Plank exercise is the best for beginners. Its focus is to strengthen the core with the help of the arms and legs. It’s a bodyweight workout that improves overall balance and stability. With less sweat and movement, planking is the most effective core exercise.
The plank exercise looks simple. But like any other exercise, if the form or posture is incorrect, then you may end up hurting your back.
Many people who have started exercising on their own don’t know what mistakes to avoid while doing plank exercise. Therefore, it’s important that you do every workout routine under the supervision of your gym coach or yoga teacher.
Disclaimer: All content in this post is for general health information only. Please consult a specialist physician before trying any new exercise, diet, or health advice. There are no affiliate links attached to this post.
Benefits of Plank exercise
There are many benefits to doing planks regularly. It is a foundational exercise. It targets the core muscles and strengthens them, keeping the overall bodyweight balanced.
If your core is strong, then you can do any other exercise accurately and gain maximum benefit. There are so many exercises, but if you don’t know how to engage your core muscles while doing them, then the body tries to compensate by shifting the weight to other muscles. The benefits of plank exercise are:
*Good posture
*Balance and stability
*Builds endurance
*Overall strength training
*Strong core muscles
*Strong back
*Improves focus
*Strengthens arms
Here are the 5 plank mistakes that you can correct immediately and improve your performance.
Short breaths to hold the plank for a long time
It’s a misconception that engaging the core means holding the breath or having a short breathing pattern. A longer hold of the plank does not necessarily mean applying the correct technique.
When we simply try to hold a plank position for a longer time, the body gets tired. This will lead to losing focus and not engaging the core muscles properly.
Focus on gaining maximum benefit with just a 60-second hold but with the correct form. The correct way is to take longer but balanced breaths. Allow your body to completely understand how to engage the core muscles rather than forcing it through longer holds.
Incorrect head to shoulder position
Whether you are standing or sitting, keeping your posture upright all the time is difficult. No matter how comfortable your chair or cushion is, when you hunch forward to read something closely on your laptop or mobile, you lean forward. And when you remain in this posture for a long time, your neck and shoulders suffer. You only notice that something is wrong when your shoulders and neck start hurting. It is a way for the body to inform you that it’s tired and stressed.
Plank exercises, if done correctly, improves posture by taking care of the position from head to shoulders.
When you are looking up or looking down during planking, your head and neck also follow. This breaks the linear line of the spine, starting from the base of the neck to the lower back. Taking care of your spine is very important when doing plank exercise.
Do not lower your head; keep your eyes looking forward and not towards the ceiling. Don’t let your shoulders slouch forward.
Imagine there’s a big book kept between your ear and shoulders. You need to keep your shoulders down and your neck long while doing a plank.
Incorrect arm position
You need to stabilise your body during plank with the help of your shoulders. You can do a straight arm plank or elbow planks. But your arm position should be correct.
If you are doing a straight-arm plank, then you need to spread all the fingers apart on the floor to balance the body properly. Make sure that your arms are neither too far forward nor held back. Check your arm position in a mirror or ask your coach if it’s in the correct position.
If you are doing an elbow plank, then your elbows should not be inclined inside towards the chest or outside. The elbows should be at exactly a ninety-degree angle, fist facing forward. Again, this helps the upper body be more stable during planks. When your bodyweight is divided equally, then it engages the core muscles properly.
Lowering or keeping hips too high
Since the plank exercise targets the core, the midsection position of your body is very important. Often, a mistake that beginners make is to lower the hips towards the ground. It happens because of weak core muscles. And this is the challenge of the plank exercise.
Imagine you are carrying a cushion on your lower back. If you drop your hips, then you will drop the cushion too. This will create an arched back, which is not good for the spine. Also, if you raise your hips too much above the ground, you will end up slouching your upper back. Your entire weight will come on your shoulders.
Try to maintain balance and keep your core muscles engaged. Remember, you are trying to hold your entire body with your core, relying less on your shoulders and legs.
Ignoring the position of knees and heels
While you are looking forward in a plank, ignoring the position of your knees and heels is not a good idea. Keeping the knees straight is often misunderstood as being stiff. The difference between the two can be understood by visualising the correct form.
Engaging the core muscles for a longer time is possible if you feel the stretch at the back of your knees. And your heels help to keep the position stable by stretching out.
Try this: when you are in a plank position, lengthen your heels. This will also stretch your knees automatically. You will feel the stretch at the back of your knees. Try to remember this trick every time you do planks.
Plank exercise is not that difficult. Every variation of the plank is effective for core muscles. Plank exercise is the basic way to understand how to engage the core muscles. Plank exercise also helps to understand the importance of using the correct technique for effective benefits.
References
8 Common Mistakes in Your Plank & 8 Ways to Improve It, by Arianne Missimer on 17 March 2020 for The Movement Paradigm.
https://themovementparadigm.com/8-common-mistakes-in-your-plank-and-how-to-improve-it/
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