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How to do a perfect plank

With coronavirus keeping gyms closed, bodyweight exercises are practical to do at-home, cost-effective and a powerful foundational tool that can forever play a part in anyone’s fitness arsenal. But while the move might seem simple, form is key to reaping benefits, which include strengthening the inner core as well as engaging quads, glutes, arms and more.

Personal trainer Betina Gozo lays out the simple steps for the perfect plank in the video above.

  1. On a mat or hard, flat surface, start on the floor on your hands and knees.

  2. Align wrists underneath your shoulders. Keep your feet about hip-width distance apart, but widen your feet for more stability (the more narrow the more challenging the plank will be).

  3. Create one line from head to heels and look down at the floor. Dig through the heels and keep your body tight by pulling in your abs, quads, glutes, and hold. You should feel your body shake — that’s a good sign that you’re creating enough tension!

Click here for all five challenges.
Click here for all five challenges.

For five days, Yahoo Life will share tips from different personal trainers on how to master the technique with a different challenge for trying out the move tacked on. For day one, we’re kicking off with Gozo’s recommendation: start by holding a plank position for 15 seconds, making sure your arms and legs are aligned correctly. Take a break and then repeat 3 more times, holding for a total of one minute.

Come back to Yahoo Life for more planking and follow along with every day of the plank challenge here. Inspire those who are taking the planking challenge too by sounding off in the comments.