A plank is the position of your body when it is aligned in a straight line, just like planks of wood. Would you know the common plank mistake we do on planking?
Planks are a great way to bring in many health benefits for your body. This workout offers posture improvement, a healthy back, reduced belly fat, core strength, improved flexibility, metabolism, and overall mental health. This exercise form is fun and doesn’t require a lot many minutes of your day.
But are you sure you are doing your planks right? Following the correct posture and method while doing planks is essential, which many people skip.
Here are the mistakes you might be making while performing planks, and you need to be mindful of
Timing your plank
The key to getting the most benefit from your plank exercise is not how long you can hold your plank position. Instead, it would help if you focused on your breathing technique while doing planks.
Take a deep inhale through the nose and expand your abdomen 360 degrees. Then exhale through the nose or mouth and while doing that, bring your belly bottom toward the spine. Simultaneously, your ribs should come down while exhaling to create tension and bracing. It would help if you tried to hold the position for as many breaths as possible.
Pushing forward on the back of your feet
Planks are a full-core movement. You are engaging everything between your shoulders and knees. People often focus only on their abs and shoulders because the shoulders hurt, resulting in pushing forward on the back of their feet.
Remember, it’s important to drive back through your knees instead of pushing forward onto the balls of your feet. You might also find that you want to bring your hands together and let your elbows flare out when you lay. This allows you to pack your shoulders and engage your back to support your shoulders.
Bending The Knees
If you keep the knees bent while planking, the whole burden comes on the lower back, and it starts sagging. Keep a straight position through your heels to create a nice strong tension position.
Keeping butt higher up than the body
The butt should be parallel to the entire body while planking. It’s okay if the shoulders are slightly above the pelvis, but the butt shouldn’t be up in the air.
Collapsing shoulder blades and chest
The most common mistake while planking is the sinking of shoulder blades. This results in a lot of stress on the shoulders, and the position of the plank goes haywire completely.
You need to spread the shoulders evenly and press the floor away from you using your arms, shoulders, and chest. There shouldn’t be an under or over-engaged chest; it should be in a neutral position in the sink with an equally engaged back and shoulders.
Not feeling the tension in each muscle group
While people focus on how long they can hold the plank position, they mostly forget to concentrate on the whole-body tension one must feel while doing a plank. It would help if you focused on working up all the muscle groups. Tighten your muscle groups as you slide into the plank position. All these muscles should tighten the quads, calves, shoulders, hamstrings, core, glutes, and forearms.
