High Plank

High Plank video

3-POINT SET-UP:

1. Hands on the (front platform / carriage facing the back)

2. Toes on the (carriage / platform)

3. Hips up in line with your shoulders

Body Part • Direction • Action Verb:

• Press out into a plank position and hold.

Range of Motion:

• N/A

 Kinetic Checkpoints:

HEAD:
❌ Looking up or looking down
❌ Dropping your neck forward (aka: forward head posture)

✅ Maintain a neutral neck or cervical spine. Your ears are in line with your shoulders.

SHOULDERS:
❌ Shoulder blades that are winged, squeezing together or overly separated
❌ Shoulder that are shrugging up towards your ears

✅ WIDE shoulder blades that sit flush against your ribcage in a neutral position

HINT: Think about driving your elbows away from each other, like you are ripping a piece of paper apart. This can help stabilize the scapula and secure a neutral position for clients who are struggling with this concept

HIPS:
❌ Dropping below the level of your shoulders or piking up towards the ceiling
❌ Arching your lower back
❌ Tucking your hips under

✅ Neutral spine and pelvis.

HINT: with your hips up in line with your shoulders, you will have a slight bend at your hip flexors!! This is OK. You will still have a neutral spine AND you’ll be in a better position to maintain a neutral scapular position too! You will NOT have a straight line from your head to your toes. You will NOT be in a diagonal line.

KNEES:
❌ Bent knees

✅ Straight legs

HANDS/FEET:
❌ Wide stance with your feet

✅ Active inner thighs = active pelvic floor = more deep core co-contraction

Talking Points:

• Planks are a FULL BODY exercise.

• So often when we think about strengthening our CORE, we think “CRUNCHES” and lying on our back - THIS PLANK is so much more effective at not only strengthening your entire abdominal wall but also strengthening your upper back and all of the muscles that support your shoulders.

• In a plank you DO NOT want to feel any gripping or crunching sensation! This is about maintaining a neutral spine, NOT flexing or rounding our spine!

• Imagine your abs wrapping 360 degrees around your spine - not crunching or gripping. Your abs are working to support your spine and hips so they don’t move.

• You should NOT be squeezing your glutes or voluntarily contracting your glutes in a plank. Instead, think about engaging your inner thighs - zip your inner thighs together to activate your pelvic floor and engage your DEEP CORE STABILIZERS

• It’s common when we are first learning how to plank properly to “feel” your shoulders taking over. This is corrected by maintaining a neutral position of your shoulder blades. When you can hold your shoulder blades in their neutral position, you will be able to activate your lats and all of your upper back muscles to support your body weight. This will take significant weight out of your shoulders AND your wrists!