Planks offer the ultimate convenience. Since they require no equipment, you can do a plank anywhere you have a firm surface. Plus, this simple exercise offers a multitude of health and fitness benefits, being one of the best exercises for your core. They also strengthen your mindset, since it takes discipline to hold your body in a core position for a minute. Let’s look at some reasons why planks are such a core-licious exercise.
Planks mainly work your core muscles, including the muscles that make up your rectus abdominis, obliques, and transversus abdominis. You also activate the muscles that make up your glutes, hamstrings, and upper body when you hold a plank. So, you’re working all the muscles that make up your core, including those that stabilize your spine.
Spine Protection and Injury Prevention
Strengthening your core through planks protects your spine when you do other activities. When you have a strong core, you can brace your torso better when you do exercises like squatting, deadlifting, and overhead pressing. So, planks can improve your performance when you do other strength-training exercises. However, there is limited evidence linking core instability to injuries. Despite the lack of strong data showing core exercises prevent injuries, prevention programs that emphasize core stabilization exercises seem to reduce lower extremity injury rates.
Improve Your Posture
While planking alone may not directly lead to perfect posture, regular planking develops muscle memory for maintaining a straighter lower back position. The plank exercise helps strengthen the muscles in your shoulders, neck, chest, back, and abdominal area, making it easier to maintain healthy posture. Building strength in these muscles helps you more easily maintain shoulder-back and a neutral lower-back position while seated or standing, which is important for posture. Targeting muscles in the neck, shoulders, back, thighs, pelvis, and legs, planks contribute to overall stability, bolstering your muscular strength. A strong core is essential for cultivating proper posture and planks are an exercise that can give it to you.
Boost Power Generation
Beyond better posture and spinal protection, the core strength you get from planks will help you generate more power. It does this by allowing you to transfer energy from your lower body to your upper body more efficiently. Just as you lose strength with age, you also lose power, and you lose it even faster than you do muscle strength. Developing a strong core and adding power exercises to your workout can help you retain power.
Greater Balance and Stability
Having good balance and stability is important for the movements you do in your daily life. You need balance to pick something off the floor and even get dressed. Poor balance skills can lead to a nasty fall or fracture, a common problem in older adults, especially those with osteoporosis. By doing planks and including plank variations that challenge stability even more, like side planks, you’ll build greater dynamic balance.
Better Athletic Performance
A strong core provides a solid foundation for dynamic movements, improving stability, balance, and power transfer throughout the body. This newfound core strength translates into enhanced performance across various sports, such as running, jumping, cutting, and throwing.
Additionally, planks cultivate muscular endurance, a key attribute if you participate in sports that require sustained effort. Holding a plank position for increasing durations over time builds mental and physical resilience, allowing you to perform at a high level for longer periods without fatigue compromising your performance.
Despite the benefits of planks, it’s best to incorporate a variety of core exercises into your training routine to develop the core strength you need for athletic performance and long-term health.
There Are Lots of Plank Variations
Few exercises are as versatile as the plank. So, take advantage of plank variations too. One of the best is side planks, a variation that introduces a greater balance challenge. Plus, unlike crunches and situps, side planks don’t put pressure on your lower back. But you have a wealth of other plank variations to choose from. As a beginner, you might choose a modified plank movement, but as you advance, you might work up to very challenging variations like a plank to pike, which requires a great deal of stability and balance.
Here are some tips to get the most out of planks:
- Don’t let your body sag. Hold it in a straight line from shoulders to toes.
- Align your hips and shoulders. This will help maintain proper alignment and prevent injury.
- Keep your hands and forearms aligned with your shoulders. This will help maintain proper alignment and prevent injury.
- Start with a modified version. If you’re new to planks, start with a modified version and work your way up to the full move to ensure you develop the core strength necessary to perform the move with proper form.
- Try to increase the time you hold a plank up to a minute. Beyond that, there’s not a lot of additional benefit to holding longer. Try a harder variation instead.
Conclusion
From spine protection and injury prevention to improved posture, enhanced power generation, greater balance and stability, and better athletic performance, planks have something to offer everyone. You can tailor your workout and continue to challenge yourself with a variety of plank variants.
Remember to maintain proper form, gradually increase your plank duration, and explore more advanced variations to maximize your results. So, get ready to plank your way to a stronger core and a fitter, more resilient body. Get ready to embrace the core-licious wonder of planks and unleash your full potential!
References:
- Babakhani, F. (2019). Comparing the Electromyography Activity of Core Muscles During Side Plank Exercise on Stable and Unstable Surfaces. Journal of Sport Biomechanics. https://doi.org/10.32598/biomechanics.5.2.3.
- Zahiri, A., Alizadeh, S., Daneshjoo, A., Pike, N., Konrad, A., & Behm, D. (2022). Core Muscle Activation With Foam Rolling and Static Planks. Frontiers in Physiology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2022.852094.
- “Spine Structure and Function – Cleveland Clinic.” https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/10040-spine-structure-and-function.
- “Straight talk on planking – Harvard Health.” 13 Nov. 2019, https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/straight-talk-on-planking-2019111318304.
- Huxel Bliven KC, Anderson BE. Core stability training for injury prevention. Sports Health. 2013 Nov;5(6):514-22. doi: 10.1177/1941738113481200. PMID: 24427426; PMCID: PMC3806175.
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