Planking. It is not just a fad where numerous people lay flat and still for a period of time doing little more than taking up a horizontal space equal to their height. However, when you look closely, they are actually doing something kind of amazing, even if they do not know it.
Muscle Groups
The primary muscle groups involved with planking are as follows: transversus abdominis muscle, gluteus medius and gluteus minimus muscles (abductors), the adductor muscles of the hip, and the external, and internal obliques. But not just these muscles are used, in addition, secondarily, the gluteus maximus (glutes), quadriceps (quads), and hamstrings are all used as well. Now, please take a moment and look at an anatomical model and tell me what else these muscles may be used. From a health standpoint these muscles promote better posture, better distal tendon strength due to increased short fiber strength within the muscles, and increased flexibility due to increased strength of the core. From a vanity standpoint, the muscles used are the same ones that we are all trying to improve simply to look better. The basic plank will increase strength in the belly, buttocks, thighs and chest. Raise your hand if you do not want to have these muscles be stronger so that you look better.
The idea of improving your core is also important due to the role that the core plays in balance, posture and recombinant muscle allocation (meaning, the way muscles interact) and can reduce overall pain. For instance, it is common knowledge that poor posture in an office chair will lead to back pain over time, not because the back muscles are weak, but because the abdominal muscles are weak and not in proper location. Any chiropractor can tell you how important alignment is. If you sit in a chair all day and have some back pain there are two things to do to relieve it. First, get up and walk around so that you back does not hurt right now. Second, when you are done walking around, do some sit-ups, crunches and leg lifts to strengthen your core abdominal muscles. Better yet, find a 30-day planking challenge on the internet and follow it.
Why does planking hurt?
The primary reason that planking hurts most people is due to a lack of core strength. This is not to say that you should go out and do 6 months of Pilates before planking, but it does help. Seriously though, planking is one of those fun exercises that can be done at any level of fitness and for any duration. In addition, a personal best planking time for a lot of people between the ages of 24-39 is about 22 seconds, which is pretty good. That means that in under a minute, you can achieve a new personal best at something whenever you want.
Planking hurts because the muscles used to plank are not used for many other things, when looking at it directly. The muscles used are not used for walking or moving in general. The closest exercise that most people are familiar with is, in fact, a push-up. In fact, most people can do push-ups with more ease than they can plank for 20 seconds. The reason is because the muscles used for a push-up are completely different from those used for planking. When you extend upwards in a push up, you are actually providing a great deal of relief to your core. When you stop at extension to rest, you are actually planking. It turns out that the slow push-up is an excellent exercise to promote core and to promote arm strength. But it will hurt.
The Basic Takeaway
Planking is quite a great and convenient way to get some exercise in. The results are not noticeable in the vanity sense because you will not see the results of this exercise in a mirror for a while. But, one of the finer points of any exercise is the feeling of accomplishment that goes along with whatever you are completing. However, planking provides more than the rush of good mood that comes with any exercise in that it provides relief to the muscles that become tired and achy when you sit for a long period of time. So next time you begin to feel like maybe you were sitting too long, please take a second and plank. No one will think this is weird.
References: http://www.plankexerciseapp.com/guide/plank-exercise-benefits
http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2014/12/05/5-plank-benefits.aspx
http://news.health.com/2014/02/28/4-things-you-need-to-know-about-planks/
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