The Plank Exercise

Things To Know

The plank exercise is a powerful, and under utilized, core builder. It will help anyone with ab strength, body tone and stability. Since it works all the ab muscles at once, this makes it a good stomach flattening exercise as well.

This is one of the few exercises that doesn't use a body motion to work the muscles. In a way, it functions a bit like a low-impact gravity-assisted resistance exercise, which makes it one of the easy ab exercises.

The Plank How-To Guide

1. Begin by lying flat on your stomach.
2. Place your toes firmly on the ground and prop yourself up on your elbows, placing them directly under your shoulders. Your hands should be place flat on the floor in front of you.
3. Keep your neck straight and relaxed, looking down at the floor, so as not to strain your neck muscles.
4. Tighten your ab muscles and just focus on holding your body straight from head to toe with no sagging. Only your toes, elbows and hands should be touching the floor during the whole exercise.
5. Hold this position for 15 seconds to start. Take a 60 second rest. Repeat this for 2-3 sets.