First of all, I have to be honest and just say that I HATE doing crunches.  They just seem to bore me to death and I have no patience for the repetitive movements.  The forward flexion of ab crunches also kills my neck and back (I have an old injury), so I tend to just skip them altogether, which isn’t good either.

Ab crunches can be tricky.  It is very easy to do them wrong, as it can be difficult for many people to effectively isolate the abdominals in this position.  I see a lot of incorrect form, such as neck pulling and/or the use of momentum, which is ineffective. It is also possible to train abs in an outward manner, which produces protruding abdominal muscles and can increase the size of your waistline-very disappointing considering how uncomfortable and boring the exercise is in the first place!

Benefits of the Plank Exercise

The plank exercise, on the other hand, trains you to hold your abs inward, both during the exercise and in everyday life.  This will give you that slim, compact waistline you seek, with the sweet bonus of having very visible abdominal tone …provided your body fat levels are low enough of course (I will save that for another post).

Another plus of the plank exercise is that since all movement begins with your core muscles (at least that’s the way it’s supposed to be) you will be able to exert more strength and better form when performing other exercises.  This will result in improved neuromuscular development, and by extension, enhanced overall muscle tone.

How to Do the Plank Exercise Correctly – IMPORTANT

 When done correctly, the plank is extremely challenging. In fact, when most people first try the plank, they can only hold it for about 15-30 seconds max. If you can hold it longer with correct form, fantastic!  But do not feel bad if it seems really, really tough at first…totally normal.  If it feels easy, make sure your belly button is pulled in toward your spine and that your butt is not too high. Make adjustments accordingly.

Watch the video below for instructions on how to perform the plank correctly.

Plank Routine

Since the plank is an isometric exercise, you can train them 5-6 times per week or everyday if you want to. If your lower back bothers you during the exercise, you can begin by doing the regular plank on your knees, and the side planks with your lower knee on the floor, top leg extended.

Start with 30 second holds, and build from there.

 

  1. Regular plank – hold for 30 seconds
  2. Left side plank – hold for 30 seconds
  3. Right side plank – hold for 30 seconds
  4. REST for 30 seconds
  5. Repeat

 Progression

Once the above routine begins to feel easy, add on another 30 seconds to each.  Keep adding on in 30 second increments until you get to 2 minute holds.

Once you have reached 2 minute holds with perfect form, add the following:

 

  1. Left/right side plank with top leg raised and extended straight, top arm extended to ceiling
  2. Regular plank with left/right leg lifted (hold one leg up for half hold time then carefully switch to other leg)

Note: Because these progressions are adding an unstable element to the exercise, the difficulty level will increase again.  As a result, you will need to adjust the hold times accordingly.

Enjoy!

 

 

Filed under: Abs

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!