The Plank is a great way to work your abs, arms, and back. All you need in order to do this version of the plank is your own body weight. Here's how you do it:
- Get face down on the floor resting on your forearms and knees.
- Push off the floor, raising up off your knees onto your toes and resting mainly on your elbows.
- Contract your abdominals to keep yourself up and prevent your booty from sticking up.
- Keep your back flat — don't let it droop or you'll be defeating the purpose. Picture your body as a long straight board, or plank.
- Hold as long as you can. Aim for 20-30 seconds in the beginning and work your way up to one minute, as you get stronger.
- Repeat three times.
O'Neill
Sergio Rossi
All Saints
I've done this before, and though it looks like I'm doing it right from what I read here and other fitness sites, all I feel working out is my back... nothing in my arms or ab area. What gives?
1My chiro has me do these to help my lower back.
2I like doing these... to make it tougher, I alternate lifting my legs up to get in a booty workout too
3Ugh, I HATE the plank, but I do it. It's the best way to get/keep a flat tummy.
4this is one of the moves I use to periodically test my fitness level
5I do these sometimes...
6i do these 2-3 times a week
7I try to do this as often as I can; I like the idea of alternating leg lifts, too. Think I'll give that one a try.
8lattegoodness, if you're ONLY feeling your back maybe try moving your position a bit. try lifting your butt a bit, I usually feel it in my back when my butt starts to droop.
9Renees, thanks for the tip, I'll try that tonight when I go to the gym!
10I love doing planks using my own body weight. I do have to lift my butt up a little otherwise my lower back gets super sore and the next day sucks!
11These totally kick my butt. I do them with slight leg raises to rebalance from 4 pts to 3 pts. My abs just don't get sore from crunches anymore but I am hurting for 2 days from these (in a good way!)
12Love this exercise, although I don't always feel that way when doing it!
13One of my favs too, getting that core nice and trained! To do the plank correctly, you need to make sure you are targeting those core muscles which is done by holding your abs tight...if you don't hold them tight then you aren't doing much to gain the benefits of the exercise. And you also will often have to angle your hips down a bit if your lower back is hurting to get them in the right position, so that you don't have a big arch but instead are...flat as a plank:) It's so funny to see people in the gym who think they are doing it right and staying up for super long, when their positioning is poor and that's why they are staying up...like when their back is flat but then they let their hips/butt fall way down so that it's no where near a plank lol.
My fav to do is holding for about 3-4 minutes balancing on one leg (they are crossed with one over the other) and then for an extra minute I'll separate and then do leg lifts. Then I move to the side plank for 2-3 minutes and alternate between holding, to oblique lifts, then to rotating. Mmmm feel that burn!
14this is my favorite! I like the side planks too!
15LOVE planks!!!
I can feel this all over, and try to fit them in whenever I can.
16I do that too (hey, did it today!) and you really have to hold in your abs to get it right. I also lift my legs while doing that, and do the side planks too... all from Pilates.
17it gave me a hell of a 4-6 pack
These are great to do between sets of weight lifting. Just hop off the machine/bench and do 1-3 times, then next set of weights, repeat. I hate doing nothing inbetween sets, so alternating maximizes my time and effort.
18i've never heard of this exercise but after all your fabulous recomendations ill have to try this one!! and soon!!
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