Spider-Man Push-Up
What Is the Spider-Man Push-Up?
Spider-Man Push-Up is a compound exercise that primarily targets the chest and also engages the triceps, the front of the shoulders, the obliques and the hip flexors. It is an intermediate-level movement that adds a knee drive to every rep: as the chest lowers toward the floor, one knee travels out to the side and forward toward the elbow on the same side, then returns as the arms press back up, alternating sides from rep to rep.
The arms do the same pressing job as in a standard Push-Up, but for most of each rep the body is balanced on two hands and one foot. That smaller base asks the trunk, and the obliques in particular, to stop the pelvis from dropping or twisting toward the lifted leg, while the moving hip works through a wide range of flexion and abduction. The result is a single exercise that trains upper-body pushing, trunk control and active hip mobility together, which is why it often appears in warm-ups, bodyweight circuits and core-focused conditioning work.
The chest and triceps carry the load in the same way as a regular push-up, with the hands set slightly wider than the shoulders. What changes the exercise is tempo. A slow descent with a brief pause at the bottom, knee held near the elbow, makes it a demanding trunk-stability drill, while a quicker, continuous rhythm moves it toward conditioning and makes it feel closer to a Mountain Climber with a push-up added. Unlike a traveling spider crawl, the hands and feet stay in the same place throughout.
It suits anyone who already performs clean standard push-ups and holds a steady Plank without the hips sagging. If the full version is too hard, the Incline Push-Up with the same knee drive reduces the load on the arms, and slow knee drives from the top of a plank teach the hip and trunk part of the pattern before the push-up is added back in.
Muscles Worked
- Pectoralis Major
- Primary
- Deltoid
- High
- External Oblique
- Medium
- Rectus Abdominis
- Medium
- Serratus Anterior
- Medium
Instructions
- Start at the top of a push-up with your hands on the floor slightly wider than your shoulders, fingers pointing forward and arms straight.
- Rest on the balls of your feet with your legs straight behind you, and brace your trunk and glutes so your body forms a straight line from head to heels.
- Bend your elbows to lower your chest toward the floor, keeping the elbows angled back toward your hips rather than flared straight out.
- As you lower, lift your right foot off the floor and bring your right knee out to the side and forward toward your right elbow, keeping the leg off the floor.
- Reach the bottom with your chest just above the floor and your knee as close to the elbow as your hips allow, hips level with your shoulders.
- Press the floor away to straighten your arms, returning your right foot to its starting position as you rise.
- On the next rep, bring your left knee toward your left elbow, and keep alternating sides. Your hands and feet stay in the same place throughout.
- Inhale as you lower and exhale as you press back up.
Common Mistakes
Sagging hips
Letting the hips drop toward the floor as the knee comes forward shifts stress onto the lower back and means the trunk has stopped bracing.
Twisting or piking the hips
Rotating the pelvis or lifting the hips to reach the elbow swaps the trunk control the exercise is meant to train for a shortcut.
Knee and chest out of sync
Driving the knee too early or too late, instead of reaching the elbow as the chest reaches the bottom, splits the rep into two separate movements.
Shallow push-up
Cutting the descent short to focus on the knee drive leaves the chest and triceps underworked and turns the rep into a plank drill.
Dragging the foot
Sliding the moving foot along the floor instead of carrying the leg through the air takes much of the work away from the hip and trunk.
Flaring the elbows
Letting the elbows point straight out to the sides at the bottom places more stress on the front of the shoulders than keeping them angled back toward the hips.
Injuries
Spider-Man Push-Up is a low risk exercise when performed with proper technique. It is a bodyweight movement, but it combines a full push-up with a single-leg base and a large hip motion, so it asks more of the wrists, shoulders, trunk and hips than a standard push-up does.
The usual strain points are the wrists, which carry most of the body weight in extension, the front of the shoulders when the elbows flare straight out at the bottom, and the lower back when the hips sag as the knee comes forward. The hip of the moving leg can also pinch at the front or feel strained in the groin if the knee is forced toward the elbow past the range the hip allows. Bracing the trunk and glutes before each rep, keeping the elbows angled back, and bringing the knee only as far as the hips stay level prevents most of these problems.
To make it easier, place the hands on a bench and perform an Incline Push-Up with the same knee drive, or practice slow knee drives from a Plank and standard Push-Ups as separate exercises until both feel solid. To make it harder, slow the descent and hold the bottom position for two seconds with the knee near the elbow, or move on to more demanding pressing such as the Decline Push-Up or Archer Push-Up.
Stop the set if you feel sharp pain in the wrists or the front of the shoulder, a pinching pain at the front of the hip or in the groin, or pain in the lower back rather than effort in the trunk muscles. Pain that persists or returns every session is a reason to see a qualified health professional.
- Primary Focus
- Chest
- Equipment
- Body weight
- Modality
- Strength
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
Alternative Exercises
Frequently Asked Questions
- Q: Is the Spider-Man Push-Up harder than a regular push-up?
Yes, for most people. The arms do the same pressing job, but lifting one foot leaves you on three points of contact, so the trunk also has to keep the hips level while the knee moves, and most people manage fewer reps than with a standard Push-Up.
- Q: Does the knee have to touch the elbow?
No. Bring the knee as close to the elbow as your hips allow while they stay level with your shoulders. Twisting or lifting the hips to force contact defeats the purpose, and the range usually improves with practice.
- Q: Is the Spider-Man Push-Up the same as a spider crawl?
No. In this push-up the hands and feet stay in one place and the knee drives toward the elbow as you lower. A spider crawl travels forward along the floor, moving the hands and feet with each knee drive.
- Q: How is it different from a mountain climber?
A Mountain Climber holds the top of the push-up position and drives the knees forward under the body, usually at a fast pace for conditioning. The Spider-Man Push-Up adds a full push-up to every rep and takes the knee out to the side, which makes it more of a strength and trunk-control exercise.
- Q: Can beginners do Spider-Man Push-Ups?
Only once a standard push-up and a steady plank feel comfortable. Until then, practice the pattern with the hands on a bench as an Incline Push-Up, or do slow knee drives toward the elbow from the top of a Plank.