If you think about the plank, it’s amazing how much muscle coordination is needed to keep your body steady while supported by your forearms and toes. We’ve all seen the agonised expression of the ‘plankers’ and the first few times I tried one I ended up shaking so hard I literally shook myself out of the pose and ended up in a panting heap on my mat. And all for a mere 60 second challenge.
It’s a move well worth mastering though because when you do it properly and often enough, the results are phenomenal. Core strength becomes even more important as we age, especially as it plays a big part in balance. However, you need to plank correctly or risk straining your lower back, wrists or shoulders.
Here are just 3 steps to a great plank:
- 1. A good plank is all about alignment. That is, your entire body should be in a perfectly straight line from your head to your heels, with ears, shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles on the same plane. Get down on your hands and knees and place your forearms carefully in position, then push one toe back and then the other. Press those forearms into the ground. Pull everything up and in and keep everything tight. Do a mental checklist. Go head to toe.
In the basic plank here…
Shoulders=directly above elbows
Feet=hip width apart
Back=flat
Tummy=pulled in. Imagine a spear is right underneath your tummy-that should help you to hold it up!
Bottom=down, not arcing up. Imagine you’re clenching a coin between your cheeks…
Hips=pulled in. Remember that spear! (If you find that your shoulders seem to be taking all the pressure, it can mean that your hips are too high, pushing weight onto your shoulders).
- 2. Don’t forget to breathe. When performing a strenuous activity, it can sometimes be easy to forget to breathe. Me! Always me… Focus on taking long, deep, steady breaths throughout the duration of the exercise.
- 3. If you start to flag then tell yourself “just 5 seconds more. Come on, you can do this” and then maybe you can shoot for another 5 seconds? Try and push through and breathe through it. However if you begin to lose your form and can’t seem to get it back (often hips sagging down or bottom arcing skywards) then call it a day.
There’s always tomorrow. The magic doesn’t happen overnight.
Can’t wait to start tomorrow – movement challenge and planking challenge