Movement Breakdown: The Plank
The Plank. It’s in everyone’s program. But are you as active as possible while you’re doing it?
You shouldn’t actually be able to hold planks for a super long time if you are doing it to the fullest extent. It is possible to just hang in the joints without actually creating the right tension through your muscles.
Let’s go through the role of each body part as you set up your plank and make sure you are getting the best bang for you buck!
The Plank
Get Set
Get in your usual plank position - shoulders over elbows, hands flat on the ground, ideally straight rather than folded, on your toes.
Slightly rounded back for an optimal plank | Grace Brown Fitness London
Shoulders and Back
Some people sink into their shoulder blades as they get set but your back should in fact be a little rounded out. This is one of the rare instances where we are not trying to squeeze your shoulders together.
Some people find it quite challenging on their shoulders. Make sure they aren’t up by your ears which indicates that your traps are taking over.
Hips
Tuck you pelvis! Not only will this help you engage your bum and abs (and vice versa), it helps keep your body in position and avoid engaging your lower back.
Create Tension
Here we get to the important part. You want to be creating tension across your whole body. Take special care the squeeze like hell through your glutes, squeeze the abs, create tension in your legs.
Pull your elbows towards your toes and your toes to your elbows to supercharge your plank | Grace Brown Fitness London
The Part People Forget (or don’t even know about)
Engage the pull! This is the part many people miss out on but it is part of the fundamentals of planking and will make this plank supercharged!
How do you do it? Once in your plank position and tension in all the right parts, Imagine your are trying to scrape your elbows towards your toes and scraping your toes towards your elbows. So, even though you’re stationary, you are trying to pull your elbows down and your toes up.
And now you’re supercharged!
Don’t Forget
As you get tired, things start to fall away.
Keep your body straight - while you don’t want your bum to be in the air, you need to also stop your hips from sinking down. This is where the engaged legs and squeezed glutes are essential. Squeeze that bum harder than you think is possible.
Tension, tension, tension. As you tire, go through your body and make sure everything is engaged. If your knees keep bending, you’re probably not squeezing your legs and bum enough, if your lower back suddenly feels like it’s involved, reengage your abs and bum.
That’s it! Now it’s time to get your own supercharged, fully compliant plank going. Does it feel different? Let me know how you went!
