The phenomenon of planking involves lying face down in a public place - the stranger the better - and posting photos on social networking sites such as Facebook. Aficionados lie expressionless with a straight body, hands by their sides and toes pointing into the ground.
Two groups claim to have invented the prank - either in Somerset in as the "lying down game" or eight years later in South Australia as planking. Both groups have rival Facebook sites boasting more than , fans.
Planking has grown in popularity, particularly in Australia where there has been huge media coverage. An Australian rugby league player David "Wolfman" Williams celebrates scoring by planking, while one of the nation's leading chatshow hosts Kerri-Anne Kennerley opened a show last week by planking on the TV sofa. In the same week police served a trespass notice on a man caught planking on a squad car.
Now, following the first planking death, Queensland police have warned pranksters that they may be charged with "unauthorised high-risk activity" and Prime Minister Julia Gillard has advised people to be careful. Despite its Australian popularity, the earliest practitioners were Gary Clarkson and Christian Langdon in , who started lying down in public places in Taunton in order to be photographed.
They called it the lying down game. Then in , their friend Daniel Hoppin took the phenomenon online. When most people think of the core, they think of the muscles that contribute to the six-pack abs they do dearly desire. However, as the name implies, the core is the structure that makes up the middle of your body, including your sides, your back, and yes, those enviable washboard abs.
The core is one of the many muscle groups that plays a role in training and getting stronger. The muscles of the core include:. While these are the major muscles within the core, many other muscles play a role in core strengthening and stabilization. Everything from the pecs and lats to the diaphragm to the hamstrings tie into core functionality. In the human body, everything is connected and works together! Forget the endless crunches when trying to strengthen your core!
There are many planking benefits that play a role during training. A plank workout can be a great way to get a quick round of exercise when on a tight schedule, while adding the plank pose at the end of an exercise routine can be a killer finisher after torching calories.
However, the benefits of plank exercises extend beyond the studio and impact activities contenders do in their home life as well. One of the main planking benefits is the reduction of low-back pain in those who incorporate the plank pose into their workouts. Taking time to work those transversus abdominis and the posterior muscle groups can make them stronger and more resistant to wear and tear over time.
Most people struggle with maintaining proper posture, especially in a technology-driven world that has everyone bent over looking at their phones or computers. Planks work to improve the core muscles, strengthening them and providing stability that contributes to good posture which contributes to reducing the low-back pain mentioned above.
Even when prioritizing fitness goals, most people spend a lot of time sitting. Many jobs promote a sedentary lifestyle that wreaks havoc on the pelvic floor, knees, neck, and back. All of the issues listed here tie into a weak core, sore back, and future health problems. Many people claim they can plank forever without feeling any strain in their abs. In this situation, their body is most likely trying to take a shortcut to working out the abdominals.
When you perform the plank, you usually just hold yourself up in any way possible, using any combination of muscle and bone to support your weight. Planks are a great way to maintain strength in the core. Conclusion: Planks are a very versatile exercise that target a lot of the most important muscle groups in the body. Planks are able to improve your posture , which is incredibly important for a number of things.
Since planks work your core, that means they work basically the whole body, from your pelvic girdle to your shoulder girdle as well as your legs. The plank strengthens your spine, your rhomboids and trapezius, and your abdominal muscles, which naturally result in a strong posture as they grow in strength. Developing your posture can improve on a number of ailments, and prevent the onset of other ones. Having strong core muscles naturally improves your posture, since these muscles are what help your body hold its own weight and carry itself with proper balance.
Planks target almost all the areas that are responsible for good posture, effectively improving it. The improved posture alone helps to align the vertebrae , which takes off unnecessary stress in the spinal region. This also helps to arrange the ligaments in the back properly, which further prevents painful back conditions. Planks help you build up the muscles in your abdomen, which allows further support of your posture.
Strong abdominals take a lot of this stress off your back this is part of the reason that waist-straps are so helpful when carrying heavy backpacks!
Having strong abs and sitting or standing up straight prevents several unpleasant things from happening. Planks strengthen a lot of muscle groups, as well as the skeletal system, in ways that allow your body to better compose itself. The body uses its core muscles to help maintain balance. Many people think that their extremities are responsible for their balance, and they are, in part — but the majority of your stabilization comes from your core.
Having a strong core helps you avoid injuries that could be caused to single muscle groups that might be over exerted by trying to maintain balance during aggressive exercise. For example, snowboarding relies heavily on the calves for balance, and having a strong core can reduce some of this strain. Strengthening your core also teaches you how your body and muscles work together, and can help improve your ability to work as a single unit instead of trying to control a bunch of different muscle groups simultaneously.
Performing endurance feats like planking also carry with them a very trying mental aspect. Many people say that half of a workout is in your mind, and the plank is great proof of this — many people can hold a plank for much longer than they believe that they can, but they give up too soon. Doing regular plank training, and continuing to motivate yourself to hold a full plank, can have incredible benefits for your focus and concentration.
They work a set of core muscles that are responsible for the way your body carries itself — meaning that doing planking enhances your ability to support your own weight.
Doing so improves your ability to move,a nd you will find yourself more nimble, agile, and coordinated if you do planking on the regular.
Unlike some exercises that simply improve the strength of your muscles, planks offer a versatile range of benefits — not the least of which is improving your flexibility. Planks make your posterior muscle groups — not just your glutes, but all of the muscle groups in the back of your body -much more flexible. These include the muscles around your shoulders and your collarbone area, and your shoulder blades themselves. These muscle areas will grow and stretch with continued planking, which is great because these areas are often neglected during many traditional exercise routines.
The plank is an important pose in many yoga routines. Yoga is a great form of exercise for people hoping to build core strength and improve flexibility, the the plank being considered a core element of many yoga training routines indicates just how beneficial it can be not just for your core, but for your flexibility as well. Side planks, a variation we will discuss later, allow you to stretch out your sides, improving flexibility from the hip area.
Different variations of the plank can enhance the flexibility of different areas in more effective manners, and combining the plank with other exercise like yoga, its benefits become more pronounced. Planking burns more calories , when done every day, than other core exercises like situps.
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