Yesterday was my second day training with Bill at the BodyVox studio. In addition to work with kettlebells, an introduction to my metabolism, and monitoring my form, I learned an old-school technique to strengthen my core– the plank.
Okay, some of you are thinking, “This is not revolutionary.” And that’s exactly my point! I think some of the best techniques are the simplest.
I used to dance hula, and one of my earliest kumu would have us strengthen our muscles by staying perfectly still.
I was taught that the kahiko form of hula is performed from a low position. In one warmup, we would hold a squat for as long as possible, upright against a wall if necessary.
This is what I was thinking about when Bill “made me” get into the plank position for the first time.
For those of you who don’t know this fancy term, think of your starting position for a regular pushup.
Now, you’re not just parallel to the ground, balanced on your palms and the balls of your feet. First, ensure that the weight in your upper body flows through your arms and into the floor, with your shoulders directly above your wrists. As Bill says, “put your mind in your hips” and be sure that they are not pushing up at an angle, but rather, stay parallel to the ground.
Since my career involves working on the computer, I learned that my right wrist cannot handle being in this position. Initially, we tried it out with me turning my hands slightly outward– ouch! Turning my hands at an angle inward helped, but not enough. We decided to have me lean on my forearms instead.
Remember the press? Bill had Liz and I work with an 8kg kettlebell and do about 6 reps of these on each side, or as many as we could until we needed rest. Then we went into the plank form, for up to a minute.
I didn’t last a minute… but then again, Bill’s timing was a little off. Okay, even with that, I could only go for about 17 seconds in this position.
What made it so difficult? After a little while, my whole midsection started quivering. Not to mention, I ended up using my lower back to compensate for the lack of abdominal strength, which resulted in a dull pain there.
I honestly can’t remember how many sets we did, but it wasn’t bad to tackle something and not be successful. This just gives me a realistic goal!
At the end of my workout, I didn’t feel terribly worked out. Sure, I sweated, and it wasn’t easy, but I felt pretty energized!
All day today my abs have been aching– both upper and lower abs! So that’s how I know that I worked my abs– without moving at all!
Aloha (G’day)
Great to see another kettlebell fan. A way I coach my clients to improve their swing technique when they are still learning is I get them to stand in front of a bench that they might normally squat on to.
Then I get them to create a bigger than normal distance so they have to reach back with their hips to squat and still touch the bench.
A common mistake when people are doing the swing is to squat but it is a hip dominant exercise not a knee dominant one.
It is more like a dead lift than a squat but the hip follow through at the end is what makes it so unique incorporating the glutes and the quads together to form a solid leg/hip/ glute action.
I hope that made sense and I wish you all the best on your kettlebell journey
Cheers
Tim James
Hi Angela!
Planks are terrific for core work…it takes a while to build up your endurance to a minute or two, but stick with it and you’ll get there! Planks rock!
Glad I found your blog!
Fred
Thank you, Tim!
That made perfect sense. I’m going to try it!
Angela
Fred, I’m glad you found this blog, too!
I don’t LOVE planks- but there’s a lot of things I am learning to tolerate in the name of health and fitness!
Thank you for your virtual encouragement. I will definitely stick with it!
Angela
[...] y’all know that I have a love/hate relationship with the plank. I think it’s an awesome and simple exercise to work your core, without [...]