Spiderman Push Up: Exercise Guide, Form Tips & Video

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Spiderman Push Up Overview

The spiderman push up is a bodyweight push. You do a push up and bring one knee to your elbow. This mainly works your chest, the muscles on the front of your ribs. It also works your shoulders, triceps, and obliques. The obliques are the muscles on the sides of your waist. You need no equipment. The spiderman push up builds your chest and your core at the same time. Bringing your knee up makes your abs and hips work hard. It is a harder move for people who can do normal push ups. You can do it anywhere with floor space. Add it to a push day or a core day. It builds strength and control.

What Is The Point of the Spiderman Push Up?

The spiderman push up builds chest strength while hitting your core hard. It adds a killer twist to regular push ups that fires up your obliques and improves coordination.

How To Do The Spiderman Push Up

  1. Start in a standard push up position with your hands set just outside shoulder width and your body in a straight line from head to heels. Squeeze your glutes and brace your abs.
  2. Set your shoulders over or slightly ahead of your hands and pull your shoulder blades down. Grip the floor with your fingers for a stable base.
  3. Take a breath and brace hard so your whole body moves as one rigid plank. This tight trunk is what keeps your hips from sagging as you add the leg motion.
  4. As you begin to lower, bring your right knee out to the side and up toward your right elbow. The knee travels along the floor while your chest descends.
  5. Lower your chest toward the floor by bending your elbows and keeping them tucked at about 45 degrees, not flared straight out. Time it so your knee reaches your elbow as your chest reaches the bottom.
  6. Descend under control until your chest is just above the floor and your knee is near your elbow. Feel your chest stretch and your obliques work to draw the knee in.
  7. Press back up through your palms while returning your right leg to the plank position. Both actions finish together as you reach the top.
  8. Repeat on the other side, bringing your left knee toward your left elbow as you lower. Keep alternating sides with each rep.
  9. Keep your hips level and your core tight the whole time. Intermediate lifters do well with 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps per side.

Spiderman Push Up Form Tips

  1. Keep your body in one straight line.
  2. Bring your knee to your elbow as you lower.
  3. Keep your hips level. Do not let them rise or twist.
  4. Tuck your elbows a little as you lower.
  5. Keep your core tight the whole time.
  6. Move slow and controlled both ways.
  7. Look at the floor to keep your neck long.
  8. Breathe in as you lower. Breathe out as you push.
  9. Return your foot smoothly to the plank.

Common Mistakes to Avoid for the Spiderman Push Up

  1. Letting your hips sag or twist as the knee comes in. When your core loosens the hips drop or rotate and you lose the plank tension that protects your back. Keep your abs and glutes tight so your torso stays rigid while only the leg moves.
  2. Flaring your elbows straight out to the sides. A wide flare dumps stress onto the shoulders and weakens the press. Keep your elbows tucked to about 45 degrees so the chest and triceps stay in charge.
  3. Not timing the knee with the descent. Bringing the knee up separately from lowering your chest turns it into two clumsy moves instead of one smooth rep. Draw the knee in as your chest goes down so they arrive together.
  4. Cutting the push up range short. Stopping halfway down trains only a slice of the movement and dodges the hard part. Lower until your chest is just above the floor on every rep.
  5. Rushing through the reps. Speeding up sacrifices control, lets the hips wobble, and takes the obliques out of the work. Slow down so both the press and the knee drive stay deliberate.
  6. Piking your hips up toward the ceiling. Lifting your butt shortens the movement and lets you cheat the hardest part. Keep a straight line from head to heel throughout.
  7. Letting the working knee stay low near the floor. If the knee never travels up toward the elbow you skip the oblique and hip work that makes this variation special. Drive the knee up and out toward the same-side elbow.
  8. Craning your neck to look forward. Dropping your head back stresses the neck and breaks your alignment. Keep your neck long and gaze at the floor just ahead of your hands.
  9. Doing all your reps on one side out of habit. Favoring your stronger side builds an imbalance in the obliques and hips over time. Alternate evenly and match your effort on both sides.
  10. Bouncing off the bottom to save energy. Rebounding out of the bottom uses momentum instead of muscle and stresses the shoulders. Control the descent and press up with intent.
  11. Holding your breath the whole set. Locking your air down each rep spikes your pressure and tires you early. Exhale as you press up and inhale as you lower.

Spiderman Push Up Workout Tips

  1. Own a standard push up before adding the leg movement. The spiderman version stacks a mobility and core challenge on top, so a rock-solid plank and clean press come first.
  2. Keep your elbows tucked around 45 degrees. This protects the shoulders and keeps the chest and triceps loaded, just like in a good regular push up.
  3. Time the knee drive with the descent. Drawing the knee to the elbow as your chest lowers makes each rep one smooth, coordinated movement instead of two.
  4. Chase the mind-muscle connection in your chest and obliques. Feel your chest press you up and your side abs pull the knee in, so the whole trunk stays engaged.
  5. Use a controlled eccentric. A slow lowering phase keeps tension on the chest and gives you time to bring the knee in with control.
  6. This variation builds hip mobility and core strength along with your chest. That extra movement makes it a great warm-up or conditioning finisher as well as a strength move.
  7. Program it on push days or in a bodyweight circuit. It works as chest and triceps volume with a bonus dose of core and mobility work.
  8. Alternate sides evenly and match your reps. Both hips and obliques should get equal work so you do not build a lopsided core.
  9. For a challenge, slow the tempo or pause at the bottom. Adding time under tension raises the difficulty without needing any equipment.
  10. Regress to your knees or elevate your hands on a bench if full reps break down. Keeping the movement clean matters more than doing it on your toes.
  11. Keep your whole body braced like a plank. A rigid trunk means all your effort goes into the press and the knee drive instead of leaking through a sagging middle.
  12. Progress to feet-elevated spiderman push ups once these feel easy. Raising your feet shifts more weight onto your arms and raises the core demand.
  13. Use it to improve hip flexibility over time. The repeated knee-to-elbow motion gently opens the hips, which helps your squats and everyday movement.
  14. Film a set from the side. The camera catches hip sag, twisting, and short reps that you cannot feel while grinding.
  15. Do these anywhere with no equipment. They are a perfect travel or home option that trains your chest, triceps, and core in one move.
  16. Do not let form slip just to hit a number. A few clean, coordinated reps beat many sloppy ones, so stop when your plank breaks down.
  17. Stay consistent. Combining strength and mobility in one movement pays off across your whole training, so keep these in your rotation.

Train Chest With Your AI Trainer

  1. Go to the iOS App Store and search "GetFit AI: AI Fitness Trainer" or tap the button below to do the spiderman push up exercise on the app
  2. Download the app πŸ“²
  3. Complete the quiz to build a custom AI workout plan πŸ€–
  4. Choose a trainer or build a custom plan targeting your chest πŸ’ͺ
  5. Stay consistent, chat with your AI trainer anytime, and compete with friends to stay motivated πŸ†

Weight & 1 Rep Max Calculator for the Spiderman Push Up Exercise

Average Spiderman Push Up standards by male, female, weight, age and height

Use this calculator to estimate a smart starting weight and one rep max for the Spiderman Push Up. Treat it as your starting line. Your GetFit AI trainer fine-tunes the exact weights as you train.

Enter your stats to calculate your Reps & Weight
How is this calculated?

Estimates start from a percentage of your body weight for this movement pattern and equipment, adjusted for gender, age, and height. One rep max is projected from the 8-rep weight using the Epley formula. Every lifter is different, so use these as a conservative starting point, not a target.

Beginner8 reps 45 lbs
1 Rep Max55 lbs
Intermediate8 reps 55 lbs
1 Rep Max70 lbs
Advanced8 reps 70 lbs
1 Rep Max90 lbs

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