Plank

Also known as: Forearm Plank, Elbow Plank, Front Plank

CoreIsometricBalanceFunctional

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Body Part: Abs

Description

Rest on your forearms and toes and hold one straight line from head to heels, training your abs to keep your hips from sagging. You feel it most in the front of your stomach and the sides of your waist, while your glutes squeeze to keep the hips level. The front of your shoulders, your triceps and your thighs just hold you up. All you need is a patch of floor, so it suits beginners, home workouts and the end of a session. Unlike the Bear Plank, your knees stay straight, which makes the lever longer and the hold harder.

How to Perform

Kneel on the floor and set your forearms down with your elbows right under your shoulders, forearms parallel and pointing straight ahead, palms flat.
Step your feet back one at a time onto the balls of your feet, toes tucked and feet close together. If you wobble, widen them to hip width.
Lift your knees until your body forms one straight line from head to heels, hips in line with your shoulders and heels, eyes on the floor just ahead of your hands.
Brace before you start the clock: ribs down toward your pelvis, tailbone tucked slightly toward your heels, glutes squeezed hard.
Push the floor away with your forearms so your chest doesn't sink between your shoulder blades, then hold still and keep taking short, quiet breaths.
The set is over as soon as your hips drop or start to rise. Lower your knees to the floor and sit back on your heels.

What Muscles Work

Primary Muscle:

Secondary Muscles:

Tips

Hold 30–60 seconds, 2–4 times. For a strength-style version, do 3–5 shorter holds of 10–20 seconds, squeezing everything as hard as you can, with 30–60 seconds of rest.
Add time first, then load: 5–10 seconds per hold each session while the line from head to heels stays the same. Once all your holds reach a clean 60 seconds, have a partner set a 5 kg (10 lb) plate between your shoulder blades or move to a harder variant, and drop back to 20–30 second holds.
The front of your stomach and the sides of your waist should be burning. An ache in your lower back means your hips have dropped: stop and reset instead of pushing through.
Too hard? Put your knees down and keep a straight line from head to knees, or rest your forearms on a bench. Too easy and no plate around? Lift one foot an inch or two for 5–10 seconds per side. On a hard floor, a folded towel under the elbows helps.
Substitutes: Bear Plank if your lower back complains, Hollow Body Hold for the same ab work lying on your back with no weight on the elbows, and Weighted Plank or Swiss Ball Plank once the regular plank gets easy.

Common Mistakes

Hips sagging until the lower back arches. You usually feel it as an ache low in the back. Tuck your pelvis slightly, squeeze your glutes and pull your ribs down; if the hips keep dropping, end the set or switch to the knee plank.
Piking the hips up high. It feels easier because your abs get a break. Lower them until shoulders, hips and heels line up; a mirror, or a broomstick along your back touching your head, upper back and the base of your spine, will show you.
Chest sinking between the shoulder blades, or elbows creeping out in front of the shoulders. Stack the elbows back under your shoulders and push the floor away with your forearms.
Holding your breath or sucking your belly in. Brace as if someone is about to punch you in the stomach, then keep taking short breaths behind that brace.
Chasing 3–5 minute holds while the hips slowly sink. Stop at the first break in position; once 60 seconds is clean, add weight or a harder variant instead of more time.