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Post Info TOPIC: The "Plank" Exercise
Mike Tuchscherer


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The "Plank" Exercise
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http://www.elitefts.com/documents/plank_exercises.htm

I have some problems with this article that I want to mention here.  If anybody has counter-points, as always, please speak up.  Now, I know Dr Yessis is an expert, but even experts make mistakes.

I know some guys here do Planks as part of their ab routines with some success.  All the reasons Dr Yessis mentions as to why we shouldn't do planks aren't really reasons at all.  They're just facts.
1) The plank only develops isometric strength
Duh.  That's why people do them!  He says, "It is not effective for enhancing any movements that use the core muscles, especially dynamic movements with the axis of rotation in the waist or hips. Thus, any value gained from doing the plank exercise is specific only to holding the position seen during the exercise."  Look, most movements (life-movements included... walking, running, jumping, etc) involve the abdominals in an isometric capacity.  The Rectus Abdominus is responsible for spinal flexion.  How many sports movements do you know involve actively flexing the spine?  Not very many when compared to those movements that involve stabilization of the spine. 
Rotation?  Okay.  Many sports involve rotation, but since when did every movement you do HAVE to be sport-specific?  To say, "Don't do Planks because they don't involve spinal rotation." is akin to saying, "Don't do external rotation work because bench press only involves internal rotation."  It's a muscular balancing thing.  It's a GPP thing.  And in the case of a powerlifter, it can even have some specific carry over.

2) People don't have the strength to hold the position
Here, I can somewhat agree with him.  If you can't hold a plank for 5 seconds, then there is something else that needs to be done.  But the fact that some people are too weak to do it doesn't negate it's value.  It just means some discretion must be used by the trainer.  Just like if you were training someone who wasn't strong enough to perform a squat properly, you'd start with something else.  Another Duh.

3)  "Third, the plank exercise involves mainly the abdominal muscles when holding the push-up up position. It does not affect the lower back muscles and only partially the hip flexors. The side plank position, however, does involve all of the core muscles but not equally."

Then he goes on to name a bunch of exercises, none of which do what he says is required to be a "good" core movement (equally work all the muscles of the core).  I don't know anybody who thinks the plank is the cure-all to core strength problems, but he seems to be invalidating it's usefulness as a tool.  If you understand the exercise and employ it properly, there's nothing wrong with it.  He makes a weak case at best.

Thoughts?

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Craig Hirota


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he's definitely not the first 'expert' to claim the plank is vastly over-rated.  I would tend to agree since there are very limited ways to progressively overload the movement and any stress from even a 50% squat or dead will exceed the stresses from a bodyweight plank. 

This quote is from Charles Poliquin's column at T-Nation.  The question was basically, "is the plank a good exercise"?

A: It's a good exercise if you're an eleven-year-old stamp collector and you don't have a good work station. People in the know recommend this position if you're having sex, and only then if you can exceed the one-repetition mark. It's actually one of the core exercises on www.bitethepillow.com.

Seriously, the plank is something that you do in first grade phys ed. Maybe the side plank is okay for someone who's clinically obese and can't even get out of bed, but I never put it in my programs. It certainly doesn't have value for the elite training population.

The plank is just too basic. It's like power snatching with a broomstick. How long would you have to do that before it made you strong?

For "core work" I recommend what I always recommend: squats, deadlifts, and the Olympic lifts.



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Mike Tuchscherer


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Charles Poliquin... there's another can of worms right there. You know, he might be smart, but he also makes far too many blanket statements for me to consider his writing very reliable. On top of that, he's arrogant to the point of offensiveness.

But anyway...

Poliquin also says you don't need direct ab work because there is greater ab activation in the squat and deadlift. While the part about activation may be true, disregarding direct ab work can leave you predisposed to structural imbalance issues such as anterior pelvic tilt, which is what has happened to me. What have I done to correct it? Direct ab work.

I'm not saying the plank is an awesome core exercise and everybody should do it. I recognize the loading issues as you advance. But I also see that there are some valuable features of the exercise for some populations.

This is just like the people who claim athletes shouldn't bench press - another blanket statement. Maybe you should 1) understand the strengths and weaknesses of the exercise 2) pair it with the strengths, weaknesses, and needs of the athlete and 3) make a determination on whether or not it's your best choice given the available means. For some people, it has worked just fine despite what the "experts" think.

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Craig Hirota


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I think it would go without saying that there are exceptional situations that require a strategy that might go against the consensus--even your remedy for your anterior pelvic tilt goes against the popular prescription of stretches for the psoas and re-training/strengthening of the hamstrings. But I think it also bears reminding that any "article" posted on the internet is designed to address a generic population. I think it would be unwieldy for every author to disclaim every article with something to the effect of, "this is not meant for 100% of the people out there, there may be some of you out there where this article does not apply." I think, for most people with competitive aspirations, whether at class 1 or lower or at elite levels, planking is a good part of a dynamic warm-up but past its utility for active strengthening of the core.

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Mike Tuchscherer


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My problem with the article is that it's written in a blanket statement format. That, and I feel that I pointed out some flaws in the general reasoning. However, if it hadn't been written in blanket statments, I would've had nothing to say. Here's what I mean:

"In reality, however, the plank position is a very poor exercise for strengthening the core for several reasons"

versus

"In reality, the plank position is a poor choice for many athletes due to the following reasons."

If he left room for exceptions in the article, I would've had no point of contention for it. Since he thinks (or seems to think) it is a near-universal reccomendation, I have more to disagree with.

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Nick U


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I regularly work the plank exercise in almost every workout, and I agree that the straight plank exercise is like snatching with a broom stick, but then again we put weight on the broom stick, why can't we put weight on the plank? I have seen a vast improvement in my squat and GM form from doing this type of work. I have a partner place 2 45lbs plates on my lower back and hold the position for a minute. Like Mike said holding the abs tight resisting heavy weight is exactly what we need. Ok lets say for a moment that it does nothing to strengthen the core but does enable you to hold your abs flexed for a longer period of time. Is that not an extremely desirable outcome? How many lifters have you seen give up on grinding a lift because they can no longer hold their arch, abs are huge part of the that. I will concede at this point, that like most exercises planks don't work in a vaccuum, you have to add other exercies and I do alot of weighted situps.

Granted I am only a class 1 athlete, however I urge you to give this exercies a real run for its money before throwing in away.

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