For those who love exercise and physical activity, the term “plank” is probably not unfamiliar. Plank is known as the “king” exercise, powerfully impacting muscle groups, helping exercisers improve their physique quickly and effectively, while also increasing flexibility and endurance. So, what constitutes a standard plank position? How to practice planks for the best results? Let’s explore 6 standard plank positions for beginners below!
What is a plank? What are the benefits of a plank?
Simply put, a plank is an elbow push-up exercise. Specifically, when doing a plank, the exerciser must maintain a fixed position for a certain amount of time, depending on the specific exercise. This sounds simple, but in reality, it’s not. If done incorrectly, you can affect your joints and spine, causing back pain, thus reducing the effectiveness of your workout.
Plank exercises, especially adhering to proper plank postures, will yield desirable results such as: toning abdominal muscles; burning excess fat; weight loss; impacting muscle groups – improving health and endurance; stimulating metabolism; reducing back and spinal injuries; improving mood, making the body feel refreshed and more flexible, etc.
Instructions on how to perform the most correct plank posture
As mentioned, plank exercises are only effective if you do them correctly. Below are some points you need to pay special attention to if you want to perform the most correct plank postures:
Common mistakes when planking that can cause spinal deformities
When doing planks, most people often make the following three basic mistakes:
• Hands not placed perpendicular to the floor: This means that when exercising, the body will not have a stable support point, leading to fatigue and loss of strength. At the same time, this mistake also makes the body more susceptible to unnecessary injuries.
• Lowering your hips too much: In reality, lowering your hips makes the body feel less tired. However, this is an absolute mistake to avoid if you want to perform planks correctly. Lowering your hips means your stomach will be pressed against the floor. This prevents the abdominal muscles from working, putting pressure on the spine and causing pain and numbness in the back, joints, and spine.
• Raising your hips too high: Similarly, this is a common mistake many people make when doing planks. When you raise your hips too high, your abdominal muscles also sag, contracting towards the center and not creating tension for the body. This means that no matter how you exercise, you won’t get the desired results.
• Tilting your hips: One side of your body will inevitably be stronger than the other. This easily causes you to lean towards the weaker side. In this case, try to keep both sides stable.
• Tilting your head and neck upwards: This puts pressure on your neck and spine, preventing you from maintaining proper posture.
• Arms too far apart and not straight: Keep your wrists and elbows in a straight line from top to bottom, wrists directly under your shoulders. This will prevent back strain and lower back pain.
• Bending your knees: This is a common mistake. Straighten your legs and keep your knees and back in a straight line.
• Slouching your shoulders and leaning your upper body forward: This posture strains the muscles and neck, easily causing soreness after exercise and long-term back pain.
How to perform the plank correctly
To determine the benefits of the plank and its positive effects on your body, you need to perform the exercise correctly. Below is a guide on how to perform the plank correctly for everyone.
• Preparation: To avoid injury or unnecessary impact to your joints and elbows, prepare a yoga mat that fits your height.
• Step 1: Kneel on the mat, look straight ahead, and lean forward. Then, place both hands on the mat, ensuring your arms are perpendicular to your forearms. You can loosely clasp your hands or interlock them as desired.
• Step 2: Tighten your abdominal muscles. Then, raise your toes to touch the floor. Your back and hips should form a straight line.
• Step 3: Hold this position for 30 seconds to 1 minute. You can extend it longer if you have enough stamina or want to increase the difficulty of the exercise.
Suggested Plank Poses for Beginners
Besides the basic plank pose above, you can also practice this exercise in other variations. Here are some variations of the plank exercise that beginners can try:
Knee Plank
The knee plank is an ideal exercise for those who are new to the plank exercise. The exercise is quite simple with the following steps:
• Step 1: Start with the basic plank position: your back and legs form a straight line, your arms are bent, elbows are resting on the mat, ensuring your arms are perpendicular to the mat.
• Step 2: Lower your knees until they touch the floor/mat. Push your body up with your hands; your back is sloping downwards.
High Plank
The high plank is a great exercise you can do at home. The exercise includes the following steps:
• Step 1: Start in a push-up position: arms straight, eyes looking forward, feet in a straight line, toes pointed up to support the body as you push yourself upwards.
• Step 2: Maintain the position, remembering to tighten your abdominal muscles and maintain a steady breathing rhythm.
Up-Down Plank
The up-down plank involves the rhythmic coordination of various body parts. This is also a plank exercise chosen by many people for home workouts or during breaks at work. The plank exercise is performed as follows:
• Step 1: Place both hands on the mat while lifting your body up.
• Step 2: Spread your feet shoulder-width apart, toes touching the floor/mat.
• Step 3: Alternately bend both elbows and place your hands on the floor, keeping your upper body parallel to the floor.
• Step 4: Return to the starting position and repeat the movements until the exercise is complete.
Plank with Jumping Legs
The plank with jumping legs is an exercise that requires significant jumping power in both legs and thighs, thereby tightening the muscles in the hips, thighs, and glutes, delivering desirable training results. The steps to perform the plank with jumping legs correctly are as follows:
• Step 1: Begin with the basic plank position: keep both legs straight and close together, toes touching the mat/floor.
• Step 2: Jump with both feet to the sides, twice the width of your shoulders.
• Step 3: Jump back to the starting position, repeating the movement until the exercise is complete.
Side Plank
The side plank is a variation of the plank exercise, offering optimal results due to the flexible coordination of the thigh, hip, and arm muscles. To perform the side plank correctly, follow these steps:
• Step 1: Place one hand on the floor/mat, raise the other hand high, or straighten your legs, placing your right foot on your left foot (or vice versa).
• Step 2: Tighten your abdominal and thigh muscles.
• Step 3: Hold this position for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then switch sides. Continuously repeat the steps until the exercise is complete.
Reverse Plank
Similar to the basic plank exercise, the only difference in the reverse plank is that your head will be facing upwards. You can do this exercise with the following steps:
• Step 1: Sit on a mat, place your hands to the sides along your body, and extend your legs straight.
• Step 2: Use your arm muscles to push yourself up. Ensure your arms are straight, forming a 90-degree angle with the floor.
• Step 3: Lower yourself down and repeat the steps above.
When is the best time to do a plank?
According to sports experts, the ideal time to do a plank is in the morning or evening. Alternatively, you can adjust your workout time to suit your personal schedule, ensuring it’s suitable and uninterrupted. Most importantly, it’s about perseverance and your ability to perform the correct plank posture.
Experts explain why planking in the morning or evening is more effective:
• In the morning, right after waking up, the body is more efficient at burning excess fat through exercise. This exercise also helps improve mood and physical fitness.
• In the afternoon (between 4 PM and 6:30 PM), muscle strength is at its peak. Planking at this time is highly effective. The ability to burn energy and eliminate excess fat is significantly higher than at other times of the day.
Additionally, if you are short on time, you can schedule planking during breaks or free time. Note that you should not plank when you are too full or too hungry. It’s especially important not to exercise before bedtime (around 9 pm) as it can severely deplete your energy and lead to insomnia.
How many plank repetitions should you do per day?
According to experts, doctors, and fitness trainers, the frequency of plank exercises per day is not fixed. It varies depending on your physical condition and available time. However, when first starting out with planks, you should maintain 3 repetitions per day, each lasting 15 to 30 seconds. Once you’re comfortable with the exercise, you can increase the number of repetitions to 3 to 5, each lasting 30 to 60 seconds (corresponding to 3-5 minutes per day).
What to eat after doing a plank?
After doing planks or any other gym workout, you need to consume enough food to restore energy, reduce muscle soreness, and replenish glycogen and protein lost during exercise.
Specifically, you can add the following foods to your post-workout meal: steak and tomatoes; chicken and vegetable salad; salmon; tuna; brown rice; sweet potatoes; spinach; fruits; etc. Note that you should avoid foods high in unhealthy saturated fats, such as fried foods, fast food, sugary drinks, and alcoholic beverages. These are the number one cause of belly fat and weight gain, slowing down the weight loss and fat burning process for those who exercise.
