Ernie Clement N.

Ariston 11 – Fermat

How to Do Planking Correctly?

Get into pushup position on the floor

Now bend your elbows 90° and rest your

weight on your forearms. Your elbows
should be directly beneath your shoulders,
and your body should form a straight line
from your head to your feet. Hold the
position for as long as you can. Your goal
should be to hold it for two minutes.

“The plank helps develop strength

in the core, shoulders, arms, and glutes,” says Scott, making it a great prerequisite for lifting
heavy weights or playing intense sports. Even though you aren’t moving or lifting weight, you
have to constantly squeeze your abs to hold the position—most people can’t last 30 seconds on
their first attempt.

Ways to improve your plank time

The longer you can hold the plank, the more resilient your lower back will be to injury, and the
better your abs will look once you burn the fat off them. Follow these tips for longer plank
times.

 Practice: Perform planks several times each day, trying to hold the position a little longer
each time.
 Use bodyweight exercises: Pushups and pullups will improve your core strength.
 Squat and deadlift: Guys who are strong in these specific lifts find planks are no
problem.

Hold it

If you don’t have the core strength yet to do a regular plank, you can build up to it by doing a
bent-knee plank. If you can hold a plank for more than two minutes with ease, you can move
on to these tougher variations.

 Lift one leg up. By simply raising one leg in the air, you dramatically increase the
demand on your core to fight your body’s natural urge to rotate.
 Lift one arm up. Again, your body will want to fall to one side. Don’t let it.
Use a Swiss ball. Rest your forearms on the ball and you’ll have to stabilize your body
and stop the ball from rolling out from under you.