How to Do a Plank Correctly

The abdominal plank exercise is one of the most common and effective toning exercises, where it may seem like you're doing nothing, but in reality, you're working everything. Learn how to do a plank correctly and include it in your next workout.

What is a Plank and What are its Benefits

The anaerobic plank exercise or abdominal plank is the foundation of any workout routine, whether professional or basic, because it allows you to work the entire transverse abdominal, pelvic floor, waist, shoulder muscles, and even glutes, without needing any equipment.

The plank position with forearms or palms on the floor, straight back, and feet apart helps activate the core, maintain a healthy back, achieve an upright posture, and improve balance and stability.

Steps to Achieve the Perfect Plank

Despite its apparent simplicity, it is essential to follow good technique to sculpt the body without overexerting yourself. Also, it's important to avoid some of the most common mistakes to maintain a good position and work the abdomen optimally.

The first, and simplest, step is to place a mat on the floor and lie face down.

Bend your arms and support your body weight on your forearms, making sure your elbows are directly under your shoulders, parallel to your body.

Separate your feet hip-width apart and support the back on the tips of your toes on the floor.

Do not make the mistake of lowering your hips, raising your glutes, retracting your shoulder blades, lifting your neck, bending your knees, or holding your breath. With your body well aligned, inhale and exhale during the exercise to avoid a variety of injuries.

Once you've achieved the plank position with a straight back, contracted abdomen and glutes, head and neck in a neutral position, the only difficult part will be holding the correct posture for at least 30 seconds to 1 minute. Although there is a world record of 8 hours and 15 minutes in a plank position by a man and 4 hours and 19 minutes by a woman from Canada, it's not necessary to hold for that long. Remember, less is more!

If you can already hold the basic plank position, you can level up with other types of planks. You can try, for example, planks with arms flexed instead of resting on forearms, an asymmetric plank by raising one leg, a side plank by positioning on your side and supporting only one forearm and foot, or a dynamic plank with one forearm supported and one hand.

Having learned the proper technique to do the perfect plank, all you have to do is put on your workout clothes, grab your mat, and incorporate it into your daily routine. Don't hesitate to keep trying and show off the desired abdomen with just one exercise!