Everybody who’s into fitness knows the plank exercise. There are so many articles and workout challenges about this exercise. But do you know the many benefits of doing planks?
You’ll greatly benefit from doing the plank regularly, especially if you sit for long hours. And lack of time shouldn’t be an excuse since you only need 5 minutes to finish your workout. In fact, you can exercise twice a day, in the morning and evening.
Learning proper form for this exercise is easy, but if you’ve never done it before, watch the video at the end of article. Here’s why you should plank every day.
1. You’ll Improve Your Posture
Plank activates muscles which are responsible for maintaining proper posture. It strengthens the abdominal muscles and the psoas, which help stabilize the spine and hips. This helps prevent common posture problems like an arched back and anterior pelvic tilt.
2. You’ll Reduce Risk of Lower Back Pain
The plank is usually recommended by physical therapists as a rehabilitation exercise for lower back pain. That’s because it strengthens the core without putting much pressure on the spine.
The American Council on Exercise says that doing planks regularly will reduce lower back pain and increase support for the entire back.
Note that other core exercises like crunches and sit ups may hurt the spine, so avoid them if you suffer from lower back pain.
3. You’ll Boost Metabolism
The body uses more energy to perform the plank than it does to perform most core exercises. So performing plank will help burn calories during and after the workout.
You’ll end up losing fat faster and staying energetic throughout the day.
4. You’ll Be More Flexible
Maintaining the plank position stretches upper body and lower body muscles. In the upper body, plank stretches the shoulders, collarbone and shoulder blades. While in the lower body it stretches the arches of the feet, hamstrings and the toes.
Doing the side plank regularly will stretch the sides. Try different plank positions to gain more flexibility.
5. You’ll Gain Mental Strength
If you’ve done plank before, you know it’s not an easy exercise. It takes a lot of physical and mental strength to hold plank for an extended time.
As you continue to increase the duration of your sets, your body and mind will grow stronger and stronger. The mental strength you gain will help you deal better with life challenges.
6. You’ll Gain Balance
Standing on one foot won’t be a challenge once you start doing planks regularly. As you may know, the abdominal and oblique muscles play a vital role in maintaining balance.
Now that you know the benefits of doing planks regularly, here’s a video on how to perform the front plank.
To get the best results, combine the front plank with the side plank.
Go ahead and start doing these exercises today. Remember to use a timer and work on improving duration after every set.
This article was originally published on www.Care.com. Read the original here.
