Practicing planks is a great way to develop core strength and build the muscles that support our bodies. But, you shouldn’t stop there. It’s rare that we hold ourselves still for much more than a few minutes at a time. Life is movement! Although the current record for holding a plank is over three hours – and that is one amazing feat of strength and will - holding the position for that long is sort of pointless for us.

When you can perform a plank correctly you are in excellent place to work on shoulder strength, core contraction and hip and torso stabilization.

I like to teach clients what I call a ‘perfect plank’. Instead of just throwing your body into a hover, start from the ground and contract the muscles from shoulder blades on down the body one by one. Shoulder blades pull down your spine, tummy muscles tuck in away from the floor, glute muscles fire, quad muscles tighten and all of a sudden you have a full-body contraction. Perfect!

If you can do this, there’s no need to hold the position for hours on end. Try for 20-second rounds and add reps from 2-10.

Now, let’s get real. In our daily lives, jobs and sports we are moving all the time (ideally) not acting like a whimpering statue.

The purpose of planks is to teach full-body stability, develop good core strength, and help prevent low back weakness and pain. Sounds good, right? Well, why is that? Because having those things means we can do more things. Play, race, work, move.  

So, how do you do it?  There is any number of ways to take your planks to the next level. 

The tip-over: With a partner just having you buddy trying to gently push you over is both hilarious and effective.

Reach for it: Try holding a side plank and slowly reach your top arm under you body, rotating the torso just slightly and returning to a strong side plank position.

Hip dips: In regular plank, without falling over, try to drop your hips from side to side. Start in a perfect plank and from there lower to one side and gentle tap your hip to the ground and return to a solid plank. Try the other side. Work to get as close to the ground as you can without lifting your elbow off the ground.

Lift your limbs: Starting in plank, focus on keeping hips parallel to the floor and without shifting your body weight too dramatically raise one foot off the floor. Lifting your arm off the floor is much harder. Try them both one at a time and when you master it try lifting the opposite arms and legs.

Walk it out: I love this one. Get into plank position at one end of a yoga mat. Start “walking’ sideways on your elbows (or hands) and toes until you get to the other side. Watch out for wiggling hips. See how many times you can go back and forth.

Planks are great. But they are just a start. You can improve core strength and stability better if you continue to progressively challenge yourself and vary your exercises. Besides moving while holding a plank is WAY less boring than staring at the floor for hours.