1.) Begin the exercise on by lying on your stomach with your legs straight and elbows and forearms underneath your chest.<\/p>\n
2.) Move into the plank position by lifting up into a bridge, balance on your toes and forearms with the head relaxed and eyes looking at the ground.\u00a0 The torso should be straight with an imaginary line running from the ears to the toes, the back should be flat and hips should not be sagging towards the ground.\u00a0 Squeeze your abdominal muscles and suck your belly button in towards your spine to ensure you are recruiting the abdominal muscles correctly.<\/p>\n
3.) Hold the plank position as long as possible and the exercise is over once proper form is lost and there is no longer a straight line from the shoulders to the feet.\u00a0 Beginners should try doing this exercise in front of a mirror so you can watch form be sure to get the most out of the exercise.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.core-condition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_t_12953-300x199.jpg\" "\\"img_t_12953\\"")
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\u00a0Begin timing the exercise once you have moved from the ground into the plank position and the timer is stopped once form is lost and you are no longer able to maintain a flat back.\u00a0 I recommend beginners start by trying to hold the plank position for 10 seconds and then gradually increase the time as you feel comfortable.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Perform the plank every night before bed and begin to feel your core strength and stability improving.\u00a0 It\u2019s very rewarding to challenge yourself and feel your strength improve by the length of time you are able to hold the position.\u00a0 Give it a try tonight!!<\/p>\n
\u00a0More questions about the plank? Email Michelle@CORE-Condition.com<\/p>\n
Michelle Roots BA Kin, CSCS, PES<\/p>\n
www.CORE-Condition.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cCore\u201d has been a very common buzzword in the fitness industry over the past few years and is made up of the muscles of the low back, hips, abdominals, and pelvic floor.\u00a0 The core helps support the spine and provides stability and balance to the body when performing daily activities, working out, or in sport […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-updates-and-news","category-quick-tips"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.core-condition.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.core-condition.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.core-condition.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.core-condition.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.core-condition.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=577"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.core-condition.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":579,"href":"https:\/\/www.core-condition.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577\/revisions\/579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.core-condition.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.core-condition.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.core-condition.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}