YOU PROBABLY THINK you know how to do a plank. The ab training staple is relatively simple, after all—boiled down to the basics, all you need to do is get down on the ground and hold in place.

Reverse planks target the back of your body (also known as your posterior chain), working muscles like your hamstrings, ...

Planks work the abs you see and the deeper core you only feel. “The plank is a great exercise for strengthening your deep inner core: your transverse abdominis, multifidus, ...

Ab wheel planks: Benefits Planks build core strength, but they also strengthen muscles in your shoulders, arms, chest, lower back, glutes, hamstrings, hip flexors and quads.

Benefits Of Doing Pillar Bridge Planks 1) Enhanced Core Strength. The pillar bridge plank is one of the most effective exercises for building core strength.

A plank is more difficult than it looks. You have to use all of your muscle groups, including your core, abs, arms, back, shoulders, glutes and legs. It’s normal to struggle to do a plank.

Samuel notes that planks only train that one function of the core—bracing—when you could be exposing your abs to even more movements. Plank Alternatives for Better Core Workouts.

The world record for the longest plank is an abs-urd 9 hours and 38 minutes for men, and 4 hours and 30 minutes for women. But you don’t have to hold out that long to see real results. 6.

This plank-free, 10-minute core workout taxes the upper and lower abs, along with your obliques, to help build stronger and more defined muscles.

Whether your workout involves the reverse or standard plank variation, you’re guaranteed to feel the burn in your ab muscles. But, even though both exercise moves are associated with core work ...