Planks and sore shoulders

AbbyCar

I am currently on Stage 5 of NROL4W. I'm supposed to be doing planks for 120 seconds x3. I can usually do one, but after that my shoulders get sore(especially the left one) and I wind up only doing about 90 seconds. Any tips for making my shoulders last longer?

froeschli

check your form. i had a suspicion my form was off when my back started hurting, so i found a few videos on youtube - turns out i tilted my hips without noticing. as for the shoulder, it could be anything from not having your elbow right below your shoulder to turning your hand/arm in a funny way...

CardiacKev28

I too have shoulder pain only when I do certain excercises. A suggestion, get some arnicare tablets or arnicare gel. Its all natural and it does a great job with pain. You can get it at amazon.com. Good Luck!

Phaedra2014

I can answer this one from personal experience. When I started out with holding planks for 60 seconds, I would:

1. Shrug my shoulders (even a little bit is bad).

2. Keep my hips either a little to high or a little too low.

3. Not place my hands UNDER my chest but in a wider stance (mistake).

4. Hold my breath, which increased upper body tension and put the load on my shoulders.

Than an instructor showed me the correct form:

1. Keep arms and palms UNDER the chest.

2. Your biceps and triceps and chest are being worked thanks to core stability so tighten that core and those glutes.

3. DON'T shrug your shoulders. They get sore and bear the weight of the exercise leading to rotator cuff problems.

4. Your back needs to be like a table top not a tent.

Practice makes this easier and better.

Oh and BREATHE throughout the pose.