PLANK EXERCISE

The plank can be as easy or hard as you make it; it's your job to make it hard to get the most out of it. That means creating full-body tension. You want your whole body rigid for the plank, so you should maintain some tension in your shoulder blades, drive your upper arms, from elbows to shoulders, perfectly perpendicular to the ground, maintain a ton of tension through your core (obviously) and squeeze your quads to straighten your knees. If there's one thing people forget to involve in the plank, it's their glutes. And that leads to the most common flaw you see in a plank: the butt being the highest point in the plank and the loss of a truly flat back. You want to keep a flat back, parallel to the ground, when you plank. Think about letting somebody eat dinner on your back; that's how flat it should be. To do that, you need a sturdy base from shoulders through upper arms. Actively drive your elbows into the ground and try to keep your upper arms perpendicular to the ground the entire time. This is typically an ab exercise, after all, so attack it like one. Don't just keep your core tight, but flex your abs, and work to feel them working. But even though it may not be super exciting, this simple bodyweight move is really effective—not to mention, one of the best ways to make your abs look fire. Rather than doing a single plank for 30 seconds or more, some exercise routines say there are good benefits for doing a 10- to 15-second plank, resting for 30 seconds, and doing three to five sets. Your total time spent in the plank in an exercise session should be 60 seconds or less. When you get bored with a thing, you don’t put your heart and soul in it and it happens more when you are a beginner. But just so that you don’t become prey and do this exercise just for the sake of doing it, we have shortlisted some of the most innovative and creative yet amazing planking exercises for beginners.

Benefits

Strengthening the core is an important aspect of any workout program. Not only does a strong and solid core look good, but more importantly, it helps to stabilize, balance, and power the body during just about every other activity. Core strength is the basis for all coordinated and powerful athletic movements. A strong core can reduce stress on the joints and allow you to achieve better posture. The plank exercise can be used as the basis for a core muscle strength and stability test. The plank is more of a strength-building exercise than a cardio exercise, but by engaging a range of muscles it does boost your calorie burn a bit. How many calories burned depends on your weight and how long you hold the plank. Typically, a 150-pound individual will burn about 3 calories a minute holding a plank. 19가이드03