maratoolSide Plank
How to do the side plank
- Lay on one side of your body with your legs straight and your forearm perpendicular to your body in front of you.
- Drawing your abs in, slowly raise yourself up so you are balanced on your feet and your forearm.
- Hold this position and slowly return back to the starting position.
- Repeat on other side.
Muscles worked
The prime movers are the rectus abdominis and the obliques, which flex the trunk forward and resist it being pulled into extension or twisted out of line.
Every exercise for:Abdominals
How this movement works
Everything happens at one joint. That gives you direct control over where the tension sits; the trade-off is that the muscle gets no help, so the load that feels hard here is a fraction of what a multi-joint version of the pattern would take. Slow, complete repetitions beat heavy ones.
It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.
What you need
No equipment at all. The resistance is your own bodyweight, so you progress by changing leverage, range or tempo rather than by adding plates — and you can do it anywhere.
Every exercise using:Body only
These train the abdominals too, using equipment this one does not:
- Smith Machine Hip Raisemachine
- Spell Casterdumbbell
- Standing Cable Liftcable
- Supine One-Arm Overhead Throwmedicine ball
- Torso Rotationexercise ball
Illustration: Everkinetic — CC BY-SA 4.0 — license. Modified versions are shared under the same license. Full attribution →
ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.