Plank is simple and very effective exercise for strengthening the abdominal wall. It belongs to the group of isometric strength exercises, a static exercises in which the muscles are constantly contracted. This exercise is known as the best for abs, but it is also good for a central part of the body, ie. muscles that connect the upper and lower body. The muscles of the upper arm and shoulder are also active, because you hold the full weight of your body on the hands and toes. If you try hard and squeeze the buttock muscles, you will use the full potential of this magical exercise. No equipment is required, because you work with the weight of your body and you only need space to stretch out. The classic plank, as well as its variations, take away quite a little bit of time, so you can use this exercise before / after training or individually whenever you have a few minutes free.

Standard plank

– The hands are placed directly below the shoulders (distant little more than shoulder width), as you are preparing to do pushups.

– Legs rely only on the fingers and buttocks is tightened to stabilize the body. Original name of this exercise indicates that your body should look – strong and straight. The legs can be stretched or closed.

– The neck and spine should be in a neutral position, which means that your head should be in line with your back, and you’re looking at the floor, more precisely, about 30 cm in front of the hands.

This is a basic stand in which you should try to stay as long as you can. For starters, let this period lasts 20 seconds. This time should be increased for a 5-10 seconds in a few days, or when you feel that you are strengthened and you can maintain proper form longer than in previous days. It is extremely important to breathe evenly and correctly, as this will help you endure longer.

Plank on forearms

This type of plank, which is (beside the standard plank) the most common choice, apply the same rules as with standard plank. The main difference is that now you have to rely on the forearms, while the elbows are right under the shoulders and the forearms are parallel and distant from each other for a shoulder-width. If you find that this position of the hands feels unpleasantly, you can put hands together. The legs are closed.

Side plank

This variation mostly engage lateral muscles of the body, and the side that is closer to the surface. Lie on side, put your leg on the other leg and then rely on the elbow (elbow should then be directly under your shoulders) or hand (hand straight), while the legs remain in the same position and relies on feet closer to floor. If this position is too hard for you at the beginning, switch upper leg just a bit in front of the bottom leg. The free hand is on the waist or up in the air. Work on both sides equally long. One of the more difficult modification of this exercise is uplifting the hips while you are in plank. The body is tight, legs straight, head looks forward and pause between side changes should be minimal, it is preferable to do a faster switch. Watch the video with several heavy and light variations of the side plank.

Now when you understand the basics of plank, let’s see what are the pitfalls to avoid. It is important to remember that everyone has to start somewhere and do not despair if your plank time is short at the beginning. It is important that the form is correct, and this will surely help you in strengthening of the muscles and you will notice progress. Be consistent and you will see how this exercise ‘works’. Note the following:

Do not let your hips ‘fail’.

– Buttocks should be in level with the whole body – not too high, not too low. Do not relax the stomach and don’t let it touch the floor with your hips. plank 3

The head shouldn’t fall or go too low.

– If you feel that you cannot stay in the neutral position and that the lower back takes all the weight, stop the exercise, remember how much time you have manage to workout and the next time start right up to that moment were you can maintain the perfect position.

Make sure to breathe correctly!

– The natural impulse is that when we do something physically demanding, we are holding our breath and breathing is uneven. If you limit your body of oxygen in these situations, it can lead to dizziness and fainting. In the worst case you will certainly perform exercises inefficient and it will be very difficult. So keep calm, breathe properly and you will be able to endure more and engage your muscles in the right way.

As stated above, this exercise requires very little time so take advantage of this benefit. Do all three variations in a row, and eventually increase the time or do harder forms of this great exercise. The results come in a very short period of time and you’ll start to feel that you’ve strengthen all abdominal muscles, the muscles of the waist and lower back. If you also take care of nutrition, or more precisely, reduce the maximum foods that increase body fat in the abdominal area, the results will amaze you.

Source: http://healthyfitnatural.com/

The fitness industry is full of more lies, myths, and total B.S. than nearly any industry on the planet. Some of these myths are slowly going away, thanks to bastions of reason like Breaking Muscle. But, in most magazines, on the daily talk shows, and even on a lot of the most popular fitness TV shows the information you are hearing is wrong.

I'm not going to go so far as to say people are lying to you. It's just often times the received wisdom, the stuff we've been taught and have picked up along the way, was wrong to begin with. And, since we never thought to question it and no one ever told us different, this misinformation has become part of the collective.

I feel it's my duty to help you sort these out. So, let’s get started:

1. Weight training will make women bulky.

True, if the woman is on steroids. Female bodybuilders almost singlehandedly ruined the act of lifting heavy weights for most women in this country by providing a false example.

The average man produces ten times the amount of testosterone as the average woman. To be truly bulky and "manly" you needa lot of testosterone. Without it, you can't be bulky. So, unless you plan to inject yourself with steroids, you have very little to worry about.

If you're concerned about your arms being too big, lose more fat. Don't be afraid of gaining more muscle.

2. Squats are bad for your knees.

I don't know when this myth will die, but not only is it false that squats are bad for your knees, full squats are actually good for your knees. Unfortunately, no matter how much writing and promoting coaches like me do, the general media - and far too many personal trainers - still spout off this nonsense as fact.

Squat deep on every repetition. By deep I mean the top of your thighs should be at least parallel with the ground - preferably lower, if you have any human dignity. Do this, stay on your heels as much as you can while you're at it, and your knees will stay healthy long into old age.

3. Running will make you fit.

To paraphrase Charles Poliquin, "Humans are meant to either sprint or walk long distances." I might get shot for saying this, but unless you happen to be built like a runner - light weight, slight bone structure - then running (by that I mean "jogging" as exercise, not sprinting) will likely cause you more harm than good. That is even truer if you're a woman with wide hips (most women) where the angle of the thigh comes in from the hip bone to the knee bone.

Running is a sport. It is not a general fitness activity. Every foot strike is a plyometric exercise and if you aren't properly prepared - via a good fitness program that includes strength training - you WILL suffer an injury. It's just a matter of time. Great runners learn how to be great runners and they do what is necessary to mitigate the downsides. In the words of Diane Lee, "You don't run to get fit, you need to be fit to run."

4. If you want to lose fat, workout more.

This one is only kind of true. Working out more certainly increases the amount of calories you burned that day. It can give you spikes in metabolism that can last up to 72 hours. And if you do it right, you'll build muscle that itself will raise your metabolism just by existing.But, all of those things miss the point.

Fat loss is all about calories in, calories out. I have plenty of male weightlifters who gain upwards of twenty pounds after they've been lifting at our club for a little while. After joining us, their workouts increased, and the intensity of those workouts increased. How did they gain weight? Because they also increased how much they ate! It's great to workout more. But if your goal is to lose fat, you must control your calories.

5. Cardio is more important for fat loss than weight lifting.

This myth is a derivative of the one above. Cardio is great for health reasons and you will burn calories while doing it. However your biggest concern when you are trying to lose weight is muscle loss. If you lose fat and lose muscle along with it, you have made your future ability to keep the weight off harder.

Less Muscle = Lower Metabolism.

Fat loss programs should be first about controlling the ratio of calories in/calories out, and second about doing everything in your power to prevent losing muscle. In my book, that means a good diet combined with a good weight training routine. If you have time for cardio, be my guest, but that comes third!

6. What you eat is as important as how much you eat when trying to lose weight.

Your overall health has a lot to do with the quality of the foods that you ingest. But, your overall level of fat does not. As I mentioned above, fat loss is about how many calories are going into and out of your body each day.

There is no getting around the basics of Thermodynamics. If you want to lose fat, you must eat fewer calories than you burn. Period. There is no other way unless the laws of physics don't apply to you for some reason, in which case, you can eat whatever you want!

If the calories you eat are also healthy, then you may increase your progress some. You'll certainly increase your health and sense of well-being. But, you can easily get fat eating too much healthy food.

Don't believe me? Just ask a sumo Wwrestler. They eat very healthy food every day, avoid junk food like the plague, and yet are the poster children of obesity. Calories in, calories out. Period.

7. If you don't feel like crap after a workout, you didn't work hard enough.

This is one for my CrossFit friends. Workouts are workouts. Competitions are competitions. They are not the same. Workouts exist to prepare you to be good in a competition.

Sadly, too many trainees, especially those in the early stages of the beginners phase (not just CrossFit, but everything), think that killing yourself is the goal. They treat every workout like a major national competition where their reputation and thousands of dollars are at stake.

"If I don't work my hardest," they say, "then how will I ever make the progress I want?"

It seems reasonable on the surface - until they injure themselves. If you injure yourself today, what do you think tomorrow’s workout will look like? Working hard is important, but working smart is way more important.

And there you have it. Seven fitness myths I encounter all the time. You no longer have any excuses.

Source: breakingmuscle.com