The popularity of bodyweight exercises have grown in recent years because of the simple, equipment free methods of losing weight, and gaining muscle. Planks are one incredible bodyweight exercise that will never go out of style. They are actually one of the most effective, and beneficial exercises you can do for yourself because they require such a little amount of time and allow you to achieve exceptional results. Doing these regularly can help prevent injuries, strengthen your spine, and help you in many different ways. Here's everything you need to know about planking exercises...
Are planks really that great?
Join the thousands of people around the world trying out the 28 day, 4 minute plank challenge, and hoping for complete body transformations. If you are able to plank correctly, and your body is strong enough to stay rigid like a plank of wood, the results will amaze you. Don't worry if you struggle with it the first few days, if you continue to train on a regular basis, planking should eventually become second nature for you.
Although people think of planks as an abdominal exercise, they actually do so much more than that. Planking has been proven to melt away body fat, strengthen your back and buttock muscles along with your leg muscles as well. When doing a plank, your form is one of the most important factors. Just get into proper push up position, and remain in the pushed up position for the duration of the plank.
The challenge.
In this four week strength training challenge, you should be able to see your muscles becoming stronger and leaner, or fat melting off your stomach within the first couple weeks of the challenge. You can start off the first day or two by doing a 20 second plank, and by the end of the fourth week you should be doing a minimum of 4 minutes for each plank. By the end of the month you should feel a noticeable increase in your strength, and satisfaction in completing a workout all the way through.
Practice proper form.
When preforming a plank make sure you keep your back in a proper upright posture, and moving to your elbows and toes, being certain to keep your body straight at all times. Now take some deep breaths and feel your stomach muscles begin to tighten up, and get stronger. Another important factor is the distribution of weight in your legs, if it is even your legs and elbows will both have more sturdiness. Once you achieve the perfect position your planks will be more effective, and you will begin to build more muscle every day.