A new world record plank:
George Hood held a plank for 1 hour, 20 minutes and 5.01 seconds.
Matching that will be tough, but why not try a plank and see how long you can hold it?
Getting stronger, fitter, and healthier by sticking to the basics. It's not rocket science, it's doing the simple stuff the right way. Strength-Basics updates every Monday, plus extra posts during the week.
Showing posts with label plank. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plank. Show all posts
Friday, December 23, 2011
Friday, September 30, 2011
A very long plank
A 71-year old woman held a plank for 36 minutes and 58 seconds, if you can believe it.
Exercise helps woman beat world planking record
The best part is this was a demonstration of her fitness after a long period of unfitness. She lost a significant amount of weight and greatly increased her strength and strength-endurance.
Very impressive.
Exercise helps woman beat world planking record
The best part is this was a demonstration of her fitness after a long period of unfitness. She lost a significant amount of weight and greatly increased her strength and strength-endurance.
Very impressive.
Monday, December 6, 2010
More planks!
There is a new article on my single favorite abdominal stabilization exercise over on Elite FTS - the plank.
Power to the Plank
This article covers the basics - why plank? How do I do it? What's the benefits and how do I make it harder once I'm good at it?
Power to the Plank
This article covers the basics - why plank? How do I do it? What's the benefits and how do I make it harder once I'm good at it?
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
More Planks
Nick Nilsson recently published an article over on Charles Staley's website about adding resistance to side planks.
Weighted Side Planks
It's a simple but effective description of how to use a dumbbell to weight your side planks if you don't have a vest - or if your weighted vest just doesn't let you set a high enough load.
Weighted Side Planks
It's a simple but effective description of how to use a dumbbell to weight your side planks if you don't have a vest - or if your weighted vest just doesn't let you set a high enough load.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
No more crunches?
A friend of mine posted a link to this on a forum we both read:
The Man Who Wants to Kill Crunches
It's an article about Dr. Stuart McGill's no-crunches approach. It's written for a mass audience, not exercise professionals, so it's fairly basic. But if you've never encountered the idea of dropping crunches, take a look.
Me, I'm curious about what that Yoga instructor did to change the sun salutation.
The Man Who Wants to Kill Crunches
It's an article about Dr. Stuart McGill's no-crunches approach. It's written for a mass audience, not exercise professionals, so it's fairly basic. But if you've never encountered the idea of dropping crunches, take a look.
Me, I'm curious about what that Yoga instructor did to change the sun salutation.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Article Review: Teach Them to Land First
Jason Nunn, CSCS just had an article published over on EliteFTS, called Teach Them to Land First.
It concerns plyometrics - specifically, explosive jumping and landing drills meant to improve your ability to generate power. These don't come up often in basic gym workout templates, but athletes use them frequently to improve their performance on the field. Jumping is a very simple way to incorporate speed and power into your workouts. The article addresses a less-frequently examined part of plyometrics: how to land!
The article covers aspects of poor landings, and what to do to address the weaknesses in an athlete that cause bad landings. Little will chew up your body more than plyometrics coupled with bad landings - the repetitive stress of coming down hard on weak or tight muscles can add up to injury quickly.
It's well worth the read.
The article covers a few subjects dear to this blog:
Plank Variations - the article refers to these as bridges*. There is variation that's new to me, the Side Bridge With Glute Activation. They feel quite different from the basic side bridge. They certainly force you to activate your glutes to drive the knee into the ground.
Proper Warmups - how to use foam rolling, band drills, and activation drills (also called dynamic warmups) to address tight muscles and weak muscles alike.
Simple explanatins - This is "Strength Basics" after all. The article draws on some very technical sources but keeps it simple. You don't need to be an expert to draw valuable lessons here about how to fix a bad landing.
If you're doing, coaching, or even considering any kind of jumping, read this article first.
* there is another "bridge" exercise out there, familiar to wrestlers, known as the wrestler's bridge or back bridge. I use "plank" for the non-neck exercise, but it's common to see the terms used interchangeably.
It concerns plyometrics - specifically, explosive jumping and landing drills meant to improve your ability to generate power. These don't come up often in basic gym workout templates, but athletes use them frequently to improve their performance on the field. Jumping is a very simple way to incorporate speed and power into your workouts. The article addresses a less-frequently examined part of plyometrics: how to land!
The article covers aspects of poor landings, and what to do to address the weaknesses in an athlete that cause bad landings. Little will chew up your body more than plyometrics coupled with bad landings - the repetitive stress of coming down hard on weak or tight muscles can add up to injury quickly.
It's well worth the read.
The article covers a few subjects dear to this blog:
Plank Variations - the article refers to these as bridges*. There is variation that's new to me, the Side Bridge With Glute Activation. They feel quite different from the basic side bridge. They certainly force you to activate your glutes to drive the knee into the ground.
Proper Warmups - how to use foam rolling, band drills, and activation drills (also called dynamic warmups) to address tight muscles and weak muscles alike.
Simple explanatins - This is "Strength Basics" after all. The article draws on some very technical sources but keeps it simple. You don't need to be an expert to draw valuable lessons here about how to fix a bad landing.
If you're doing, coaching, or even considering any kind of jumping, read this article first.
* there is another "bridge" exercise out there, familiar to wrestlers, known as the wrestler's bridge or back bridge. I use "plank" for the non-neck exercise, but it's common to see the terms used interchangeably.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Yet Another Plank Variation
As always, I'm a sucker for more ways to make the plank challenging.
Plank shoulder-touches. Very nice! These are much harder than they appear, especially as you continue the set and fatigue sets in.
Plank shoulder-touches. Very nice! These are much harder than they appear, especially as you continue the set and fatigue sets in.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Another Cool Plank Variation
Jim Smith aka Smitty posted a guest blog over on Ask Joe on DeFranco's Training about a plank variation. It's very detailed as to why to use it and how to use it. Short version? Actively-band resisted planks on a glute-ham raise!
Here it is:
Real "Core Strength" for Athletes
Very cool! I hope I get to try it soon...
Here it is:
Real "Core Strength" for Athletes
Very cool! I hope I get to try it soon...
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Working up to a plank
Planks are one of my favorite exercises.
But I recently had a problem - I had some clients to work with who couldn't do a proper plank. What do you do?
Here are the suggestions I received:
Plank on a Bench. A normal plank, but using a bar, bench, or other raised surface to keep a steeper angle and make it easier. Can also be done straight-armed.
Straight-arm Plank. Basically, the top position of a pushup. It's a steeper angle so it's easier to hold good posture.
Swiss ball Rollouts. A good way to build up some abdominal/lower back stability for a future plank workout. Here's a nice video.
Inchworm Walkouts. Bend at the waist and put your hands on the floor. Now "walk" the hands out away from the body until you get to a plank (or close), then walk back.
That's just scratching the surface. But the straight-arm plank is a good start, and worked for the people who needed it.
But I recently had a problem - I had some clients to work with who couldn't do a proper plank. What do you do?
Here are the suggestions I received:
Plank on a Bench. A normal plank, but using a bar, bench, or other raised surface to keep a steeper angle and make it easier. Can also be done straight-armed.
Straight-arm Plank. Basically, the top position of a pushup. It's a steeper angle so it's easier to hold good posture.
Swiss ball Rollouts. A good way to build up some abdominal/lower back stability for a future plank workout. Here's a nice video.
Inchworm Walkouts. Bend at the waist and put your hands on the floor. Now "walk" the hands out away from the body until you get to a plank (or close), then walk back.
That's just scratching the surface. But the straight-arm plank is a good start, and worked for the people who needed it.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Side Plank Variations
In my previous post on planks, I listed some variations for the regular plank. Here are some for the side plank.
Side Plank with Upper Leg Raised. Get into a normal side plank, then raise the upper leg to parallel with the floor. Hold it in position while you hold the plank. You can raise it higher, but parallel seems to be the hardest (perhaps because of the long lever arm being maximally acted on by gravity?)
Side Plank with Lower Leg Raised. As the normal side plank, except you remove the lower leg from the ground. Instead of stacking the top foot on the bottom foot, you place it on the ground and bend the lower leg, pulling it up towards your chest and holding it off the ground.
Straight Arm Side Plank. Instead of rest on the foot and forearm, extend the supporting arm fully, resting on the palm. Keep your shoulder extended - don't let it sag into the movement; keep it strong.
Dynamic Side Plank. Also called the Dynamic Side Bridge. Get into position as if you are about to straight into a side plank - lying on your side, arm down, feet stacked, but hips touching the ground. Now tense into a side plank, raising off the ground. As soon as you lock into the top position, relax and lower to the ground. Touch and tense into the next repetition. Note - if you have medial or lateral knee ligament problems, this motion can be a problem, so take it slow at first (and get that knee checked out!). If not, these can be done like any other unweighted ab exercise - do them for reps, and alternate sides.
Unlike the plank, there seem to be fewer variations of the side plank. You can add resistance to make it more difficult (a weighted vest is probably ideal), but the side plank is generally hard enough that the basic version and these variations should challenge you for a while.
Side Plank with Upper Leg Raised. Get into a normal side plank, then raise the upper leg to parallel with the floor. Hold it in position while you hold the plank. You can raise it higher, but parallel seems to be the hardest (perhaps because of the long lever arm being maximally acted on by gravity?)
Side Plank with Lower Leg Raised. As the normal side plank, except you remove the lower leg from the ground. Instead of stacking the top foot on the bottom foot, you place it on the ground and bend the lower leg, pulling it up towards your chest and holding it off the ground.
Straight Arm Side Plank. Instead of rest on the foot and forearm, extend the supporting arm fully, resting on the palm. Keep your shoulder extended - don't let it sag into the movement; keep it strong.
Dynamic Side Plank. Also called the Dynamic Side Bridge. Get into position as if you are about to straight into a side plank - lying on your side, arm down, feet stacked, but hips touching the ground. Now tense into a side plank, raising off the ground. As soon as you lock into the top position, relax and lower to the ground. Touch and tense into the next repetition. Note - if you have medial or lateral knee ligament problems, this motion can be a problem, so take it slow at first (and get that knee checked out!). If not, these can be done like any other unweighted ab exercise - do them for reps, and alternate sides.
Unlike the plank, there seem to be fewer variations of the side plank. You can add resistance to make it more difficult (a weighted vest is probably ideal), but the side plank is generally hard enough that the basic version and these variations should challenge you for a while.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Plank Variations
I've mentioned before how much I love doing the plank.
Here are some of the variations you can do from the "basic" plank once you've gotten a reasonable time on them. How long is reasonable? Depends who you ask. At least 60 seconds, and if you're in the 3-5 minute range, you really need to make them harder. A good goal might be a 120 second standard plank, and then moving on to harder versions.
Try working through these and see how you do. It'll add some fun to your planking and challenge your body in ways a "vanilla" plank won't once you've gotten good at them.
These are by no means listed in order of difficulty.
Pushup Planks. Like the normal plank, but you keep your arms extended. One brutal variation is to neither lock out your arms for the pushup plank nor rest on your forearms for the regular plank - instead you descend about halfway into a pushup and hold there. This will help increase your endurance at that particular part of a pushup...but usually the main goal of the plank is abdominal endurance.
Three-Point Planks. There are two versions of the three-point plank. The first is a little easier - get into plank position, then raise one of your feet off the ground. You have three contact points on the ground - one foot, and two forearms. You can alternate raised feet between rounds, or halfway through each round of the exercise.
A harder version of the three-point plank involves removing one arm rather than one foot from the floor. The arm can be held out straight or to the side (harder), or merely lifted off the ground (easier). You're left with three contact points but your torso also has to cope with uneven stress, making the exercise more demanding on your abdominal muscles. Be sure not to lose your tightness in the abdominal muscles when you do this variation, it's easy to compensate and lose the benefits of the exercise.
Two-Point Planks. Instead of raising one arm or one leg, raise the opposite one of each. Left leg up and right arm up, or right leg up and left arm up. This can be combined with holding the arm straight out or to the side for more difficulty.
Plank-to-Pushup. Demonstrated in the video by Joe DeFranco, who is also the person I learned these from. Like the plank, these are best done for time. You start in a plank, and then one arm at a time push yourself up into a pushup, then lower into a plank, and then around again. You can either change directions each round, or alternate each rep (start on the left, end on the right, start on the right, end on the left). These are harder than they look, and it's very easy to lift your hips to make it easier. That turns it from a great plank variation into a poor pushup variation. Make sure you stay in plank position!
Prone Plate Switches. Demonstrated in the video by Tony Gentilcore. Get into plank position with a small pile of (light) weight plates to one side. Grab them one by one and "switch" them to the other side. Once you've finished, move them back with the other hand.
Weighted Planks. Any variation of the above planks can be made more difficult by adding resistance. If you have a training partner, you can have them add plates to your back for any of the static planks. Generally, a weighted vest works better - the weight won't shift, and it's distributed around your body. This has upsides (you can do dynamic planks) and downsides (you're restricted to the weight of the vest, for one).
That's just a start. Planks are pretty easy to get cute with. But the basics of adding difficulty in maintaining the isometric hold, and adding a dynamic element while keeping your abdominal muscles and back tight, should be enough to hold you for now.
Here are some of the variations you can do from the "basic" plank once you've gotten a reasonable time on them. How long is reasonable? Depends who you ask. At least 60 seconds, and if you're in the 3-5 minute range, you really need to make them harder. A good goal might be a 120 second standard plank, and then moving on to harder versions.
Try working through these and see how you do. It'll add some fun to your planking and challenge your body in ways a "vanilla" plank won't once you've gotten good at them.
These are by no means listed in order of difficulty.
Pushup Planks. Like the normal plank, but you keep your arms extended. One brutal variation is to neither lock out your arms for the pushup plank nor rest on your forearms for the regular plank - instead you descend about halfway into a pushup and hold there. This will help increase your endurance at that particular part of a pushup...but usually the main goal of the plank is abdominal endurance.
Three-Point Planks. There are two versions of the three-point plank. The first is a little easier - get into plank position, then raise one of your feet off the ground. You have three contact points on the ground - one foot, and two forearms. You can alternate raised feet between rounds, or halfway through each round of the exercise.
A harder version of the three-point plank involves removing one arm rather than one foot from the floor. The arm can be held out straight or to the side (harder), or merely lifted off the ground (easier). You're left with three contact points but your torso also has to cope with uneven stress, making the exercise more demanding on your abdominal muscles. Be sure not to lose your tightness in the abdominal muscles when you do this variation, it's easy to compensate and lose the benefits of the exercise.
Two-Point Planks. Instead of raising one arm or one leg, raise the opposite one of each. Left leg up and right arm up, or right leg up and left arm up. This can be combined with holding the arm straight out or to the side for more difficulty.
Plank-to-Pushup. Demonstrated in the video by Joe DeFranco, who is also the person I learned these from. Like the plank, these are best done for time. You start in a plank, and then one arm at a time push yourself up into a pushup, then lower into a plank, and then around again. You can either change directions each round, or alternate each rep (start on the left, end on the right, start on the right, end on the left). These are harder than they look, and it's very easy to lift your hips to make it easier. That turns it from a great plank variation into a poor pushup variation. Make sure you stay in plank position!
Prone Plate Switches. Demonstrated in the video by Tony Gentilcore. Get into plank position with a small pile of (light) weight plates to one side. Grab them one by one and "switch" them to the other side. Once you've finished, move them back with the other hand.
Weighted Planks. Any variation of the above planks can be made more difficult by adding resistance. If you have a training partner, you can have them add plates to your back for any of the static planks. Generally, a weighted vest works better - the weight won't shift, and it's distributed around your body. This has upsides (you can do dynamic planks) and downsides (you're restricted to the weight of the vest, for one).
That's just a start. Planks are pretty easy to get cute with. But the basics of adding difficulty in maintaining the isometric hold, and adding a dynamic element while keeping your abdominal muscles and back tight, should be enough to hold you for now.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Planks
One of my favorite exercises are planks. This includes the regular plank, the side plank, and their many variations.
Planks work your trunk stabilizing muscles, especially your abdominal muscles and your lower back. It strengthens them, but more importantly it improves their isometric strength and endurance. You'll be able to hold your "core" against resistance better and longer.
If you haven't, give them a try. Aim for 60 seconds in each position for the plank and side planks. If you can do 3 sets of those for 60 seconds each, make them harder - try raising one leg on the plank (alternate halfway through your time), or lifting one leg on the side plank.
Here is an excellent tutorial on the plank.
Planks work your trunk stabilizing muscles, especially your abdominal muscles and your lower back. It strengthens them, but more importantly it improves their isometric strength and endurance. You'll be able to hold your "core" against resistance better and longer.
If you haven't, give them a try. Aim for 60 seconds in each position for the plank and side planks. If you can do 3 sets of those for 60 seconds each, make them harder - try raising one leg on the plank (alternate halfway through your time), or lifting one leg on the side plank.
Here is an excellent tutorial on the plank.
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