The plank might not seem like much at first glance. What could be so fantastic about supporting your body without making a single movement?
As it turns out, planks are a wonderful technique to tone your entire body while also strengthening your core. All you need is your body weight to perform it, which you can do anyplace.
Exercises like the plank put your entire body to the test and burn the most calories.
The core, which is essential for mobility and pain reduction, gets a great workout with this bodyweight exercise in particular.
What you need to know about the advantages of planks for your health and how to execute them properly is provided here.
What is a Plank?
One of the easiest workouts you can perform is the plank; both the exercise’s look and the actions needed to complete one are straightforward. But just because something is basic doesn’t make it simple to perform a plank.
Although there are other ways to perform the plank, the fundamental objective is to have your body perpendicular to the ground, with your stomach facing down, and your torso lifted off the ground using either your elbows or hands.
Planking itself isn’t particularly challenging, but maintaining the posture is quite another matter.
High plank
Put yourself on the top or beginning of a pushup. Keep your back straight, your core taut, and your palms and toes firmly planted on the ground. Be careful not to compromise your form during a plank as this might lead to lower back problems later on. Keep your head held high.
Low plank
Maintaining the same alignment and form as the high plank, descend to your forearms.
What Makes the Plank so Special?
There are quite a few explanations behind the popularity of the plank. Some people even see it as their preferred form of exercise.
- A bodyweight exercise is the plank. Bodyweight exercises, which you can perform alone with your own body, are desirable for a variety of reasons.
- You can perform bodyweight workouts almost anyplace; the only equipment you’ll ever need is a level surface and your own body. Bodyweight workouts may be performed without spending a lot of money on equipment.
- Bodyweight exercises are excellent for strengthening your core, and because you use your own weight, they can be adjusted to meet your specific fitness goals. For example, as you gain weight, you’ll be working out with more weight, which is similar to increasing the number of reps you can bench press.
- The plank works out an enormous amount of your body’s muscles, making it a desirable exercise for all types of training – strength, endurance, you name it. Planks can even be useful for people who desire to conduct aerobic exercises.
- As long as a person is still physically strong, they can execute a plank at very much any energy age. Planks are a good workout for children to begin with since they may keep doing them well into old life.
The Worthwhile Benefits of Plank Exercise
Let’s examine some of the incredible health advantages of performing planks more frequently in detail.
1. Planks strengthen the entire body.
Love multitasking techniques? Planks are a great way to work numerous muscles at once. The plank first targets your glutes and quads.
These muscles are essential for moving forward, which is especially useful if you run. Strong glutes and quads help you move more easily during exercise and daily tasks by stabilizing the pelvis and the knees, respectively.
The plank exercises your core, which is your body’s primary stabilizer, as well as your shoulders, arms, and core. Your spine is in a neutral posture when you are performing a plank. The core muscles are compelled to contract in order to maintain stability, which strengthens them over time.
2. Planks improve your posture.
The plank encourages proper posture while strengthening your core. This is crucial if you have a tendency to slouch or, like many individuals, spend all day at a desk.
This is how it goes: Supporting your spine and maintaining your upright posture are the responsibilities of your core muscles. The diaphragm, pelvic floor, internal obliques, and abs are a few examples of these muscles.
By performing planks, you can maintain the health and strength of these muscles, allowing them to easily stabilize your spine. A strong core also helps to maintain good spinal alignment, which improves posture.
3. Planks help get rid of back pain.
The plank has your back when it comes to discomfort, and it’s all because of the way it strengthens your core and improves your posture.
Want proof?
The core carries the weight of your motions since it is the center of your body. If your core isn’t strong, the strain is transferred to your surrounding muscles, which begin to overcompensate. Back discomfort, particularly in the lower back, may result from this. Additionally, bad posture strains the back muscles.
the advantages of plank workouts According to research, activities like planks that stabilize your core might lessen low back discomfort.
By making you more conscious of your posture and spinal alignment, planks can also offer relief. You may train your body to hold itself more mindfully by performing planks. Back pain treatment is associated with this kind of awareness, also known as postural awareness.
4. Planks aid in preventing injury.
Planks lower your chance of injury by strengthening your core. When you move, a powerful core helps you distribute force to your extremities. On the other side, a weak core is unable to support the weight. As a result, surrounding muscles are put under too much strain, leading to “injuries in unexpected regions like the hips, hamstrings, or inner thighs.
Planks’ advantages for posture can also be helpful. By uniformly spreading your weight while moving, good posture keeps you safe. This aids in preventing uncomfortable, bad motions that could result in discomfort and injury.
5. Planks enhance your balance.
In order to maintain your balance while performing a plank, you must bear all of your weight on your toes and arms. This enhances your equilibrium, which is necessary for maintaining control over the position of your body.
If you want to avoid being hurt when strolling to the mailbox or trekking up a mountain, you need to have good balance. Additionally, balance problems tend to worsen as we age, so it never hurts to test your balance with exercises like planks.
6. Planks improve your flexibility.
The plank may significantly increase your flexibility even if it doesn’t seem like a traditional stretch.
Your hamstrings, which are the main muscles at the rear of your upper leg and produce pain when they are overly tight, are lengthened and stretched by performing a standard plank.
In addition to improving balance and range of motion, the exercise stretches the arches and balls of your feet. The side plank, meanwhile, extends the obliques and makes it simpler to easily twist your trunk.
7. Planking will improve your metabolism.
Our metabolism tends to slow down when we sit still for prolonged periods of time at work or when we don’t engage in physical activity.
Regularly doing the plank posture enhances circulation, which enhances body metabolism. Your food consumption will rise as your muscles become stronger.
The combination of regular exercise and a nutritious diet, however, can increase your metabolic rate and cause you to burn more calories, which will cause fat reduction. Your metabolism will increase with regular planking, and you’ll burn calories even while you sleep!
8. Plank improves overall mental health.
Exercise of any kind releases endorphins, which improve our happiness. Planks, though, may be particularly uplifting since they work our body’s stress-relieving areas.
Strain and stress, whether mental or physical, frequently cause our shoulders, neck, and back to stiffen up and develop knots. The primary muscles where the stress collects are actually squeezed out of tension by contracting these muscles.
Numerous mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression, can be brought on by ongoing stress. In order to remind our brain and body to decompress and regenerate, exercise is crucial.
How to Do a Plank
To hold your body in a straight line with only your hands and toes touching the ground is the fundamental idea behind a plank.
The following 8 guidelines are crucial for maintaining proper form when performing a plank:
- Your palms are on the floor, or your hands are clasped together, in a comfortable position.
- Your hip-distance between your feet. On the balls of your feet, you should be able to balance.
- You have a perfectly straight spine.
- Your tailbone should be tucked in so that it is parallel to your spine and is not protruding upward.
- The muscles in your butts, or glutes, are tense.
- Your navel is pushed inside nearer your spine.
- You should have your back muscles, or lats, contracted and pulling you away from the floor.
- Your body is aligned in a single line. Make sure your bottom isn’t protruding and your lower back isn’t drooping.
Try to hold the plank for 30 to 60 seconds at a time.
Different Plank Variations
Planks are usually a full-body exercise, although some variations can target particular muscle groups more intensely. Once you’ve mastered conventional planks, modified planks may make the workout harder and present you with an additional challenge.
Whether you’re a novice or a pro, try one of these several plank positions.
1. Side plank
Rotate onto your side, stretching one arm toward the sky, and balance on one foot while adhering to the same principles as a typical plank.
The obliques and intercostals respond amazingly to side planks. Your ribs’ intercostal muscles are located here.
2. Reverse plank
Similar to a normal plank, except with your back to the ceiling instead of the ground. When you are on your back and your body is making a straight line, push your upper body up while extending your arms beneath you. Maintain this posture.
For your complete core, glutes, hamstrings, and back, reverse planks are fantastic.
3. Arm or leg lift planks
You will build a lot more strength and endurance by exercising these planks since they place a lot more stress on your muscles. Planks with the arms and legs raised are a terrific addition to a fitness program and may be used in place of or in addition to standard planks.
When you’re in a regular forward plank posture, just elevate an arm or a leg. Your upper back, chest, and core are all aided by this. Lifting one arm will boost the advantages to your shoulder; using your leg will work out your sides and glutes more.
4. Side plank crunch
This innovative combination of the plank and the crunch combines two well-known exercises.
Place your right hand beneath your shoulder and lie on your side with your body in the side plank posture. Ensure that the inside of the foot on the other side is resting on the floor in front of the other.
Form a diagonal with your head and toes by contracting your abs and pushing into your right hand. Crunch forward and downward while attempting to bring your left elbow to your right. After 10 tries, return to the beginning position.
When finished, switch sides and proceed once more.
5. Resistance plank
When you perform a plank with a resistance band, the benefits to your core, shoulders, and even hamstring flexibility will be increased.
Get into a regular high plank posture (where you are at the top of a standard pushup, retaining the position) after wrapping the band around your wrists and/or ankles.
Notice the additional pressure on your muscles when you extend your left hand a few inches, then go back to your starting position. Repetition on the opposing sites counts as one rep once you have worked both sides of your body. When you’re just starting out, aim for 10.
Bottom Line
Planks are a wonderful exercise to include in your fitness program regardless of your level of fitness. You might set a goal for yourself to perform planks every day. To help you remember, you can incorporate them into your warm-up and stretching regimen.
Prepare yourself for some killer abs now that you know how to plank! Your everyday talents and sports performance will both improve with a stronger core.