- Although the plank can help build strength and muscle throughout your body, it requires good form.
- You need to have a solid core and shoulders in order to hold a plank.
- As a beginner, you can build up to a plank by adding scaled exercises like wall or knee planks.
The plank is an essential exercise for building muscle and is prerequisite for push-ups.
Correctly maintaining a plank position requires a strong core, sturdy shoulders, and full body stability — and the longer you hold the position, the harder it becomes to engage all those muscles.
Experts recommend that you focus on form and scaling your exercise while working up to your first minute of plank. You can also increase your plank time by gradually increasing the duration.
Excellent form is the best way to start
Matthew Barle founder of The Plank, states that planks pose a low risk of injury for beginners. Trident Physical Therapy. However, trying to plank with poor form will not help you build core strength and stability.
“You may not be strengthening the core as much as you want to and it turns into more of an upper body workout,”Barle stated.
You can perform a high plank correctly by placing your palms directly below your shoulders. Next, place your legs back so that your feet are on the floor. Engage your core by pulling your belly button toward your spine and squeezing the glutes. You should keep your head and feet straight.
You can scale up or down the exercise as you need.
You may feel unstable if you are doing a plank. Try starting with less intense variations. Some resistance can be reduced by dropping your knees on the floor or putting your hands on a wall or box.
You can reduce the stress on your wrists and shoulders by performing a plank with your forearms instead of your hands. This will help you prioritize your core.
“You want to focus on creating stability through the shoulder, engaging the shoulders instead of just resting on them,”Barle stated.
According to Ben Foster, founder and head coach of the Scaled Exercises program, scaled exercises aren’t just for beginners. People’s Athletic Club. They can also help athletes of all levels work up to a higher volume of exercise (more repetitions or time exercising).
You can always scale up an exercise mid-set if you don’t reach your goal number of reps. You can do the last 10 reps as easy variations like eccentric pushups if you are unable to complete 20 pushups.
For a plank, your goal is to add time in the position, not reps — so you might try holding a full plank for the first 20-30 seconds, then finish the remainder of the time in a knee plank.
You can add less strenuous versions to the exercise. “make up the difference”Foster stated that setting a goal will help you stay consistent and keep you motivated.
Start with shorter sessions to learn how to hold the plank.
Even if you are confident in your plank form, starting with shorter durations of exercise can help to maintain good form and progress to longer holds. Barle claims that good form will increase the intensity of the exercise.
“If you’re engaging, it ends up making the plank feel a lot tougher,”He stated.
Each week, focus on making a small amount of progress
You’ll need to keep challenging yourself in order to get stronger (a basic principle of fitness called progressive overload).
This could be used to increase the time between holds or decrease the number of holds with rest.
If you have reached your goal of plank time and want to do more, there are advanced versions such as single arm planks or side planks that can be done.