Plank: how to do it

Main muscles: Upper abs, Lower abs. Helpers: Obliques. Below: step-by-step form, common mistakes, a muscle map, reps and rest, and what to swap it for.

Equipment

Bodyweight

Reps

8–12

Rest

105 s

Muscle group

Core

How to do it

Elbows under the shoulders, body in one line from the heels to the head.
The hips neither sag nor pike up; abs and glutes stay tight.
Breathe evenly and hold for as long as the form holds.

Common mistakes

Arching the lower back, hips too high, holding the breath.

▶ Form video on YouTube

Muscles worked

Front

Back

primary·secondary

Primary: Upper abs, Lower abs
Secondary: Obliques

A secondary muscle gets roughly half the stimulus of a set — that is also how the log’s stats count it.

Programs that use it

Full body, 2 days3 × 8–12
Full body, 3 days3 × 8–12
Upper/lower, 4 days3 × 8–12
5-day split3 × 8–12
Home, 3 days3 × 8–12
Dumbbells only, 4 days3 × 8–12
Circuit, 3 days3 × 8–12

Alternatives: similar exercises

Ab wheel rollout Bodyweight · Upper abs, Lower abs Bicycle crunch Bodyweight · Obliques, Lower abs Crunches Bodyweight · Upper abs Hanging leg raise Bodyweight · Lower abs Reverse crunch Bodyweight · Lower abs Dead bug Bodyweight · Lower abs

Log your sets — the app suggests the next weight

GymAssist tracks the load on each of 40 muscles, paints it on a body map and uses double progression to tell you when to add weight.

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