On Fitness: Planking Principles

by Chris Kelly on Sep 18, 2010 in On Fitness | 2 comments

One way I know something has caught on in the fitness industry is when new clients actual understand my terminology for a particular exercise during our first session.

While no one has a clue about the “Overhead Squat” or “Kettleballs” quite yet, what they do respond to instinctively is the instruction to hold in a plank—that is, until they are asked to do so for more than 10 seconds.

The catch here is no one knows quite why they are doing this move.

After all, how is not moving acting to strengthen the abs? One of the more important concepts to understand about the core is that the primary function of our abs is to resist excess movements such as twisting, bending and arching in daily life.

With this in mind, the purpose of holding in a plank position is to teach the abs to resist the force of gravity which is attempting to extend the back. Because this exercise stimulates the abs in a different fashion than crunches or exercises which involve trunk movement, mastering the plank is often the key to unlocking a flat and well defined stomach.

In this article, I hope to shed a bit of light on the principals of planking and how this amazing exercise can be utilized to build stability and strength throughout the body.

Planking principle #1: Brace yourself:

When it comes to abdominal exercise, one of the first things I teach my clients is how to consciously “Brace” or contract the abdominals.

Much like the reaction to being punched in the gut, the act of bracing tightens the abs around the waist like a weight belt. This is a crucial concept when performing abdominal exercise.

Generally, we will ask clients to brace for several periods of 10-20 seconds as part of our active warm up. This teaches awareness and allows the client to “find” their core.

Principle #2: Just Breathe:

An essential skill taught alongside bracing, deep breathing is the act of fully inhaling into the lungs by flexing one’s diaphragm rather than breathing shallowly by flexing one’s rib cage.

Because shallow breathing does not allow air to fully enter the diaphragm, the ribs and various muscles of the core become restricted. This often leads to poor posture.

If you suffers from chronic anxiety, shortness of breath during exercise and/or poor posture, chances are you have fallen in to a lifestyle or pattern which has caused this shallow breathing pattern to become habit.

With this in mind, here is a simple drill we utilize in our client evaluate to check current breathing pattern and teach deep breathing.

By performing this drill for 1-2 minutes as a warm up and/or practice throughout the day, we work to reestablish optimal breathing patterns while slowing the client down.

Because control is the name of the game with both breathing and bracing, instruct your client to inhale fully through the nose and count to three before releasing their breath. Once proper form is established, we ask the client to perform deep breathing during their bracing drills.

Planking principle #3: Find a neutral spine:

After breathing and bracing, we the next step in setting up our plank is finding a neutral spine. What we often find is that client’s daily posture is initially exposed in a plank position.

For example, many heel walkers (male or female) will arch their back excessively due to tight hip flexors while desk jockeys are more likely to pike their back in to the air to mimic the position of hunching over a computer screen.

In either case, finding a neutral spine in a plank position has very positive applications for improving posture in standing positions. In order to do so, we utilize a dowel rod placed on their back to accentuate any compensation which may exist.

Once the client “feels” the rod placed properly on their back, they are suddenly clued in to the correct position to lock in their brace.

Planking principle #4: Own the move:

While we can all appreciate the value of a great plank, when it is performed properly most clients will grow to hate this movement more than life itself. For most, this means cutting corners, cheating and moving like a bat out of hell to get done quickly.

The problem here is that the faster we move, the more we engage the global limb muscles over the stabilizers of the core. If your client is feeling their plank in their shoulders or legs versus the abs, chances are they are moving too fast to truly own the movement.

With this in mind, we will incorporate a regulator during all planking moves which involve movement by placing the dowel rod on the clients back. The goal is to keep the dowel rod situated by moving slowly enough to limit rotation and movement of the pelvis.

Planking principle #5: Condition the core:

Once we have mastered the basic plank, the next step is to add movement of the arms and the legs to take things to the next level. By incorporating various extremity moves– such as crawling and side walking with the hands and stepping with the feet—we engage area of the stomach to stabilize and contract.

This technique transforms the plank from a static exercise to a potent chiseler of each area of the stomach. In our last video, I demonstrate several of my favorite planking moves to target various areas of the stomach.

photo credit: lululemon athletica