Plank questions

castadiva
castadiva Posts: 2,016 Member
edited December 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
I've just started adding the plank exercise to my morning strength exercises and have a couple of questions.

Firstly, how long should I be aiming to hold it for? At the moment, I can manage 1 minute plus a few seconds. Should I be aiming to double/triple/extend that, or would it be better to do multiple repetitions of 1 minute?

Secondly, it seems to put quite a lot of pressure on my lower back, which is, admittedly, quite weak, courtesy of a childhood injury. Are there any ways to avoid/relieve/protect this? Tensing my core muscles further seems to work to a point, but not beyond that.

Any information would be most welcome!

Replies

  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
    It puts a lot of pressure on your lowest back if your butt is too low, so check your form.

    Once you can do 90seconds, I'd find a tougher exercise.
  • Crystal0827
    Crystal0827 Posts: 244 Member
    Wow, that is awesome! I have been trying to do a modified plank for a minute for about 7 months now. Some days are better then others. But I have always incorporated into sets of exercises example: sit ups, squats, push-ups, plank and repeat 3-4 times. If that makes sense.
  • danifo0811
    danifo0811 Posts: 554 Member
    in my circuit class, the next level to plank is lifting one leg.

    I would agree that after 90s you are better off doing another exercise.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,247 Member
    For your lower back try adding some supermans & cat stretches to your routine.
  • mariagabriella
    mariagabriella Posts: 267 Member
    if you're getting pain in your lower back then you aren't doing it properly. fix your technique.

    even when I had lower back pain, I'd never get pains from holding a plank.

    you can do a plank get up

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnh8LC8FX3g
  • seekingstrengthX2
    seekingstrengthX2 Posts: 771 Member
    For your lower back try adding some supermans & cat stretches to your routine.


    I love doing Supermans! I always think I probably look silly doing them at the gym, but I do them all the time.
  • castadiva
    castadiva Posts: 2,016 Member
    For your lower back try adding some supermans & cat stretches to your routine.


    I love doing Supermans! I always think I probably look silly doing them at the gym, but I do them all the time.

    Wow! Wonderful response - thank you all! I'll have to google 'Supermans' , as I've never heard of them, but cat stretches I've been doing to counteract the lower-back issue, which may be because I've had my back too 'flat', with my rear too low - I'll experiment a bit with that. 90 seconds should be achievable, I think, in not too long, so thanks for the suggestions of harder exercises.
  • MoveTheMountain
    MoveTheMountain Posts: 764 Member
    For your lower back try adding some supermans & cat stretches to your routine.


    I love doing Supermans! I always think I probably look silly doing them at the gym, but I do them all the time.

    Wow! Wonderful response - thank you all! I'll have to google 'Supermans' , as I've never heard of them, but cat stretches I've been doing to counteract the lower-back issue, which may be because I've had my back too 'flat', with my rear too low - I'll experiment a bit with that. 90 seconds should be achievable, I think, in not too long, so thanks for the suggestions of harder exercises.

    P90-X has an exercise called "Superman to Banana": basically, you start in Superman, hold for 10 seconds, then roll to a Banana - on your back with legs and arms in the air, arms over your head, like a Superman, but on your back. In 10 seconds, roll again, back to Superman, and repeat for about a minute. Great core exercise.
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