Build strong core and pelvic muscles by holding a plank.
Adopting small changes over time can add up to higher health in the long run. Focus on constructing your core strength by adding an easy exercise to your weekly workout plan – the plank.
The plank position, which looks just like the top of a push-up, works your core muscles, that are the big muscles in the realm that connect your upper and lower body. These include the abdominal muscles and the back, sides, hips and buttocks. The core also surrounds the muscles in your pelvis, including people who help support your bladder, uterus, and other internal organs.
Test yourself
First, are you able to hold the board? Try the plank along with your arms prolonged or resting in your elbows. Make sure you retain your back straight and keep your head in a neutral position looking down at the bottom. If you may't hold the position, modify the exercise by placing your weight in your knees as an alternative of your feet (sometimes called a modified push-up position). Whichever version you do, give yourself time to see how long you may hold that position.
Then repeat the exercise a couple of times every week, and even every day. Try to progressively increase the variety of planks you do or the time you stay within the plank (or modified plank position) over time. Start with one plank a day and construct up from there and progressively increase the time you hold your plank.
The ultimate goal is to carry your plank for a full minute. “There's a saying that if you can hold a plank for a minute, your back pain will go away,” says Dr. Phillips.
Planks can reduce back pain because as your core muscles strengthen, they supply more support to your spine. Having a robust core can even provide help to move more easily and make your movements more stable.
Core Strength Exercises: Planks
Plaque Tips and Techniques
- Keep your neck and spine neutral through the plank.
- Keep your shoulders down and back.
- Do not bend at your hips.
Revised front panel on the knees
- Reps: 1–6
- set: 1
- Catch: 10-60 seconds
- comfort: 30-90 seconds between repetitions
Starting position: Kneel on all fours, keeping your hands and knees directly under your shoulders and hips.
Motion: Tighten your abdominal muscles, and stretch your arms forward. Lower your upper body onto your arms and drop your hips in order that your body is sort of a plank out of your head to your knees. Grab your hands and align your shoulders directly over your elbows. Hold on, this can be a rep. Aim to carry for 60 seconds total, doing as many reps as needed to achieve that total. For example, if you happen to can hold a plank for 15 seconds, you'll do 4 reps.
Front panel
- Reps: 1–6
- set: 1
- Catch: 10-60 seconds
- comfort: 30-60 seconds between repetitions
Starting position: Kneel on all fours, keeping your hands and knees directly under your shoulders and hips.
Motion: Tighten your abdominal muscles and lower your upper body onto your arms, clasp your hands together and align your shoulders directly over your elbows. Extend each legs along with your feet bent and your toes touching the ground so that you just balance your body in a plank-like line. Hold on, this can be a rep. Aim to carry for 60 seconds total, doing as many reps as needed to achieve that total. For example, if you happen to can hold a plank for 15 seconds, you'll do 4 reps.
Top image: Courtney Hale/Getty Images