How to do the plank
A no-equipment core hold that teaches you to keep your trunk still under load. A good first core exercise, and easy to make harder once a minute feels easy.
The Helthy team · Updated · 6 min read
- Works
- Abs, Obliques
- Also works
- Glutes, Shoulders
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Level
- Beginner
The plank trains the job your core does most of the time: stopping your spine from moving while something tries to bend it. That's what your trunk does during a squat, a deadlift or carrying heavy shopping, so learning to hold a solid plank carries over. It needs no equipment and very little skill, which makes it a good first core exercise. The mistake most people make is treating it as an endurance contest. A hard 30-second plank does more than a sloppy 3-minute one.
How to do a plank
- Set your forearms on the floor with your elbows under your shoulders. Keep your forearms parallel, or clasp your hands if that's more comfortable.
- Step your feet back and come up onto your toes. Feet about hip width apart, legs straight. A wider stance is easier to balance; feet together is harder.
- Line your body up from head to heels. If someone laid a broomstick along your back, it would touch the back of your head, your upper back and your backside. Look at the floor just in front of your hands so your neck stays in line.
- Squeeze your glutes and brace your stomach. Pull your belly button gently toward your spine, then tighten your abs as if you're about to be poked in the stomach. Your lower back should feel flat or neutral, not arched.
- Push the floor away with your forearms. Your upper back should be slightly rounded rather than sagging between your shoulder blades.
- Hold while breathing steadily. Stop when you can't keep the straight line any more, not when you can't physically stay up. The moment your hips drop or rise, the set is over.
You should feel it mostly in your abs, with some work in your shoulders, glutes and the fronts of your thighs. Feeling it in your lower back means your hips are sagging.
Cues that help
"Ribs down to your hips." Think about shortening the gap between your lower ribs and your pelvis. It stops your back from arching, which is the most common way a plank goes wrong.
"Tuck your tailbone." Tilt your pelvis slightly as if you're tucking a tail between your legs. If you feel your abs switch on hard, you've got it. If that doesn't click, try "zip up your jeans".
"Pull your elbows toward your toes." Your elbows won't move, but trying to drag them backward along the floor tightens your whole front and makes the plank noticeably harder.
"Squeeze a coin between your glutes." Tight glutes lock your pelvis in place and take pressure off your lower back.
Common mistakes
Hips sagging toward the floor. Your lower back arches and your belly dips, like a hammock slung between your shoulders and feet. It usually happens as your abs tire, and it moves the load from your core onto your lower back. Squeeze your glutes, tuck your pelvis and end the set if you can't get back into line.
Piking your hips up. Your backside points at the ceiling and your body forms an upside-down V. It feels easier because it is: less of your weight is held by your core. Lower your hips until your body is one straight line again. A mirror or a phone video helps, because a pike often feels flat from the inside.
Holding your breath. Faces turn red and the plank ends in a gasp. Holding your breath gives your trunk extra stiffness for a few seconds, but you can't sustain it, and the point of the plank is to stay braced while you breathe. See below.
Dropping your head. Letting your head hang or craning it up to look forward strains your neck. Keep your eyes on the floor just ahead of your hands.
Holding far too long. Once you can hold a good plank for about a minute, adding more time mostly trains your patience. Make the plank harder instead.
Breathing and bracing
This is the one exercise where breathing is the skill. Brace your abs firmly but not as hard as you possibly can (roughly 70% effort), then take short breaths in and out without letting the brace go. Breathe into your sides and lower back rather than into your chest, and let the air out slowly through your mouth. If you can't talk in short sentences during a plank, you're probably holding your breath.
That's the same bracing you'll use when you're walking with heavy bags, carrying a child or lifting between sets, which is part of what makes the plank worth doing.
Hold times and progressions
Start with 3 holds of 20 to 30 seconds, with 30 to 60 seconds of rest between them. Planks fit at the end of a session, or as part of a warm-up with a couple of short holds. Two or three times a week is plenty.
Add 5 to 10 seconds per hold each week until you can do 3 good holds of 45 to 60 seconds. After that, stop adding time and move to a harder version. We think long holds past a minute aren't a good use of training time for most people, because they turn into a test of how long you can tolerate discomfort rather than how well you can brace.
| Level | Version | Target |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Incline plank (forearms on a bench) | 3 × 30 seconds |
| 2 | Plank from your knees | 3 × 30 seconds |
| 3 | Standard forearm plank | 3 × 45–60 seconds |
| 4 | Hard-squeeze plank (glutes, quads and fists all tight) | 3–5 × 10–20 seconds |
| 5 | Long-lever plank (elbows a few inches in front of your shoulders) | 3 × 20–30 seconds |
| 6 | Plank with one arm or one leg lifted | 3 × 20 seconds each side |
| 7 | Weighted plank (plate on your upper back) | 3 × 30 seconds |
Skip levels if they're easy. The hard-squeeze version is the one to try first once regular planks get comfortable. Tighten every muscle you can, pull your elbows toward your toes and your toes toward your elbows, and most people struggle to hold it for more than 20 seconds.
Variations and alternatives
- High plank: on your hands instead of forearms, arms straight. Easier on the core and harder on the shoulders. It's the top of a push-up.
- Side plank: on one forearm with your body facing sideways. Shifts the work to your obliques and the sides of your trunk. A good pairing with regular planks.
- Dead bug: lie on your back and slowly lower opposite arm and leg while keeping your lower back flat. The best swap if planks bother your shoulders or wrists.
- Ab wheel rollout: a moving plank, and a big step up. Start from your knees.
- Hanging leg raise and cable crunch: these train the abs to bend the spine rather than hold it still. Doing one of them alongside planks covers both jobs your abs do.
Plank questions
Will planks give me a flat stomach?
Not on their own. Planks strengthen the muscles under the fat, but they don't burn much fat from your stomach specifically. A visible stomach comes down to body fat, and that's mostly about eating in a calorie deficit. Our guide on how many calories to eat to lose weight is the place to start.
How long should I be able to hold a plank?
For most adults, a solid 60 seconds with good form is a reasonable goal. Beyond that, a harder variation is more useful than a longer hold. Being unable to hold 20 seconds at the start is common, and it improves quickly.
Are planks good for lower back pain?
Many people with a sore back find planks tolerable because the spine doesn't move, and a stronger trunk tends to help. But if a plank makes your back pain worse, stop, try the incline or knee version, and if it still hurts, get it looked at before pushing on.