Before we can run we must learn to walk, before we walk we must learn to crawl.

In my past experiences with clients I have heard of such things as core classes or abdominal boot camps. Entire classes based around doing abdominal work. I have never heard of anything more ridiculous in my life.

Most people ,even athletes, I have come across can barely support their own motionless body weight in a planked position for over a minute. So what makes people think it would be a good idea to spend an entire 30 minutes doing something they are probably doing wrong?

I’d be willing to bet that about 2 minutes into said routine abdominal activation has gone out the door. Hello tight hip flexors and back pain.

Why do we need to plank?

Well regardless of whether your goal is athletics, aesthetics, or general fitness I think we can all agree that we would rather our results come in the fastest most efficient manner. Thats exactly what we’re doing here. We are starting from the ground up. You’ll be programing/re-programing your abdominals to work the way were meant to work.

Not to mention we can train longer and more often if we are not suffering from back or hip pain.

So lets first teach ourselves to crawl before we walk. Our first step in abdominal training should be to program our abdominals to support our body weight and prevent unwanted motion. I even urge those who think they are fit to give these next few exercises a try for a few weeks and see where it takes you. I would even encourage you to take out all other forms of abdominal training. This type of routine will have great positive carryover to the rest of your workout.

The Front Plank

In my opinion, if you cant hold this position for at least :30 seconds you have no business doing any other type of abdominal training. Your goal should be to work up to this.

The side plank

Same idea as the front plank, only we’re training our core in the frontal plane. Again, you should be able to hold this for at least :30 seconds.

The modified front plank

For individuals who need to work up to the front plank.

Again, for individuals who need to work up to the side plank.

So heres the routine. Each workout attempt 3 front planks and 3 side planks each side for 1:00 minute each. Cut out all other abdominal work and give it a try for a month. If you’ve never trained like this before you will be pleasantly surprised at how much your new found abdominal strength carries over into your other exercises.

Thats it for now. I’m not sure what next weeks post will be about. Phase 2 perhaps. It all depends if I have time to take more pictures