The plank, iron or abdominal bridge is the most classic of all isometric exercises we usually perform, however, it admits many changes that allow us to innovate training and achieve an iron abdomen performing plank variants.

Varies your planks

To give variety to this classic of the isometric exercises for the abdomen we can apply different changes :

• Modify the position, from lying face down to face up, sideways or inclined or declined if we support our feet on a step or on the contrary, we rest our hands on a chair. It is also possible to modify the points of support , from placing both hands or forearms on the floor to support only one hand or one foot to subtract stability and intensify the work of the middle area of ​​the body.
• Add movement to add to the isometric contraction movements, jumps, or other gestures that accentuate the work of different muscles of the body or, intensify the effort of the abdomen.
• Add equipment to be used as a support, such as weight or other purposes, for example, fitball, bosu, elastic bands, weighted vests, among others.

Plank variants that you can not ignore

If you are looking for a change in your routine, innovation that allows you to see results challenging the muscles, we propose to make the following variants of the plank :

• Plank with two points of support : by lifting one hand and the leg from the opposite side, we can perform this exercise with only two points of support, which makes the work more intense by creating instability and above all, more requests muscles of the back .
• Plank walkout : from the plank position, with arms outstretched and hands resting on the ground, we walk with our hands forward until we get close to the ground without touching the same with the chest. With this variant the effort of the middle zone is accentuated but in addition, we work high back, shoulders and arms.
• Plank Jacks : to work in addition to the abdomen and lower back, legs and buttocks while we burn calories, we can place ourselves in the position of iron with forearms on the floor and while we hold the abdominal contraction we open and close the legs repeatedly changing positions with a small jump.
• Body saw : In order to request more effort to muscles of arms, shoulders and legs in addition to working the core or middle area of ​​the body we can perform this exercise that involves carrying forward and back the body in plank position, resembling the movement of a saw. We must carry the heels as far back as possible and then move the whole body forward until the head passes the arms, and repeat as many times as necessary.
• T-plank : we start the exercise in an iron position with forearms on the floor and body aligned from head to toe, but after a few seconds holding the position we take off one arm and extend it to raise it above the trunk while rotating the same. We must form a “T” with our body, placing the arm perpendicular to the ground while working middle area and ask for obliques.
• Dinamic plank : A well-made abdominal plate should not have a broken waist but the whole body should be aligned from head to toe, but this variant that includes movement requires that we raise the hip or buttocks to form an inverted “V” with our body and return to the starting position as many times as we have been told in order to add effort to the middle part of the body.
• Bicycle plank : to work more oblique we can make this variant that resembles the movement we make when we make bicycles to work abdomen. From the plank position we must join underneath the body one knee and the elbow of the opposite side and then, perform with the other knee and elbow. We should always keep the iron position and try not to lift the hip too much when making the knee and elbow joint under the body.
• X-plank : to intensify the work of the abdomen by subtracting stability but also, demand the effort of shoulders, arms, buttocks and legs, we can realize this variant that requires that we support separate and upward palms of the head and separate feet on the floor, with the aim of performing a plank in “X” position with our body.