Is it me or is everybody talking about Spider Man lately? Every other day there seems to be some reference of our 8 legged friend in the news. From the troubling stories surrounding the beleaguered Broadway musical, to the casting of the new and fresh-faced actors for the 4th installment of the movie to NYC’s Mayor Bloomberg recently dressing up as our webbed hero at a recent Inner City Charity Function.

So, when my I heard Coach Emily instruct us all to “do the Spiderman Push-Up,” during the “Total Body Conditioning” class at Five Points the other day, I thought she was kidding.

What the heck is a Spider Man push up?”

Basically it is like a regular push up but WAY, WAY, WAY HARDER.

Although I am no expert on this contortionists move, I believe that you need to start in a regular push-up plank position, then balance your self on one leg, then take the other leg and slowly bend it up to your elbow, then bend your arms slowly lowering your body up and down…all the while keeping your body in alignment and your knee up to your elbow.

Now ” breathe….balance…bend”  coaxed Coach Emily in her sweet and disarming voice.

“Ok. I can do this.” I reasoned with myself. I breathed…I balanced…I fell on my face.

I tried again. I breathed..I bent..but I couldn’t balance!

As I lay sprawled on my chest looking around to see if anyone else was having as hard of a time with this as me, I saw my neighbor, an adorable young woman in perfect physical shape do this “push-up”  successfully without even breaking a sweat.

This Spider Girl, saw my struggles and whispered to me reassuringly, “don’t worry, it gets easier,” as she proceeded to do several more reps of the Spider Man Pushup.

After two more unsuccessful tries, I gave up and decided that I would just hold the plank position, instead of risking any more physical injury to me or my neighbors.

Many attest that the push ups are one of the fastest and best ways to get fit. In the blog, http://www.pushups100.blogspot.com, the author  lists the incredible benefits that push ups can do. They include working your chest, hands, forearms, biceps, triceps, shoulders, traps, upper back, lower back, abs, glutes, hamstrings, quads, calf, feet, your core, your balance and your heart. They also can be done anytime, anywhere, you don’t need any special or expensive equipment, and you don’t need to spend hours at the gym to see results.

It is a well-known fact that soldiers in the military are ordered to “get down and do 20” if they are insubordinate to their superior officers. Instead of viewing these push up as punishment, they really should be saying ‘Thank you sir, may I have another. ”

As I am neither a soldier nor in the military, I will just keep trying to do these push ups and someday be just like Spider Girl.

Chow for now!