Work Your Core, Arms, and Chest With This Push-Up Variation From J. Lo's Trainer

Celebrity trainer David Kirsch knows what it takes to build a strong body. The NYC-based founder of wellness hub Madison Square Club has more than two decades of experience helping people—including celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Kate Upton, Heidi Klum, and Liv Tyler—reach their fitness goals.

In a recent Instagram video, Kirsch shared one of his go-to total-body strengthening moves that he writes targets the arms, chest, and core: Spiderman push-ups. You can check out the move here:

“This is a pretty comprehensive exercise,” Kirsh tells SELF. “If you’re short on time, you can do it as a standalone move and feel like you accomplished something" because it works so many muscle groups at once. You can also incorporate it into your regular upper-body or core workout, he adds.

Kirsch has done Spiderman push-ups, or variations of them, with Jennifer Lopez and Kate Upton as well as his "ultimate clients," his twin daughters Francesa and Emilia.

The move is an advanced exercise that will give you all the benefits of a regular push-up, and then some.

Spiderman push-ups are really hard. They require nearly every major muscle group in your body, including your core, glutes, outer thighs, hip external rotators, upper back, chest, triceps, and biceps, Kirsch explains.

Within your core, this push-up variation specifically targets your obliques (the muscles on the side of your abdomen) as well as your rectus abdominis (aka, your abs, the muscles that run vertically on your abdomen).

Because the move is a single-leg exercise and an anti-rotation movement, it’s especially great for building core strength and stability.

Single-leg movements in general are a good idea because they can help pinpoint muscle imbalances that exist on one side of your body, and they help improve balance and core stability.

In this specific move, “the moment you lift your leg up, you are forcing your core to stabilize your body,” explains Kirsch. “If not, you would fall over. Lifting that leg up immediately draws your core in.”

The single-leg element requires more strength from your core because “you have three points of contact on the ground instead of four,” Mark DiSalvo, NYC-based certified strength and conditioning specialist, tells SELF. This means that your stationary leg and glutes have to work extra hard to compensate for the leg that’s elevated, and all of the stabilizer muscles in your core activate to maintain balance.

Spiderman push-ups are also “a very advanced anti-rotation exercise,” DiSalvo says. Anti-rotation movements involve contracting your entire core and holding it completely still as you perform a movement—in this case, bringing your leg toward your elbow. Anti-rotation exercises are great for building both core strength and stability.

In the Instagram video, you’ll see Kirsch makes his Spiderman push-ups even harder by placing his hands atop an upside-down BOSU ball, which creates instability that “makes you engage your core more to prevent the BOSU from wobbling,” he explains. “It raises the bar that much more in terms of core engagement.” Because Spiderman push-ups are a super advanced movement even without the BOSU, you’ll likely need to work up to them over time.

Spiderman push-ups also strengthen your hips and challenge their mobility.

“You need to externally rotate your hips in order to complete the movement,” says DiSalvo. This requires strength in your hip abductors—the muscles on the side of your butt responsible for moving your leg out and away from your body to the side—and improves your hip mobility.

Training your hip strength and mobility can improve the overall functioning of your glutes, which rely on the mobility of your hips to perform tasks from walking to squatting to heavy lifting.

Here is a seven-step progression that Kirsch suggests to help you build the strength and stability required for Spiderman push-ups:

1. Fire Hydrant

• Start on all fours with your hands under your shoulders and knees under your hips.

• Without shifting your hips, lift your right knee out to the side. Keep your core engaged to help stabilize your hips.

• Slowly return to starting position for 1 rep.

• Do 20 reps. Switch sides and repeat.

This move is a great warm-up to teach you the hip external rotation you will need to master the outward leg motion of the Spiderman push-up, says DiSalvo.

2. High Plank

• Start with your hands and knees on the ground, shoulder-width apart. Stack your shoulders directly over your wrists.

• Lift your knees off the ground and push your feet back, bringing your body to full extension.

• Once you’re there, make sure your feet are shoulder-width apart.

• Squeeze your core in tight and engage your glutes and quads. Avoid arching your back. Aim your chin about 6 inches in front of your body to keep your neck, shoulders, spine, hips, and ankles in one long line.

• Hold this position for 30 to 45 seconds .

If you’re having trouble here, spread your feet farther apart to give yourself a wider base. Once you can comfortably hold a plank for 45 seconds, you’re ready for the next step.

3. Modified Push-up

• Start with your hands and knees on the ground and shoulder-width apart. Cross your feet.

• Keeping your back straight and your core engaged, start bending the elbows and lowering your upper body down until your chest is almost touching the floor.

• Pause and push yourself back to the starting position. This is 1 rep. Work up to doing 15 to 20 reps.

As you go through the movements, keep your head, hips and torso in one straight, neutral line. Once you can comfortably do 15 to 20 reps in succession, you’re ready for the next step.

4. Modified Spiderman Push-up

• Start with your hands and knees on the ground and shoulder-width apart. Cross your feet.

• Keeping your back straight and your core engaged, bend your elbows and lower your upper body down while simultaneously lifting your right leg and hinging it out and up toward your right shoulder. Try to touch your knee to your elbow as you reach the bottom of your elbow extension.

• Pause here for a moment and push yourself back to the starting position.

• Repeat with the left leg. This is 1 rep. Work up to doing 15 to 20 reps.

As you go through the movements, keep your head, hips, and torso in one straight line. Once you can comfortably do 15 to 20 reps in succession, you’re ready for the next step.

5. Push-up

• Start in high plank position with your hands stacked underneath your shoulders, your core engaged, back flat, and your body in one straight line.

• Bend your elbows, bringing them out to about a 45-degree angle to your torso, and lower your body until your chest is just a few inches from the floor.

• Pause at the bottom and then push yourself back up. This is 1 rep. Work up to doing 15 to 20 reps.

Once you can comfortably do 15 to 20 reps in succession, you’re ready for the next step.

6. One-Legged Push-up

• Start in high plank position with your hands stacked underneath your shoulders, your core engaged, back flat, and your body in one straight line.

• Lift your right leg off the ground about 6 inches, keeping your spine neutral and your core engaged.

• Keeping your leg elevated, bend your elbows and lower your body until your chest is just a few inches from the floor.

• Pause at the bottom and then push yourself back up. This is 1 rep. Do 5 to 10 reps with your right leg, then switch and do 5 to 10 reps with your left leg.

Once you can comfortably do 5 to 10 reps in succession on each side, you’re ready for the next—and final!—step.

7. Spiderman Push-up

• Start in high plank position with your hands stacked underneath your shoulders, your core engaged, back flat, and your body in one straight line.

• As your bend your elbows to lower your body toward the floor, bend your right knee, rotate your hip out to the side, and bring your knee in toward your elbow.

• Return to starting position, and repeat with your left leg. This is 1 rep.

You you feel any strain in your neck, shoulders, or lower back as you do this movement, stop and reassess your form. “If you feel it in your lower back, you are dropping your hips,” says Kirsch. “If your neck and shoulders hurt, [open your chest] and retract your shoulder blades down. This will help you open everything up and make sure your core is engaged.”

Once you can master this movement and easily crank out 15 to 20 reps, you can up the ante by adding an upside-down BOSU ball, like Kirsch, or strapping on ankle weights.

Spiderman push-ups require a ton of core and upper-body strength and stability to master. Don’t be intimidated by the end goal—and know that working through any of these steps is seriously hard. Stick with what feels best for you, progress when you can, and remember how awesome it is that you're getting stronger each time.