Spider Crawl Push-Up
- Primary muscleGlutes
- EquipmentBodyweight
- DifficultyAdvanced
- TypeCompound · Push
Driving a knee toward the same-side elbow while you lower folds hip flexion and oblique work into the descent of every rep, which is why the glutes and abs headline over the chest. The crawling knee also narrows your base mid-rep, so tempo matters far more than rep count.
How to do the Spider Crawl Push-Up
- Start in a push-up position with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and your feet together.
- Bring your right knee towards your right elbow, keeping it off the ground.
- As you bring your right knee back, simultaneously lower your body towards the ground by bending your elbows.
- Push back up to the starting position and repeat with your left knee towards your left elbow.
- Continue alternating sides for the desired number of repetitions.
Tip: Screw your hands into the floor as if turning the fingers outward to set the shoulders before each set.
Muscles worked
Primary
Glutes · Legs
Squeezing the glutes locks the hips in line with the torso and stops the lower back from arching.
Secondary
- Abs — The abs hold the body rigid so the hips do not sag, which is why a push-up is also a moving plank.
- Pectorals — The chest drives the arms together as you push, and it is loaded most in the bottom half of the rep when the elbows are bent.
- Delts — The front delts assist the chest, especially on decline variations where the feet are elevated.
Common mistakes
- Hips sagging or piked — the body should stay a straight line from head to heels; squeeze the glutes and brace the abs before each rep.
- Elbows flared to 90 degrees — flaring the arms out wide loads the shoulder joint; keep the elbows tucked to about 45 degrees from the torso.
- Cutting the bottom short — chest should come to within a fist of the floor; if that means fewer reps, do fewer reps.
- Head dropping first — the chin reaching for the floor makes it look like a rep when it is not; keep the head neutral and lead with the chest.
Where it fits in a workout
Push-ups work as a warm-up before bench press, as a finisher after chest work or as the main push exercise when training with no equipment. Superset them with inverted rows or a band pull-apart for balance.
How many sets, how heavy and how hard: see what the ACSM position stands support.
Variations and alternatives
Similar exercises
Alternatives
Easier and harder
When to talk to someone
- Chest discomfort, feeling faint or lightheaded, or trouble breathing during or after exercise can be signs of a heart attack. In the US, call 911 right away; elsewhere, call your local emergency number.
- Heart, metabolic or kidney disease, or symptoms like these when you are active: talk to your doctor before you start or step up training.
- Pregnant: ask your obstetric care provider which exercise suits you.
Track the Spider Crawl Push-Up in SetGrip
All 1,100+ exercises with animations are in the app. No account, no sign-up — your history stays on your iPhone and in your private iCloud. Works with Apple Watch.
More exercises
Sources
- ACSM position stand on exercise quantity and quality (Garber et al., 2011)
- ACSM preparticipation health screening (Riebe et al., 2015)
- ACOG Committee Opinion No. 804 on exercise in pregnancy (2020)
- CDC: About Heart Attack Symptoms, Risk, and Recovery (2024)
Sources checked on October 17, 2026. Full citations are in the exercise library.
Animation and exercise data: ExerciseDB, licensed to SetGrip. General information, not medical or coaching advice.