The Plank is the most effective exercise. It helps you to perfect every muscle in your body. You can burn cellulite, flatten your stomach, strengthen your back and shape your hands and legs.
How to Do It:
It is important to keep your body properly.
First, lie on your stomach. Then you lift your body almost the same like when doing push-ups, with one small difference: here you have to bend the elbows 90 degrees and rely on your forearms. The point is to keep your body flat as a plank at all time in order to activate all the muscles in it. You are not allowed to relax at any point of the exercise if you want to do it properly.
Feet. Get them close in order to keep pressure on the abdominal muscles.
Legs. Keep your legs tight and straight so that the pressure on the right abdominal muscle is constant.
Buttocks. You mustn’t relax your buttocks in order to activate the muscles on the lower torso.
Lower back. This is the most important part in the “Plank”. Keep the lower back flat if you want the exercise to be effective. Don’t dent it or curve and don’t relax at all.
Stomach. Get your stomach in as much as possible. Imagine a big belly guy that tries to tuck his stomach in under the ribs in order to appear sexy in front of a girl. You have to do the same here, but don’t keep your breath, just breath normally.
Elbows. Keep your elbows at a 90 degrees angle directly under your shoulders. This will help you with the strain.
You have to “float” your body like that for full exercise.
The longer you keep this position, the better. Begin slowly if you are not physically fit. Try to hold the position for at least 10 seconds, and repeat this at least 3 times between 2 minute breaks. Try to increase the position hold time each day (20, 40 and 60 seconds.) If you achieved 1 minute, the exercise is very effective. At first it may be hard for you to endure even 20 seconds, but in time you will improve.
To do plank in hammock is even more effective at the same time it is FUN. Come and join us in our Aerial Yoga class at Floating Fitness.