The Side Plank – How To Do It The Right Way

The Side Plank – How To Do It The Right Way

Isometrics are key exercises to include in your routine to improve your stability and mind-body connection. They are a great way for you to target underactive muscles and really get them firing correctly.

They are a great way to make sure that you’re using muscles efficiently and effectively to work together to perform a movement.

Because we have to remember that part of getting stronger is learning how to quickly and efficiently recruit muscles to work together in the right order, each carrying the load they were meant to carry!

But so often these seemingly simple moves are taken for granted.

We simply try to get through the hold, or hold longer, instead of really focusing in on engaging muscles correctly as hard as possible.

That’s why I wanted to discuss one amazing core isometric, the Side Plank, and not only why this move is so key but also how we can get more out of it to not only strengthen our entire core but also avoid knee and shoulder aches and pains.

What The Side Plank Works:

The side plank is an amazing unilateral core move that can help you improve your shoulder, spinal, pelvis, hip, knee and even ankle stability when done correctly.

Because it’s a unilateral move and works each side independently, it an help you even correct imbalances. If you do have an imbalance, you may find you do an extra round or even only rounds of side planks on one side.

It is a great anti-lateral flexion, or anti-side bending, exercise to include to help you learn to brace to protect your spine.

While the primary focus of the side plank is to strengthen your obliques, it will also work your glute medius, glute max, lats, shoulders, and QL (quadratus lumborum) to name a few of muscles involved.

It really is a full core move and can help you build stability from your shoulders to your feet.

But to get all of these benefits, you need to focus on what you actually feel working as you perform the hold and, at times, even concentrate on engaging each of the muscles involved a bit harder.

3 Form Cues To Improve Your Side Planks:

That’s why I wanted to share these 3 Key Form Cues to help you really proper engage the correct muscles as you hold.

#1: Flex your foot to create tension through your lower leg.

If you want to get the full benefit of the side plank and even help protect your knees and ankles, you can’t ignore the importance of creating tension through your lower leg as you hold.

This will not only improve your efficiency with the movement, but it will help engage the muscles from your ankles to your hips, including your glutes.

To flex or dorsiflex your foot, pull your toe up toward your shin to engage your lower leg before you even lift up into the side plank. Then really focus on pushing the side of your foot down into the ground as you hold to keep that tension.

You don’t just want to lift. You want to create that tension.

You can then either stack, or stagger your feet. Neither is technically bad and both can have their benefits.

Some argue that stacked is harder as there is a smaller base of support while others will argue the staggered is better to create tension and be able to better transition from front to side plank variations.

The key is truly creating the tension through your lower leg to improve your knee and ankle stability and even better engage those glutes!

#2: Squeeze your glutes.

Often we get so focused on this move as an oblique exercise we only lift through our torso, letting our hips ultimately sag and we miss out on the amazing benefit the side plank can have for improving our hip stability!

As you lift up into that side plank, squeeze your glutes to extend your hips and lock yourself into that nice straight line. Think about almost slightly squeezing your butt to push your hips forward.

This will help you avoid rotating toward the ground and even overloading your TFL and QL which can perpetuate SI Joint, IT Band issues and even lower back, hip and knee pain.

We want muscles to learn to engage to support each other, which often means focusing on that engagement in muscles that tend to be underactive.

By also engaging your glutes, you avoid rotating toward the ground and overloading your shoulder as you hold. Activating our glutes can actually help better engage our lats.

And not only do you want to focus on that glute max engagement, but you also want to think about the side of your butt lifting your hip up to maintain that hold. Focusing on the glute medius working will help you really use this move to improve your hip stability!

#3: Engage the side of your back to support your shoulder.

If you’ve ever found that side planks irritate your shoulder, you need to make sure you aren’t just relying on those smaller muscles to hold. You want to also engage your back and lats to support your shoulder properly and help stabilize it.

As you set up for the side plank, make sure that your elbow is underneath your shoulder and that you aren’t shrugging.

Even think about slightly pulling your shoulders down as you set up to hold.

Then as you hold at the top, to keep your back engaged, think about pushing your elbow down into the ground as you pulling your elbow slightly toward your feet. Your elbow will not move, but this focus as if you would adduct the shoulder if you could, engages your lat to help prevent shoulder issues.

Learning this engagement can not only help us avoid neck and shoulder aches and pains but also improve our scapular and shoulder stability, which in turn can improve our other pressing exercises, like our bench or push ups!

SUMMARY:

Using these 3 cues you can help yourself properly engage all of the muscles involved in the side plank to get more out of this amazing move and really improve your mind-body connection.

Focus on holding harder and run through what you feel working as you hold over just trying to hold longer or “get through” the time.

Try adding in some side plank holds for even 20-30 seconds to your activation series before your workout to activate everything from your shoulders to your knees!

The Most Underrated Core Exercise

The Most Underrated Core Exercise

A strong core is one that can not only power rotation but also PREVENT IT.

So often our core training focuses on rotational moves. Maybe some anti-flexion or extension exercises too…

But if you actually want to be able to avoid injury, you’ve got to build a strong, stable core that can prevent unwanted or unneeded rotation.

And that’s why ANTI-ROTATIONAL core work is so key!

Being able to control or prevent rotation will help you improve how you transfer force between your upper body and lower body.

So not only does this anti-rotational core work help protect your spine, but it also can help you improve your shoulder and hip stability as well.

Plus, to be able to power rotation efficiently, you first have to learn how to prevent and control it!

So if you even want to get stronger with your rotational moves? You want to include anti-rotational core work as well!

Because Anti-Rotational Core Work is so important, I think it’s key we include moves like this amazing plank variation – The Plank With Row.

The basic plank is a great anti-extension exercise. And by adding in the row, we can make it a great anti-rotational move as well.

And while I feel so often planks are an overrated movement because of how we use them, constantly focusing on holding longer over holding harder, I think some plank variations done for shorter intervals of work with intentionality and focus on what you actually feel working, can be the missing piece in our core training routine.

Plus, because they require no tools to perform, you can use them whether you train at home or at a full gym!

With the Plank with Row, you will work to build anti-rotational core strength and avoid your body’s urges to want to twist as you change your base of support to perform the row.

It is a great move to improve your shoulder, spinal and hip stability while also activating the muscles of your back. If you’re struggling to really improve your scapular control, this is a great way to work on it as you strengthen your abs, obliques and even glutes!

Here are 3 tips to help you maximize the benefit you get from this fundamental anti-rotational move.

3 Tips To Help You Master The Plank With Row:

Tip #1: Slow things down.

Often when we do reps of a movement, we just are focused on getting them done.

Or when we feel ourselves losing balance, we try to rush through.

But with this anti-rotational core move, it’s key we SLOW THINGS DOWN.

We want to focus on that mind-body connection and what we feel working.

When we feel unstable, we want to slow things down and focus on engaging muscles harder.

As you lift to row your hand up, focus on pulling the elbow down and back by using your upper back. Feel yourself drawing that shoulder blade toward your spine.

Focus on feeling your abs and obliques work to avoid rotating open as you row up.

Feel the side of your back on your supporting hand stabilize the shoulder.

Even feel your glutes flex to keep your hips stable as you drive back through your heels.

Slow down the movement to really fight the rotation and be present in your body and intentional with the movement.

You want to slow things down to prevent unwanted movement and learn to engage things properly.

Tip #2: Push the ground away.

Creating that solid connection with the ground through your hands and the balls of your feet will actually help you better activate everything to stabilize.

Don’t just get focused on the movement, focus on feeling yourself push that ground away to better stabilize your supporting shoulder.

And focus on driving your feet down into the ground to fight your hips desire to rotate as you row up. It will help you create more tension through your legs.

Part of including anti-rotational core work is learning how to transfer force between your upper and lower body.

That means knowing how to properly create tension through your core.

This starts at your foundation or your connection to the ground!

Tip #3: Set up with a wider base.

Our body is amazing in that it will find a way to replicate the movement we ask it to perform whenever possible.

However, this can mean it will recruit muscles it shouldn’t if we aren’t careful to MIMIC the movement we want to perform.

It’s why all too often people end up feeling their lower backs during planks when their abs should be working.

Sometimes we need to regress to progress so we can make sure we’re using the correct muscles and creating those more efficient recruitment patterns.

That’s why the base of support you create when first learning this movement is key.

You can always modify any plank off a bench to reduce the resistance. But with anti-rotational core moves, you can also change your base of support.

With this Plank with Row, you can start with your feet wider apart than shoulder-width and hands together under your chest.

This tripod position can help you have that base of support to really focus on fighting the urge to rotate as you row.

As you build up strength, you may find you bring your feet in toward hip width while slightly widening your hands out.

But don’t rush to change your base until you can fully control the move.

Doing a supposedly “harder variation” you haven’t earned will only backfire.

SUMMARY:

If you want to improve your core strength and stability, do not ignore the importance of anti-rotational core work!

Moves like the Plank with Row are a great way to improve your shoulder, hip and spinal stability not to mention strengthen your back, abs, obliques and even glutes!

How To Do A Sit Up Properly – 3 Tips To Help

How To Do A Sit Up Properly – 3 Tips To Help

Sit ups get a bad rap because of the spinal flexion involved in the movement.

But guess what?

Our abs are worked by spinal flexion.

Yes they work to stabilize and prevent extension and brace to protect our spine, which is why planks are key too, but they do power spinal flexion.

And yes, we do work our core through all the amazing compound exercises out there like pull ups and squats and deadlifts, but that doesn’t mean we can’t also safely include spinal flexion moves to target our abs with a movement pattern they are MEANT to perform.

The key is learning to do sit ups properly so we aren’t compensating and overworking our lower back or relying simply on our hip flexors to sit up.

Here are 3 tips to help you get the most out of this basic move to work your abs through spinal flexion.

3 Tips To Improve Your Sit Ups

#1: Don’t sit up – roll up!

If you want to really focus on using your abs to sit up, don’t simply hinge and sit up at your hips. Focus on rolling up one vertebra at a time.

Think about truly curling your spine to come up.

You’ll realize this makes your abs work a lot harder and you feel your hip flexors working a lot less.

We have to remember that our abs power spinal flexion. And that curl to roll up is the spinal flexion we need to target our abs.

When we simply sit up and lie down, we often are performing the movement mainly as hip flexion. To get that ab engagement, we need that spinal flexion.

So focus on rolling up one vertebra at a time before sitting up nice and tall at the top. Then roll back down.

Even slow down the movement to focus on your abs over rushing through!

#2: Drive your heels down into the ground.

One of the best ways to relax an overactive muscle is to engage the opposing muscle group.

Often with sit ups, you see people’s legs flopping all over the place. Their legs lift and their hip flexors engage.

Next time you do sit ups, set up at the top and drive your heels down hard into the ground. Even think about slightly curling them back toward your butt. This will engage your hamstrings ever so slightly and help shut off your hip flexors.

Then slowly roll down.

Keep that tension, pushing your heels down into the ground as you roll down and come to rest at the bottom.

Keep that same pressure, pushing your heels down, as you sit back up.

You not only won’t feel your hips as much, but you may feel your abs more.

If you really struggle with your hips becoming over worked, you can even do a little hamstring hack, looping a band behind your heels to help you better engage those hamstrings if you struggle with applying pressure down into the ground.

#3: Don’t swing your arms overhead.

I know it can feel like we need the momentum to help us get back up, but swinging your arms is not only a way to cheat and not use your abs, but it can also cause you to arch your lower back at the bottom of the move and result in your lower back becoming overworked.

When you lie back down, you can bring your hands under your chin and then extend them toward your legs as you sit up if you do need a very slight assist in rolling up or you can keep them extended toward your legs.

The key is slowing down this move over trying to power through more reps.

If you really can’t get up without using the momentum, try a Seated Hinge variation, doing a top down variation of the sit up. Start at the top seated and only round to hinge back as far as you can control instead of starting lying on the ground.

This can help you learn to roll back to start.

SUMMARY:

Too often we take for granted this very basic ab move. And we demonize it for causing lower back pain when we simply aren’t performing it correctly and using the spinal flexion to work our abs.

Try these 3 tweaks and make your abs work during this basic move and stop relying on your hip flexors while overworking your lower back!

Leg Lowers – You’re Doing it WRONG (3 tips to help)

Leg Lowers – You’re Doing it WRONG (3 tips to help)

Constantly feel your lower back or hip flexors during ab moves like leg lowers?

Do you just push through figuring your lower back is weak?

STOP!

Not only is this NOT helping you get the desired ab strengthening results you’re trying to work toward but it may also result in lower back and even hip aches and pains.

Here are 3 common mistakes I see people making with leg lower ab exercises and how to avoid them!

Mistake #1: Putting Your Hands Behind Your Lower Back

Stop cheating yourself out of really earning this move.

Putting your hands behind your lower back is a bandaid, a quick fix.

While yes, it can help you avoid lower back pain in the moment, it isn’t teaching you to actually use your abs correctly to protect your back and stabilize.

It allows you to do a move you haven’t truly earned.

Instead you need to regress to progress and modify the exercise to learn how to build up and engage your abs correctly.

Because you aren’t feeling your lower back because it is weak. You’re feeling your lower back because your abs aren’t yet strong enough, or you don’t have the mind-body connection yet, to keep them braced throughout.

Instead of pushing through this variation, if you want to get the full ab strengthening benefits, modify the move doing a single leg lower or even bent knee tuck.

It is always better to modify and get the correct muscles working than to push through a harder variation and compensate.

Modifying doesn’t mean you’re making it easier. It means you’re making it the level you need to work the muscles you want to target best!

You may even find you have to go back to that basic pelvic tilt movement and learn how to engage those abs and glutes correctly to stabilize and brace before adding movement!

Mistake #2: Swinging Your Legs

Leg lowers do work your hip flexors as they are a hip flexion movement.

And your abs are working to stabilize and protect your back.

But if to rush through this movement you start to swing your legs, you’re not going to get any of the benefit this move can have for your abs.

And you’re probably going to start to feel your lower back engaging as your hip flexors fatigue especially.

So stop swinging your legs and rushing through just to get the workout done.

Instead slow down the movement.

Focus on engaging your GLUTES even as you lower your legs a few inches from the ground. And even think about pulling your legs back up using your abs so you get that brace going as you lift.

Slow the movement down and focus on that control and what muscles you actually feel working.

Get more out of every second of work by being intentional!

Mistake #3: Not Focusing On Bracing Your Abs

Too often we just replicate a movement pattern without really being conscious of the muscles we feel working until we are in pain.

We let our lower back take over during this move and just keep pushing through.

We want to get the workout over with or we figure our lower back is weak.

But what we feel working during a move is what is going to “benefit” so to speak from the exercise.

So if you want to work your abs but you only feel your lower back?

Your abs aren’t getting the benefit of this move you’d like.

That’s why it is key you regress to progress and learn how to use that posterior pelvic tilt to your advantage.

While yes our spine has a natural curve, we want to know how to engage our glutes and abs using that posterior pelvic tilt.

Before you even start any level of the leg lowers move, lie on your back on the ground and think about engaging those lower abs to tuck your hips slightly toward your ribs. Even feel your glutes engage with the tuck.

From here you can do a bent knee march, double knee tuck, single leg lift or those killer double leg lowers.

But you should only advance as long as you can keep those abs braced.

If you lose that brace, you need to regress or shorten the interval of work, cutting back on time or reps.

Trying to do more without the correct muscles working is only going to backfire.

SUMMARY:

As much as we all want to do those fun and challenging exercise variations, at times we need to regress to progress and take our ego out of things.

Learn how to engage those abs correctly and build up to earn that harder move so you can get more out of every rep of that amazing leg lower ab exercise!

For an amazing Lower Ab Workout, give this burner a try! It’s a great way to finish off your workouts!

–> Lower Ab Burner

 

3 Compound Moves You Don’t Realize Are AMAZING For Your Core!

3 Compound Moves You Don’t Realize Are AMAZING For Your Core!

There are some moves we really feel working our abs and core when we do them. But there are others we don’t realize worked certain muscles until we are sore the next day!

These 3 compound exercises are a great way to strength multiple large muscles at once while also really working your core.

They are part of any core program I create because they not only help you burn more calories during your workout by working more muscles at once, but they also help you build strength while targeting your core.

Because a strong, lean core means doing more than just crunches!

Try using these three moves in your routine. The first two are even perfect as part of your upper body day!

Pull Up Holds:

Yup. Pull Up Holds. Now you may be thinking, “I can’t even do one pull up. How am I supposed to HOLD at the top!?”

A. Often if we set at the top we can perform short holds even if we aren’t yet able to complete a full one.
B. These holds can be done at the top, middle or even as an active hang at the bottom.
C. You can do them with your foot down for assistance so you take on as much weight as you can handle!

But pull ups are a more core intensive movement than we give them credit for. It’s why if you want to improve your pull ups, you also need to work on your core strength.

Or if your goal is a strong, lean core, you should also include some pull up work in your core routine. They will work not only your biceps but also your lats, serratus anterior and abs!

To make a hold even more intensive, if you’re ready for a challenge, you can add in bicycles or leg raises or knee tucks as you hold at the top!

The three basic Pull Up Holds are:

pull up isometrics

  • Dead Hang – To do the Dead Hang, grab the bar with your hands about shoulder-width apart. Your palms can be facing toward you or away. Then hang from the bar with your arms straight. Your shoulders will be a bit raised as you hang from the bar. Press your chest up and out as you draw your shoulder blades together. Feel your shoulders sink down and your neck elongates as you retract your shoulder blades and hold. You should feel your back work as you hang. If you struggle with this, you may need to start with just a basic hang.
  • Mid-Pull Up Hold – The Mid-Pull Up Hold is where you hold with your arms bent to about 90 degrees. Grab the bar and either pull up or set up with your arms bent to 90 degrees. Then hang, keeping your arms bent and chest pressed out. Don’t shrug or tuck your head as you hold. Really try to lead with your chest and feel the muscles of your back working. You can do a “mid” hold from really anywhere between the Dead Hang and full Pull Up and Hold.
  • Pull Up and Hold – To do the Pull Up and Hold, set up at the top of the Pull Up with your chin above the bar and your chest pressed out. Hold here with your chin over the bar or even the bar at your chest. Keep your core tight and let your legs hang down as you hold your chin above the bar. Make your back and core really work with this move. Do not let your shoulders start to shrug as you hold. If you start to lose the hold, lower yourself down as slowly as you can and then perform a dead hang for a few extra seconds. If you can’t yet handle your full weight for the hold, lightly touch a foot down to the ground.

Push Up Holds:

Push Ups are basically moving planks that also work your chest, shoulders and triceps.

And when you HOLD at different points in the push up, you force your abs, and core in general, to work hard to maintain that nice straight line from your head to your heels.

Not only will you feel your abs and upper body working, but you’ll even feel your quads, inner thighs and glutes potentially working!

And if you can’t yet do a full push up from your toes, you can do these off an incline even for the best results OR potentially set at the position and perform shorter holds! Knee push up holds are also an option, BUT an incline is better for a more core-intensive movement!

The three basic Push Up Holds are:

  • High Push Up Hold – Use this hold to improve your lockout and strengthen your core and shoulders. To do the High Push Up Hold, set up at the top of a push up with your feet together and your hands under your shoulders but outside your chest. Your body should be in a nice straight line from your head to your heels (with your legs straight). Engage your abs, glutes, quads and back. Do not shrug your shoulders. Make sure your legs are engaged and you are driving back through your heels not coming forward onto your toes. Do not tuck your chin. To regress this move, hold from your hands and knees.
  • Mid Push Up Hold – This is a great move to work your core, chest, shoulders and triceps. This move will be harder on your core than the high hold because you have to keep it even as your chest, shoulders and triceps ares struggling to work. Set up at the top of a Push Up with your feet together and your hands under your shoulders and just outside your chest. With your body in a nice straight line from your head to your heels, bend your elbows to about 90 degrees and lower and hold. Do not let your hips sink or your butt go up toward the ceiling as you hold at that mid-point. Do not tuck your chin or let your elbows flare way out. You want your arms and body to create an arrow shape. Hold as close to 90 degrees as you can. Regress the hold by doing it from your knees.
  • Bottom Push Up Hold – This is the hardest of all three holds because you’ve got to keep everything engaged while holding an inch off the ground. This hold is great if you struggle to keep your core engaged as you press back up from the bottom of a Push Up. This is actually a great hold for any beginner looking to achieve their first full Push Up from their toes. To do the Bottom Push Up Hold, set up at the top of a Push Up and then, keeping your body in a nice straight line and everything engaged, lower down until your chest is an inch off the ground. Make sure to engage your glutes and quads to keep your body in a nice straight line. Do not tuck your chin, let your hips sag toward the ground or your butt go up in the air. Do not let your elbows flare way out as you hold. You can also do this from your knees or off an incline even. Really focus on engaging your entire core as you hold.

Jack Burpee:

Burpees are not only killer cardio moves, but can also be used to target a variety of muscles. And the Jack Burpee is a great way to work your abs more as well as even your glutes!

Because you have to hold that plank position to perform the plank jack, your core is going to spend extra time under tension. And the plyo jack at the top will not only help get your blood pumping but also even work your glutes a bit more.

Beginners may modify the move by stepping instead of jumping and may perform a basic jumping jack or even step jack.

jack-burpee

To do the Jack Burpee, start standing with your feet together. Then bend over and place your hands on the ground as you jump your feet back into a high plank position with your feet together.

From that high plank position with your feet together, jump your feet out wide. Do not let your butt go up in the air as you jump your feet out. Jump your feet back together then jump your feet into your hands and come up back up to standing.

As you lift your hands and come back to standing, perform either a basic Jumping Jack or a Plyo Jumping Jack. If you do the Plyo Jack, you will jump up off the ground as you spread your legs wide and swing your arms up to the side and overhead.

To regress the movement, step back into a plank position instead of jumping back. You can also step your feet out to the side and back in when doing the Plank Jack. And at the top, perform a Basic Jumping Jack or even no Jack at all.

The quicker you do the movement and the bigger and higher your Plyo Jack is at the top, the harder the move will be.

There are 3 parts to a proper core training routine – Activate, Integrate and HIIT. These three moves are perfect to Integrate. To learn more about all three components, click here.

Learn how to Activate, Integrate and use HIIT to build a strong, lean core!