Planking will help you build a stronger core and set a foundation for greater physical strength and athleticism. Here's how to do it right.
By Kelan Ern Updated: 02/08/25
When I was in middle school, I thought I had a strong core.
I could crank out hundreds of sit-ups with ease and do them all day long.
But then I did my first plank.
After a few seconds, my body shook like a frightened Chihuahua. My hips sagged, and I fought like crazy to hold my body up. It was a humbling experience that motivated me to fortify this weakness.
But it wasn't until years later that I learned just how beneficial this simple exercise is for next level fitness and "bullet-proofing" the body.
So if you're a beginner to working out - this is an essential exercise to start with. And if you've been hitting the gym for awhile - planks can be a powerful tool to build a stronger midsection and an injury-resistant lower back.
In fact, I knew a serious powerlifter who regretted not taking them more seriously. It took blowing out a disc in his lower back to finally put them in his routine.
Beginners Guide to Planks
The plank is one of the best ways to build core strength and stability. It is foundational to lifting heavier weights and more advanced core training. Plank is perfect for beginners because it requires just your bodyweight and can be done anywhere.
No gym. No weights. No fancy equipment needed.
All you do is hold yourself in a static position - similar to the top of a push-up.
(Which we'll get to in a moment)
But first here are two BIG reasons to do them:
#1: Strengthens the Core
When most people think of the core, they think six-pack abs. But this is just one of 29 core muscles!
When you do planks you are building core muscles that run down your back … along the outside of your midsection … and others that attach directly to the spine.
When you train all of these core muscles together, it helps stabilize and protect the spine. In fact, many low back issues arise when these core muscles are unable to stabilize the spine.
#2: Stabilize the Spine
Think about throwing a punch… kicking a soccer ball… picking up a box (with correct form) or hitting a golf ball. Each one of these motions involves the arms or legs moving while your midsection stays stable.
In essence, how well your core transfers force.
That’s how our core is supposed to function in everyday activities as well. It holds us up while we are walking in the neighborhood.... helps us maintain proper posture while sitting at our desk.... or lifting a laundry basket off the ground. Planks are simply one way to train the core for what is designed to do:
Stabilize the spine.
But how to do a plank correctly is a different story...
Plank for Beginners: How to Do It Correctly
Correct Form: Lay on your stomach with your elbows directly underneath you. Then raise your hips and straighten your legs so your body is in a straight line. Hold this position.
Mistake #1: Head up Don't tilt your head up during the plank. This will tighten muscles in the neck and upper back. Maintain a neutral head position.
Mistake #2: Head down On the flip side, don’t let your head sag either. This is not a healthy neck position and it reinforces the forward head posture which most people struggle with.
Mistake #3: Hips too high Some people tend to raise their hips too high. This will decrease the effectiveness of the exercise.
How to Check Your Form on The Plank:
Below is a fantastic video by Mike Robertson, one of the top strength coaches, sharing how to check your form along with a few other invaluable tips.
What If Planks Hurt My Back?
During planks your lower back should not be hurting or getting tight.
The motto “no pain, no gain” doesn’t apply here.
Pushing through this discomfort will not help. And the lower back tightening is not because the lower back is weak. Your core muscles (like the abdominals) should be doing the work during planks.
If they are not, here are a couple reasons why:
Reason #1: Anterior Pelvic Tilt
This is where the pelvis is tips forward which creates a greater arch at the lower back. This is especially common in women but men have this happen as well. When the pelvis is tilted forward it compresses the spinal vertebrae, tightens the lower back muscles and tends to cause...
Reason #2: Inhibited Core Muscles
When anterior pelvic tilt happens, core muscles (such as the external obliques) are lengthened and can weaken. When this happens, another muscle has to help you stabilize when you’re holding a plank. And since the lower back is already in a position where it's contracted, it tries to help.
But once again the lower back should not help. Usually as your core gets stronger the lower back gets less involved during the plank.
So how do you relieve the lower back?
Two Ways to Relieve The Lower Back During Planks
Lift Your Hips: Simply raise the hips so they are in-line with your torso. Sometimes people have a habit of letting their hips sag. They get too low which puts greater demands on the lower back (and the vertebrae themselves). Sometimes just raising the hips does the trick. Or you may need to combine it with the next tip.
Contract Your Glutes: Squeeze the glutes (butt muscles). Before we talked about how when your pelvis is in anterior tilt, your lower back tightens. When you contract the glutes it causes your pelvis to go into posterior tilt. This puts your spine in a better position and it will actually fire up the external obliques (and make the plank a heck of a lot harder). And often this will relieve the lower back as well.
When You Should Seek Assistance: If no matter what you try your lower back still hurts, then enlist the help of a physical therapist, movement specialist or chiropractor. They will be able to give you more answers as to what's going on.
If you notice that by making the adjustments above that you’re able to hold a plank for a little bit longer - that’s progress! Keep at it!
The lower back tends to compensate when the core isn’t doing its job. So as it gets stronger you may notice less and less lower back discomfort.
Be patient with it and stay focused on small improvements.
How to Make Planks Easier
For some people it can be difficult to hold a plank for very long. If that’s the case here are a few options for you to start with.
1. High Plank: Instead of a standard plank position on your forearms, go on your hands like the top of a push-up. This is called a high plank and is typically easier because your arms are holding up less of your bodyweight.
2. Stairs: If the push-up position is still too challenging then you can put your hands on the stairs. You can start at a higher step and then as you build up your strength you can go to the step below… and keep going down until you can do them on the ground. This is my sure-fire way of helping my clients build the core strength needed to eventually plank on the ground.
How Long Should You Hold Planks For?
Here are two of my favorite ways to train the plank:
Climb to 60:
Simply hold a plank for as long as you can. Then next workout try to beat your previous record. For instance, if the first time you hold it for 20 seconds then next time aim for 25 seconds. Keep bumping it up until you can hold it for the full minute.
10-Second Burst:
Hold a plank for 10 seconds, rest for a moment, and then hold another 10-second plank. Do this six times. The advantage to these short bursts is it keeps your form high-quality and the right muscles working.
10 seconds might not sound very impressive but according to Stuart McGill, one of the leading lower back specialists on the planet, most people can get by with this.
Basically holding repeated holds of 10 seconds is best for the average person. - Stuart McGill
Over the years, many spine specialists have suggested holding a plank for 60-90s. I recommend holding a 60s plank minimum before moving onto more advanced core exercises or plank variations. Those are a few ways to work up to 60s.
Final Core-Inspiring Story
There are a lot of traditional ab exercises and advanced core exercises floating around out on the internet. But sometimes we need to return to the fundamentals to build functional core strength.
Even if you have little to no experience with this exercise, don’t let it stop you.
You never know what you might accomplish.
Here’s one last incredible example:
On March 21st 2024, 58-year-old Donna Jean Wilde broke the women’s world record by holding a marathon plank for 4 hour 30 minutes and 11 seconds! She did it in a packed gymnasium with a Guinness world record crew and kids holding signs and planking alongside her.
While Wilde had been an active runner for years, she didn’t get serious about planking until she broke her wrist.
Suddenly she could no longer do the same workouts and activities while wearing a cast. But she discovered she could hold a plank comfortably. So she gave herself little challenges. According to her:
“That was one thing I could do for the next six or eight weeks with a cast on. I realized I could read and do things when I was planking and I fell in love with it.”
From there she built up her core endurance until she could hold it for over an hour. Then multiple hours where she could watch an entire movie while doing it.
While you might not have any earthly desire to go that far.
Don’t underestimate how much progress you can make.
Kelan Ern Fitness Coach
P.S. Planks are powerful exercise for getting started but there are dozens of other tools and strategies to help you go further, faster on your fitness journey. Each week I share these fitness tips with my 'mind-body community' and do a monthly deep-dive on the fittest people on the planet inside the Mind-Body Breakthroughs newsletter.
