What are the variations of plank?
This article provides 15 plank variations, ordered from easiest to hardest, to strengthen your core.
- Knee plank (for beginners)
- Straight-arm knee plank (for beginners)
- Forearm plank.
- Straight-arm (full) plank.
- Forearm to full plank.
- Side plank on forearm.
- Walking plank.
- Plank with shoulder tap.
What is a side plank variation?
This variation engages your obliques (the side muscles of your core) better than a standard plank. Lie on your side with one leg stacked on top of the another, then prop your body up on your hand or elbow while keeping feet stacked.
What is side plank called in yoga?
Utthita Vasisthasana
Utthita Vasisthasana (sometimes shortened to Vasisthasana) or Side Plank pose is a balancing asana in modern yoga as exercise.
Which muscles do side planks work?
While ab exercises like crunches and regular planks target the muscles in the front of your core, a side plank works your obliques, the muscles that run along the side of your core. Keeping your obliques strong can make it easier to rotate and bend your trunk.
Which is harder elbow plank or full plank?
As to which is harder: that depends on your upper body and core strength. The elbow plank requires more core strength while the full plank requires more upper body strength. An elbow plank is one in which you rest on your forearms. A full plank is one in which your palms bear the weight.
Are side planks harder?
You need to target your obliques (the core muscles on your sides) — and few exercises do that better than side planks. Notice we said, “few.” The traditional side plank can be challenging at first, but simply holding a side plank for longer duration loses its luster.
Why do I find side planks so hard?
You Might: Have Weak Obliques To pull off the side plank, the oblique muscles (the ones that run along the sides of your torso) have to be strong enough to resist gravity. “Gravity is essentially pulling us toward the floor,” says NASM-certified personal trainer Lauren Kanski.
How do you transition to a side plank?
Side Plank, variation Make sure your left foot is parallel to the short edge of the mat. Begin pressing into all four corners of your left foot as you lift your hips. Try stacking your right shoulder above your right, grounded wrist. Finally, extend your left arm as you externally rotate your left shoulder.
Is side plank static or dynamic?
This time it’s about making side planks dynamic. For running in particular, static exercises – like the typical static side plank which you might hold for 30-60 seconds – can build strength but the strength might not carry over well to running.