How to Do a Perfect Plank: 5 Mistakes That Steal the Core Work
Holding a plank but not feeling your abs? Learn how to fix common form mistakes so your core—not your shoulders, back, or joints—does the work.
If planks hurt your shoulders, burn out your arms, or you can hold one for several minutes without feeling your abs, you may need to change how you're doing the plank.
A good plank isn't about holding the position as long as possible. It's about creating engagement in the right places while you keep your ribs, pelvis, shoulders, and spine alignment controlled.
Lay on your stomach and prop yourself up on your elbows
Push through your forearms, lift through your chest, tuck your chin and keep your head in line with the rest of your spine.
Breathe here, cinching your lower ribs down and in together for 3-4 breaths to activate the multifidus in the neck through midback and shoulder blade stabilizers.
2. Pop up onto your knees
Keeping your arms where they are push back into a table top position, resting on your knees.
Tuck your toes under so your ankles are flexed and your toes firmly on the ground.
If you have a mirror, check your form. Keep your tail bone tucked under, don’t let your back arch.
Keep pushing through your forearms, tucking your chin, pulling your head back and breathing.
Build your hold here up to 45-60 seconds before moving onto the next step.
Full plank
Keep your alignment and breath as described above.
Tuck your toes under and straighten your knees.
Actively press your knees up toward the ceiling and your heels back as you hold.
Keep pushing through your forearms, tucking your chin, pulling your head back and breathing, cinching your ribs down and in together without sinking.
Hold for up to 90 seconds (1.5 minutes)
The trick to getting the “perfect plank” is how you get into the position. Also, doing the plank on the forearms instead of extending your arms straight allows you to train the tricky area of the mid back and shoulder blades.
A plank is also not out of reach if getting up and down off the floor is not going to work for you! Just set it up off of a counter top, stable table or even a wall instead!
5 Things That Can Make Your Plank Less Effective
Locking your elbows
Letting your knees bend
Shifting onto your toes
Letting your ribs flare or low back arch
Holding your breath
Here’s how to fix your plank:
The elbow joint is one of the strongest joints in the body as it has a “locking” mechanism.
If you do a plank with your elbows extended, that locking feature allows the upper and low back to keep the body upright passively like a suspension bridge.
If you let your knee flex or balance on your tip toes instead of dropping back into your heels your quads and pecs end up doing most of the work, not the core.
Those substitutions combined means someone can hold a plank for a very long time without ever activating the core or training it to its full potential.
So instead of asking, “How long can I hold a plank?” Ask: “Can I maintain the position while my body is actually doing the work I'm trying to train?”
Your body is extremely good at finding the easiest way to accomplish a task. If your core isn't contributing enough, other muscles and joints can help stabilize you. There’s a lot of social media posts and YouTube videos out there about planks and plank challenges but many of them are “cheater” planks and end up using the pectorals, triceps, the elbow joint or quads instead of targeting and training the deep core muscles.
If your plank still doesn't feel right after correcting your form, don't assume you simply need stronger abs.
Your breathing, mobility, shoulder control, hip position, joint stability and movement strategies can all affect how you stabilize your body.
That's the kind of whole-body movement problem I address in my Healthy Movement Reboot program. For those who are hypermobile, start building stability you can trust today with my Stability with Hypermobility program.
Once you've mastered the plank, add it to this Home Fitness Circuit for a complete full-body workout.
If you have hypermobility, traditional planks often create more discomfort than stability at first. My Stability with Hypermobility Program teaches you how to safely build strength from the ground up.
Stop Guessing Your Core Exercises
A correctly performed plank is only one piece of building a resilient body.
If you're dealing with chronic pain, hypermobility, poor posture, or recurring injuries, learning when and why to use each exercise matters just as much as the exercise itself.
Start your FREE trial of my guided programs and learn the same movement system I use every day with my physical therapy patients.
