You might consider the plank to be the current king of core crushers in your ab workout arsenal, and (in some ways) you would have a fair argument. But how do you elevate your plank game when you can hold the position for solid form for minutes on end?
The next level of course would be the side plank, a challenging variation of the original abdominal bad boy. The side plank is going to teach you how to brace your core in order to build your obliques and give you a crash course in lateral stability, which you’ll need in both sports and life in more settings than you might expect.
The move can be done virtually at any time, as long as you have the space to extend your body on the ground. The key to getting the most out of the side plank, according to Men’s Health fitness director Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S., and fitness editor Brett Williams, NASM is paying close attention to the subtleties of the move and learning to squeeze in all the right places.
How to Do the Side Plank
When setting up for a side plank, make sure to concentrate on your elbow positioning. Focus on keeping your elbow faced forward, Samuel cautions. Be intentional about this subtle but important step because it’s going to help protect your shoulder. “We always want to create external rotation at the shoulder and making sure that your forearm is perpendicular to your torso is going to help ensure that you maintain that external rotation,” he says.
From here, execution is as simple as raising your hips up off the ground and extending your arm overhead. But simple isn’t always easy. You should fight to maintain full body tension for every single moment.
Be on the form check lookout, however, for two key points. Remember to squeeze not only your abs, but your glutes as well. This will help to maintain the straight line from your shoulders through your ankles. Allowing your glutes to relax causes your hips and torso to sag, and that will defeat the whole purpose of the exercise by taking the tension off your obliques.
Also be aware of squeezing your shoulder blades as well, creating a bit of openness through your chest during this phase. From there, all you want to do is hold, for about 40 solid seconds, Samuel advises.
“This isn’t just a core move, we want to squeeze through our glues, and we want to work every single part of our torso, even through our legs, because it’s about total body tension.”
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