Monday, September 22, 2008

Walk the Plank baby!






Now that I have your attention!  Lately, planks have been my favorite abdominal exercises.  The key to planks, is a neutral spine.  This is a great exercise to incorporate into your training.  






  • Start with resting on the forearms and up on your toes.
  • Keep your back neutral (straight), not letting it sag down.  Try this next to a mirror, so you can see your form.
  • Your head is in a neutral position and you should be looking at the floor.
  • Hold in your abdominal muscles but, DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH! Breathing and holding your abs at the same time.
  • Hold this position for 30 seconds and over time working your way up to :45, 1:00, & 2:00.
  • Do about 2-3 sets of these
For an advanced move, try the leg-lift plank.
  • Start in the forearm/toes position.
  • Slowly raise one leg 5 inches off the floor.
  • Be sure not to leg your back fall out of neutral position.
  • You could switch legs halfway through the set.


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Hairy Legs -

I've become completely obsessed with your blog. I check it regularly to see what famous people have stopped by and to post smart ass comments. I have nothing sarcastic to add about ab planks. I do them all the time. On the floor, a stability ball, BOSU, PowerPlate; you name it and I'm planking on it. My personal record is 7 minutes. What's yours?

Bill (formerly known as Legs until you became known as Hairy Legs)

Anonymous said...

HL -

I forgot to ask if that's you pictured in the blog (after you've shaved in all the right areas) or is is Gabby / Shannon.


Bill

Shannon said...

BP~thanks for visiting my site, I feel honored! That picture is not me because mine have more definition from all the planks I've been doing. BTW, my top time is only 2:00. You've got legs and a 7:00 plank? I'm not worthy.......