Planks Exercise On Forearms

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planks exercise on forearms

Planks exercise on forearms (also known as front holds, front planks or abdominal bridge) is one of the most popular ab exercises. It’s an isometric core strength exercises that involves maintaining one position for extended period of time. It not only works your abs, but it strengthens back, glutes and shoulders as well.

Planking helps to flatten your stomach, strengthen and improve the endurance of your entire core muscles. This exercise will improve your core strength, posture, develope core stability and help you prevent injuries.

Main Target: All abdominal area
Equipment needed: none

There are many different variations of planks exercise:

How To Do Planks Exercise On Forearms Correctly

Most of people still do this exercise wrong. Here’s how you do planks exercise on elbows correctly.

Step 1: Get In a Starting Position

Lay down on the floor with your belly to the ground. Align your elbows directly below the shoulders and gound the toes into the floor. Then lift your body up and align your butt, upper back and head in a straight line. Keep a neutral neck and spine.

Squeeze the glutes, tighten your abs like you are going to be punched in a stomach and press your forearms into the floor. If someone put a stick on your back, it should touch all 3 points. Keep your eyes on the floor in front of you.

Step 2: Hold it!

Once you get in a starting position you have already began the exercise. Plank is a static exercise. Meaning the body stays in one position for the entirety of the move.

Hold the position as long as you can without compromizing the perfect form. If you are just beginning try to hold the position for 20-30 seconds and work your time up. Aim to hold the plank 10 seconds longer each time until you reach 2 or 3 minute mark. Then switch to more advanced modifications of the planks exercise and work your way up.

Remember to breath.

Modify the Difficulty

To make this exercise a level harder take a wider stance with your feet and raise one arm of the floor in front of you. Another way to make it harder is to lift one leg off the floor. And if you want to make it really tough, lift one leg and one arm simultaneously off the floor.

To make the exercise a level lighter lower your knees to the floor.

How To Improve Your Plank Time?

Practice planks for several times every day. Do bodyweight exercises like push-ups and pull-ups as they improve your core strength. Squat and deadlift as well. Guys who perform these compound lifts usually have no problems to plank.

Tips For the Perfect Plank:

  • Bend the knees slighty to really activate abdominal muscles (especially if your lower back gets sore before your abs do!)
  • Keep your back flat and don’t let it round or arch.
  • Look down at the ground.
  • Don’t let your hips sag down to the ground.
  • When your form begins to suffer, terminate the exercise.
  • If you experience lower back pain, stop.

Common Mistakes:

  • arching and rounding the back.
  • lifting the butt up too high.
  • Crossed fingers in a prayers position.
  • Elbows not aligned directly below the shoulders.
  • Sagging in shoulders.

Plank Exercise EMG Measure:

These plank exercise EMG measures are based on Bret Contreras experiment.

Lower rectus abdominis: 22.4, 33.5
Internal oblique: 31.2, 42.6
external oblique: 21.7, 26.7
lumbar erector: 2.8, 5.8

Plank Exercise Video Demonstration

About Matiss Bartulis

Sweets and pizza addict. Online and real-life fitness coach. Author of the "From Fat To Six Pack" E-mail training course. You can find him on Google+ and Facebook.

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  1. […] that involves maintaining one position for an extended period of time. Similair to a regular planks exercise on forearms. Static side plank works your abs, lower back, glutes, hips and […]

  2. […] compared to the planks exercise on forearms this traditional plank variation allows more freedom to the progressions as you can add many […]