Planks are an amazing exercise to strengthen the core muscles in our bodies. Aside from the usual planks there are many variations of planks to work out your body.
Benefits of Planks
- Strengthening of the core (which is important for full body stability and balance)
- Improves Posture
- Helps eliminate back pain
If you are looking for other exercises to improve your core strength, check out this blog post here. See this article here that shows a reduction in low back pain with planks.
Mistakes When Doing Planks:
- Dropping your back
- Lifting your hips
- Straining your neck
Planks are an amazing exercise, and making sure you have proper form throughout your body while performing a plank is important to decrease your risk of injury.
Muscles Worked While Performing Planks:
- Rectus Abdominus
- Obliques
- Transversus Abdominus
Along with the core musculature listed above, you will also work the muscles in your shoulders and lower extremities while doing the planks.
Planks:
Elbow Plank
High Plank
Shoulder Taps
Side Plank
Hip Dips
Mountain Climber
Plank Jacks
Side Plank with Leg Lifts
High Plank with UE and LE lift
Planks for Beginners:
If performing regular planks is too difficult, especially when beginning, doing it on your knees with regular and side planks is a great spot to start.
Also, when first starting out with planks, I will perform them each 3 times for 30 seconds. I will then increase that time by 15 second until I reach 1 minute.