PLANKS…ONE OF THE FOUNDATIONAL EXERCISES OF ANY GOOD WORKOUT.  IN FACT, THEY ARE SO EFFECTIVE THAT THEY MAKE HEADLINES: “MAN HOLDS 3 HOUR PLANK,” “HOW TO HOLD A 5 MINUTE PLANK,” “3O DAY PLANK CHALLENGE!”  PEOPLE LOVE PLANKS!  I DO, TOO. THEY ARE GREAT, THEY MAKE YOU FEEL STRONG & POWERFUL AND YOU CAN DO THEM ANYWHERE.

 A QUESTION I GET ASKED ALL THE TIME IS “WHAT IS HARDER: A CLASSIC PLANK OR A FOREARM PLANK?”  IT’S A GREAT QUESTION.  AND, THE ANSWER IS…IT DEPENDS.  BOTH VERSIONS ARE CHALLENGING AND WORK YOUR CORE, BUT THEY DO SO IN DIFFERENT WAYS.  SO LET’S TAKE A MINUTE TO BREAK DOWN BOTH PLANKS AND FIGURE THIS OUT! 

THE CLASSIC PLANK: IN A CLASSIC PLANK, HANDS ARE STACKED DIRECTLY UNDER YOUR SHOULDERS AND ARMS ARE FULLY EXTENDED.  IN THIS POSITION, THE ABDOMINAL MUSCLES ARE ENGAGED BUT SO ARE YOUR GLUTES, QUADS, SHOULDERS AND BICEPS.  YOUR BODYWEIGHT IS MORE EVENLY DISTRIBUTED.  IN A CLASSIC PLANK, BECAUSE YOU ARE FURTHER FROM THE FLOOR, YOUR ARMS ARE WORKING HARDER AND GETTING SCULPTED AS YOU HOLD.   

THE FOREARM PLANK: IN A FOREARM PLANK, FOREARMS ARE ON THE MAT, ELBOWS ARE STACKED DIRECTLY UNDER YOUR SHOULDERS AND SHOULDERS ARE RETRACTED AWAY FROM YOUR EARS.  IN THIS POSITION, YOU DO NOT HAVE AS MUCH DISTRIBUTION OF BODYWEIGHT AS YOU DO IN THE CLASSIC PLANK.  YOU ARE ALSO LOWER TO THE GROUND. THIS RESULTS IN INCREASED ENGAGEMENT OF THE ABDOMINAL MUSCLES TO AVOID COLLAPSING THROUGH THE LOW BACK.

SO…WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?!  ALL THINGS BEING EQUAL, I BELIEVE THAT THE CLASSIC PLANK IS EASIER THAN THE FOREARM PLANK.  IF YOU WERE GOING TO HOLD BOTH FOR THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME, MOST PEOPLE WOULD SAY THE FOREARM PLANK WAS MORE OF A CORE CHALLENGE.  HOWEVER, THERE ARE SOME BENEFITS TO THE CLASSIC PLANK.  ONE -YOU CAN HOLD THE PLANK LONGER.  TWO – YOU CAN EXPERIMENT WITH PLANK VARIATIONS MORE EASILY IN THE CLASSIC PLANK POSITION (ROTATION, LEG LIFTS, ETC.).  THREE -HELPS TO SCULPT YOUR SHOULDERS AND BICEPS. (THE ONLY CAVEAT TO THIS IS IF YOU HAVE LESS UPPER BODY STRENGTH AND/OR WEAK WRISTS -THEN THE CLASSIC PLANK MAY BE JUST AS CHALLENGING TO YOU BUT FOR A DIFFERENT REASON).

THE GOOD NEWS IS BOTH PLANKS ARE GOOD FOR YOU AND SHOULD BE EQUALLY SPRINKLED INTO YOUR WORKOUTS!   DEPENDING ON THE MUSCLES YOU ARE FOCUSED ON OR THE TYPE OF PLANK VARIATION YOU WANT TO TRY, EACH PLANK SERVES A PURPOSE.  I HOPE THIS POST HAS HELPED WIT THE GREAT PLANK DEBATE…LOL!  KEEP CALM AND PLANK ON!