Spiderman Push Ups
What Is A Spiderman Push Up?
The spiderman push up (also known as Spider push ups) is a challenging and effective variation of the traditional push up exercise. Named after the superhero, Spiderman, due to its resemblance of his wall crawling movements, this exercise involves bringing your knee towards your elbow as you lower your chest to the floor.
Spiderman push ups target the same muscles as conventional push ups, but the addition of an oblique crunch adds an extra challenge to the core muscles, including the deep stabilising muscles of the abdomen and back, the "six pack" muscles of the rectus abdominis, and the obliques, and the hips. You can expect to feel the burn in your chest, triceps, shoulders and abdomen, while also feeling engagement through your hips and legs.
This push up variation is also a dynamic movement that can elevate your heart rate, giving you cardiovascular benefits as well as helping with strength training.
If Spiderman push ups seem a bit tough at first, don't feel disheartened! You can ease into them by starting with an incline push up variation, where you lift less of your body weight by propping up your upper body, or go for modified (knee) push ups, placing your knees on the ground for some extra support.
If you're already skilled at these, you can try other, harder variations like medicine ball push ups, pike push ups, diamond push ups, decline push ups, one-arm push ups, or archer push ups. They'll add some variety and an extra challenge to your workout routine.
Check out some other push up variations: pike push ups, one arm push ups, archer push ups, superman push ups
Commonly Asked Questions On Spiderman Push Ups
Spiderman push ups primarily target the chest, shoulders, and triceps, while also engaging your core and lower body. The movement of bringing the knee towards the elbow engages the hip flexor muscles, the quadriceps (thigh) muscles are activated when you lift and hold your knee off the ground and your back muscles are engaged to keep your body straight and stable throughout. Using all these muscles in one movement means you can get more out of your workout with fewer exercises. They are also a great way to improve your balance, flexibility, and coordination.
Yes, Spiderman push ups are considered effective because they require your body to move through a full range of motion while having to control, stabilise, and "link" different muscle groups in a controlled, coordinated manner. They are a great way to further target your core and obliques while also actively engaging your lower body—particularly your hip flexors and quadriceps—during a traditional chest- and triceps-focused movement.
The benefits of Spiderman push ups include improved upper body strength, coordination, balance, and core stability. They engage multiple muscle groups at once, including your chest, shoulders, triceps, core, and lower body. This makes them excellent as part of a high-intensity circuit or as part of a warm-up. Spiderman push ups will build strength in the chest, shoulders and triceps as well as develop core stability. They require you to balance on one foot while performing the push up movement, which can improve your overall balance and coordination.
Spiderman Push Up Tips
Keep your core engaged, your back straight, and your elbows close to your body as you perform the movement.
If you're new to Spiderman push ups or find them too challenging, start with alternative exercises like traditional push ups and mountain climbers to build strength and technique.
As you become more comfortable with Spiderman push ups, you can gradually increase the difficulty level by adding more reps or sets, or by performing the exercise on an unstable surface such as a medicine ball.
How To Do Spiderman Ups
Begin in a push up position with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and your toes on the ground.
As you lower yourself towards the ground, lift your right foot off the floor and bring your right knee towards your right elbow.
At the bottom of the push up your knee and elbow should be almost touching.
Now push yourself back up to the starting position and straighten your right leg and return it to the ground.
Repeat the same movement on the left side, bringing your left knee towards your left elbow as you lower yourself down.
Continue alternating sides with each repetition until all reps are completed.
If you’re not sure if any of the above exercises are suitable for you, please consult your doctor before you start it. Need guidance on how to perform the exercise? Ask a personal trainer at your gym.