Planking Principles

The plank is one of the most go-to exercises performed by many active individuals. Not only is it a great exercise to strengthen the core but it’s also great for entire body strength and endurance. With so many different variations out there below are 4 key principles to follow to ensure that your plank is looking the goods this summer.

1. Alignment

Plank alignment is one of the most important factors to a perfect plank. Ideally perfect alignment is when the ears, shoulders and hips are all perfectly aligned forming a straight line down the body…

2. Stability

Stabilising with the arms and feet allows the plank to be grounded and stable to a surface or object. To allow for this the arms should remain shoulder width apart with arms directly underneath shoulders and palms clenched for added tension throughout body. If you’re looking at challenging the stability principle the feet can also be placed in a narrower stance to challenge more hip stability.

3. Bracing

One of the most important principles to the plank is being able to brace the mid section properly so the hips don’t sag during the exercise. This is done by tucking the tummy in and activating the TA (transverse abdominal) and squeezing the glutes while holding for the intended duration of time.

4. Vector

When used correctly vector can be a very powerful tool to modify a plank to a version thats suits you. Whether that be adding more angle to challenge the plank or decreasing the angle to ensure better form either way the plank is very scalable to all fitness levels when using the vector principle.