09/17/2020
Planking: also known as the worst exercise known to man. I wish this post was designed to make it easier… it’s not. It will, however, help you visualize the correct technique.
Let’s start from the head down.
Neck: The cue I like is to give yourself a double chin while pushing your face away from the floor. Think of someone offering you a food you hate.
Shoulders: The angle at your elbow should be slightly less than 90 degrees with hand underneath the shoulders. I know what you’re thinking; “how am I suppose to pray?” Good news, you’re about to plank, you’ve already prayed. Now that your shoulders are stabilized in external rotation, they need to be slightly rounded. Many individuals lack strong scapular (shoulder blade) stability and allow their scapulae to touch during the plank. How do we fix this? Remember the disgusting food reference? Push those elbows through the floor to get your body even further away from that banana that is ripe enough for bread.
Pelvis: I’m writing pelvis because that is what will be moving, however, it is the lumbar spine that we are looking at. Gravity is going to be pushing down pretty hard so we do not want our lower back to cave in. Everyone try this right now. Put your hand on your hips and without moving your knees or shoulders I want you to tilt your hips forward by pushing your buttocks to the wall behind you. Next, tilt your hips backward by pushing your pelvis to the wall in front of you. For those of you that are yoga enthusiasts, think cat. You should feel your core and glutes engage along with a stretch of the lower back and hip flexors. This is the position I want your pelvis to be in during the plank.
Legs: A plank is a full body, isometric hold. Many people treat it as just an abdominal exercise. They’re missing the full benefits. I want you to squeeze your glutes, inner thighs, knees and ankles together as hard as you can.
There you go, if you follow these cues you should find yourself in a pretty solid position, how long you hold it is up to how long you feel like torturing yourself!