It’s a shocker this one, personally I find it truly horrendous, but there really is no exercise better for strengthening your core than a good old-fashioned plank. It not only builds endurance in your abs and back, but also strengthens your core stabilizer muscles as well as helping to tone your arms and bum.
Position:
Lie on your front.
Supporting your weight on your forearms and toes, lift yourself off the floor making sure to keep a straight line from your head to your heels (aka look like a plank…) your elbows should be directly beneath your shoulders.
Engage your abdominals (imagine someone is pushing your belly button into your back), this will prevent your bum going into the air, or your back from sagging.
Hold this position for as long as you can. Start with holding it for 30 seconds four times. Once this is easy for you, hold for 45 seconds, then build to a minute. Once you can hold it for 2 minutes then you need to start making things a bit more difficult for yourself again!
You can also try the side plank, (targeting the ‘love handle’ areas…)
To do this simply prop yourself up on your left forearm, keeping your hips and knees off the floor so that your body forms a diagonal line. Put your right arm on your hip (or wherever really!) Just make sure you are solid through the middle so you’re really working your abs.
A personal fave(!) of mine is to do a sort of plank-circuit, as follows:
Hold a right side-plank for 1 minute, then go straight on to your front and do a normal plank for a minute, then (you guessed it!) hold a left side-plank for a minute- No rest between planks!
Have a rest of 1 minute 30 seconds, then repeat, do this 4 times, so 12 mins in total. Voila!
Make it harder:
Lift one leg, but remember to keep your body straight and engage that core!
Lift one arm, same principle as above!
Use an exercise ball, by resting your arms on the ball you create an unstable platform, making your muscles work harder to keep you in position.
This is a very simple exercise which can easily be squeezed on to the end of any cardio workout, and forms a vital part of any abs or core work you embark upon!