Side Plank
Trains the Abs, Obliques and Quadratus Lumborum.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Mechanic
- Not recorded
- Force
- Static
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Lie on your side with your forearm on the floor, elbow directly under your shoulder and forearm pointing forward.
- Stack your feet on top of each other, or stagger them for a wider base.
- Lift your hips off the floor so your body forms one straight line from head to feet.
- Rest your top arm along your side or reach it toward the ceiling.
- Hold the position, breathing normally, without letting the hips drop or roll forward.
- When the line starts to break, the set is over. Repeat on the other side and match the time.
Common mistakes
- Letting the hips sag toward the floor. That is the obliques and the quadratus lumborum giving out — the end of the set, whatever the clock says.
- Rolling the chest toward the floor. The shoulders should stay stacked; rolling forward turns it into a partial front plank.
- Elbow forward of the shoulder, which puts the load on the shoulder joint rather than the trunk.
- Doing one side and not the other, or holding longer on the stronger side. A side plank is one-sided by definition and the comparison between sides is part of what it tells you.