How to do plank for weight loss
The plank exercise is a real test of strength for the core muscles. This isometric exercise targets the abdominals, lower back, hips, and arms. Not surprisingly, many workouts begin and end with plank variations.
First, let's figure out what the plank exercise gives. It immediately engages the abdominal muscles, back and even legs. With the correct execution of the plank, you can do nothing at all, that is, just stand on your elbows. At the same time, it is possible to significantly strengthen the muscles of the body, it involves the straight, oblique and lateral muscles of the press. By regularly performing the plank exercise, you can make your stomach flat, strengthen your spine, improve your posture, tighten your buttocks and hips. However, mistakes are often made in its execution, such as lowering the hips or rounding the back. We will break down the plank exercise in parts, how to properly do the plank at home with your own weight to make the body fit, especially when sitting.
For this reason, we turned to fitness trainer Gregg Cook for advice on how to properly do the plank exercise. In addition, you will learn how to increase the difficulty of this exercise as you get stronger.
The main mistakes when doing the bar
How to do the plank exercise correctly
“If you are a beginner, you can start with chair push-ups. It's much better than kneeling push-ups because it's a variation of the exercise that you engage the same muscles that are involved in an outstretched arm plank,” Cook explains.
Also, the trainer recommends, as an alternative, hold the bar for 10-15 seconds and gradually increase this time to 1 minute. Some people prefer to do the exercise on their forearms before moving on to the plank with straight arms. If you like this option, then place your hands shoulder-width apart and bend them at an angle of 90 °. The shoulders should also be in line with the palms, not in front of them.
How to do plank for weight loss
So, today we will look at the most common mistakes when doing the plank and tell you how to fix them.
Plank exercise - how to do it right without mistakes
Now let's look at the 3 most common plank mistakes to minimize the possibility of injury and improve the results in the exercise.
Mistake #1: Rounding Your Back
If the abdominal muscles are not tense, then the arms will quickly get tired, since the weight of most of the body will be transferred to them. When this happens, the first reaction is to round the back, which puts undue pressure on the spine.
How to do it right: Make sure your shoulders are back and your arms are wide enough apart. In this way, you will remove the load from the upper body and engage the target core muscles.
Mistake #2: Dropping your hips
When the muscles of the abdomen and arms begin to tire, it is likely that the hips will begin to sag. Gravity in action! In this position, the load on the core is reduced and moved to the lower back.
How to do it right: To keep your hips straight, tighten your glute muscles and lift your pelvis. You can also spread your legs slightly apart to give your body more stability. At the moment when you tighten your abdominal muscles, take a deep breath. If you are not sure that you are doing everything correctly, use a long, even stick as shown in the photo.
Mistake #3: Looking forward or up
If you throw your head back and look up or forward, then a load is placed on the neck and, as a result, the position of the body as a whole is disturbed.
How to do it right: Look at the floor and make sure that the head and neck are in line with the rest of the body. You can also press your chin to your neck, especially if you do the plank for 1 minute.
Video how to do the bar correctly?
And the last question remained - how to do the plank for weight loss? The answer is the same as for the usual strengthening of the muscles of the body. Only in this case, you need to carefully consider nutrition, because it plays a fundamental role. We told you how to hold the bar correctly, it will help increase calorie consumption and strengthen the abdominal muscles. Next, you need to force the body to burn fat deposits that hide the cubes and make the body ugly. A properly composed diet will help you with this, by which we mean not a hunger strike, but a healthy diet.
