Plank with Photos

Earlier this week I promised a few photos to go with tougher versions of the plank. So Janet and myself rolled up the garage door, laid down a carpet and took a few pictures.

• The toughened up Plank that I currently like involves elbows forward. The full exercise goes something like this: get up on toes and elbows; get the abs really tight and then walk the elbows forward; hold for 5 to 10 seconds; walk elbows back and then touch down briefly (say for 2 to 5 seconds); then repeat. Aim for 5 reps but pick the number that really gives your abs a testing time.
  
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• The next variation of the Plank is to raise one arm off the ground. In the picture below Janet has her hips level (horizontal); that is perfect. If you let the hips swivel the exercise gets easier (and you would not want that !). Of course you do one side then the other. This exercise challenges the whole set of core muscles to keep your body stable.
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• The next version has one leg off the ground. It has the same advantages as the arm raise but by logically working around both arms then both legs you challenge the core from all directions.
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• Is this the end of the challenge you can set yourself ? Of course not. The next step along this road is to take one foot and one arm off the ground for a real core challenge. It's opposite arm and leg by the way and do you tend to sway as your brain has to work out how to stabilize your body.
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And then what ? Is this the final frontier for core challenges using the Plank exercise ? 

No. There is much more but this is enough for now.