Superman Push-Up

Secondary muscles
Abs, Delts
Body part
Chest
Position
Prone
Laterality
Bilateral (both sides together)
Category
Strength

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Lifting the opposite arm and leg mid-rep leaves just two points of contact, making this less a chest exercise and more a full-body balance and tension test layered onto a push-up. Own the single arm raise variation first; this one adds a floating leg on top of it.

How to do the Superman Push-Up

  1. Start in a high plank position with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and your feet together.
  2. Engage your core and lower your body towards the ground, keeping your elbows close to your sides.
  3. As you lower your body, simultaneously lift your right arm and left leg off the ground, extending them straight out.
  4. Pause for a moment at the top, then lower your arm and leg back down while pushing yourself back up to the starting position.
  5. Repeat the movement, this time lifting your left arm and right leg.
  6. 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

Pectorals · Chest

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.

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.
  • 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

Without bodyweight

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.

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More exercises

Sources

  1. ACSM position stand on exercise quantity and quality (Garber et al., 2011)
  2. ACSM preparticipation health screening (Riebe et al., 2015)
  3. ACOG Committee Opinion No. 804 on exercise in pregnancy (2020)
  4. 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.