to do it. I’ve let it slip recently – have to get back into it as I don’t kite enough.
For weight free try the ‘Royal Court’ hindu training with squats, press-up and back bridge. The Hindu Pressup is almost a full upper body move and the back bridge I find good for hitting areas that kiting might tweak.
I was a gym goer for years but for the last few have trained from home (being in Glasgow limits my body surfing lol) my goto now is a set of 15kg Dumbells that I do endurance lifting with and Jungle Gym XT suspension trainer.
Always been fairly fit, but instead of aiming to be as big as I could I now make it my mission to be able to outlast all the young guys on the water