Squeeze your legs and glutes to keep your hips as stable as possible. Make sure to keep a strong plank position and a neutral spine the whole time. It’s a great exercise to help increase your push up strength, while also building a bulletproof core. Not to mention, planks are a pretty basic exercise that require no extra equipment-so they’re super easy to incorporate into any workout, no matter where you’re moving.The push up plank strengthens your core, chest, and triceps. By doing planks, you’re creating stiffness in the trunk that allows you to move your legs with more ease, he explains.
“The runner is trying to create athleticism in the leg muscles that cross their hip,” McGill says. Planks are a core-stabilizing exercise, McGill adds, which helps you become more efficient at running fast. “Planks recruit your entire body to create tension of the core-when done right, they can be really good for keeping your back healthy and strengthening your core muscles,” Tamir says. Holding a plank for a long time isn’t functional.” What are the benefits of plank exercises?īoth Tamir and McGill agree that adding planks into your regular cross-training routine helps to prevent injury, because they make your muscles stronger. “Fitness should be about functional, real-life movements. With a four-hour plank, you’re not creating tension and strengthening your muscles-you’re just holding the position,” Tamir tells Runner’s World. He recommends bursts of 20 seconds at a time. If you’re truly bracing all of your muscles, it can be hard for someone to hold a plank for longer than 20 seconds-and a minute at most. Noam Tamir, C.S.C.S., owner of TS Fitness in New York City agrees that it’s not necessary to hold a plank for a long period of time. “But if you have a history of back pain, hold for 10 second increments to reduce your risk of back pain triggers.” “Research shows that for most people, holding a plank for one minute at a time creates a resilient torso,” Stuart McGill, Ph.D., author of Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance tells Runner’s World. In fact, the ideal amount of time is shorter than you might think. But don’t worry, you don’t need to hold a plank anywhere near that long to reap the benefits. And Dana Glowacka of Canada, holds the world record for longest plank held by a female-4:19:55. You’ve probably heard different things from different people-30 seconds, two minutes, as long as you possibly can? Daniel Scali from Australia broke the world record for the longest plank held by a male-9:30:01. Finally, taking your gaze to your hands when in a forearm plank and slightly in front of your hands when in an extended arm plank will help keep your neck in a neutral position. Also, making sure your entire body is engaged, including the legs, will also help keep your hips in line. Keeping the core braced (as practiced standing) will help avoid these common faults. allowing hips (butt) to drop instead of keeping core and back engaged.
Exactly How to Do Squats, Plus Variations What common mistakes do people make when doing the plank?