Exercise Three is the Plank

Exercise Three is the Plank

With so many exercises to choose from, it was difficult to limit this list to just five.  I tried to include categories of exercises, exercises that have a lot of options for making them harder or easier depending on fitness level and training age.  It doesn’t matter how old you are though.  These exercise categories apply to your program because of how transferable they are to life outside the gym.

I hope you find value in this list.  An exercise or two might just make it into your program.  The exercises I talk about in this series aren’t in any particular order.  There is space for all of them in your programming and they can pretty much fit anywhere.  

It is important to properly mobilize the body and activate the muscles you’re going to use prior to your workout to help prevent injury and get the most out of your time in the gym.  All of the exercises can be incorporated into your warm-up.  It just depends on how you treat the setup and execution.  Error on the side of simple early in your workout program and progress complexity as you go.  But, complete complex movements in individual workouts as soon as possible after the warm-up.  Most goals would have you challenge the nervous system while it’s fresh.

Planks again connect us to our world and offer the opportunity for many different variations depending on your fitness level and training age.
Planks turn into push ups which brings us to pushing, a main movement pattern we see utilized in gyms all over the world.  Bench press is probably the most common chest exercise and lots of people like to work their chest muscles.  
A well cued and executed plank may look very simple and it is.  When done correctly it’s not easy and sets up the muscles for loaded pushing exercises beautifully.  When we take out the push, we can address the positioning more carefully and safely. 
Planks help to strengthen the core muscles.  As we talked about in Hinge/Deadlift, posture is an important component of optimal health.  Well executed planks engage and strengthen the front core muscles, help stretch the back core muscles, engage the glutes and due to reciprocal inhibition, actively stretch the hip flexors.  This combination helps neutralize the pelvis allowing for optimal movement to occur, in the gym and in life outside the gym.
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