Plank Workout For Weight Loss
The plank is one of the most effective exercises for weight loss. It targets your core and strengthens your back, which helps you lose weight. Planks work the muscles in your arms and shoulders as well, which are also important for maintaining a healthy body.
You can do planks anywhere—in the park, at home, or in a hotel room—and they are easy to learn. In fact, there are many variations of planks that you can use to target different parts of your body and achieve different goals. Here’s how to do them:
- Get into push-up position with your knees on the ground (the higher your knees are, the easier it will be).
- Put your forearms on the ground so they are parallel with each other and perpendicular to the floor (your elbows should be bent).
- Keep your back straight throughout this exercise by pulling in your stomach muscles as much as possible (this will make it easier to hold this position). You should not allow any sagging in this position since this can put pressure on your spine over time and lead to injuries like disc herniation or pinched nerves in neck area due to poor posture during sleep time etc…
Plank Workout For Weight Loss
30 Day Plank Challenge For Weight Loss: How To Lose 5 Pounds In 2022
Belly fat is one of the major fitness concerns for many people all around the world. Increased consumption of processed foods, sugary, salty foods, and lack of physical activity are some of the main culprits here. Moreover, even pregnancy can wreak havoc on your goals to achieve a flat stomach. According to a review [1], 91% of adults and 69% of children in the US are estimated to be overfat, and overweight mainly due to excess abdominal fat.
Losing belly fat is a struggle and it needs your dedication and hard work. You have to fight tooth and nail to lose belly fat. While the most common traditional abdominal exercises are crunches, they may not be the most effective ones for strength training to build muscle and a strong core. One super effective isometric exercise is Planks. They not only help you lose your upper body but also work as an entire body workout. In this read, you will know all the things that I did during my plank challenge which helped in my weight loss journey. Lastly, If you are wondering how much weight can you lose doing the plank challenge? Then let me walk you through the information in detail.
How To Lose 5 Pounds With The 30-Day Plank Challenge?
For the best possible results, try to start slow with basic planks and then gradually move on to advanced forms. Focus on keeping the posture right, as it is one of the most important factors that determine your success. Plan your challenge well and include different variations such as side planks, forearm planks, and a few others. Additionally, try to maintain a healthy diet without sugars and junk food.
Can I Lose Weight Doing Planks?
How effective is the plank workout method? The answer to this question is how well you do the planks. If you are following all the fundamental instructions such as keeping your posture right, this is a very effective method to burn calories.
How much weight can you lose doing the plank challenge? Well, it depends on how well your posture is. Don’t lift your hips or let them dip. Lock your knees and keep your legs straight. Nevertheless, if you are a beginner and are struggling with traditional positions, it’s better to start with your knees as the base instead of your feet. After a few days of practice, you can move on to doing full planks.
Plank workout[2] engages multiple muscles in your body. It is not just any other traditional abdominal exercise. It takes a lot of resilience and balance. The longer you hold the position the more you lose fat. If you are wondering how many planks do you need to lose weight? Well, to lose belly fat, you need to do the plank workout 3 times a week, holding the plank position 60 times. Do not strain your muscles while doing so. Adequate rest can help your muscles grow faster as much as exercise does.
Plank Exercise And Variations That Helped Me Lose 5 Pounds
I began my plank challenge with a simple exercises like sit-ups. Then I did basic planks for a few weeks and several variations followed in the coming weeks. Out of several variations, I picked a few and tried them. I began with an easier plank workout plan. My main focus was on getting the posture right rather than the count. I kept on upscaling them each week with several variations, repetitions, and plank hold timings. These helped me in building muscle, proper form, and improved posture which is key to any isometric exercise. This plan would be suitable for beginners. Here are the several plank variations that were part of my everyday plank challenge.
Standard Plank
To begin with the plank challenge, the standard plank was the first plank variation I tried and it was relatively easier to do. Start with a pushup position. Keep your hands straight and place your palms and toes on the ground. Maintain your body straight and core tight from head to toe. As long as you maintain good form, it is one of the most beneficial exercises for overall body fat burn.
Planking With Alternate Knees And Elbows
Starting with a high plank, lift your left knee to the right shoulder with a strong core. Repeat with your right leg to balance out strength training. Try doing the same with alternate knees and shoulders and maintain a proper balance while doing so. This not only helps you relax your muscles and have less stress on your body, it is also an effective way to burn calories seamlessly.
Walking Planks
Walking sideways with a plank will increase the core strength and entire body muscles.
Start with a high plank, activate the abs and glutes, and then start moving laterally by moving your right arm and right leg in one direction. Lift your left arm and left leg to meet in the center and return to the plank. I did 5 steps to the right and then to the left to finish one set. Beginners should perform 3 sets and work up to 5. Make sure to go slow and steady and concentrate on it to maximize weight loss.
Side Planks
If you are a beginner, lie on one side, keep your elbow underneath your shoulder, and your arms flat. Keep your knees to the ground, stack your legs and raise your hips. Place your hand on your hip, squeeze your glutes as you plank, and hold for 30 seconds to 1 minute. This posture is relatively easy but you can feel planking burn at oblique muscles.
Once you are comfortable doing this side plank, try lifting from the feet instead of the knees. Later, you can make this more challenging by making variations like raising arms and lowering your hip or adding knee pull, holding an arm and leg up. This plank targets different muscle groups, make sure to do 10 reps on both sides with each movement.
Forearm Plank
Place your forearms under your shoulder, extend your hands and lengthen the body. Engage muscle groups like abs, glutes, and triceps, and do not let your spine arch towards the ground. Tuck your tail bones and toes and lift your knees and keep them straight. In the forearm plank, we use our forearms to rest our weight. Forearm plank is one of the effective abs exercises to build rectus abdominis (the six-pack ab muscle) and oblique muscles.
Things To Remember To Maximize Weight Loss With Everyday Plank Challenge
- Keep your abdominal muscles tense while doing plank exercises. It will help you engage deep abdominal muscles. Engaging your core muscles correctly can help you gain core strength and in losing weight.
- You need to hold your torso up so that it doesn’t touch the floor, but then do not lift your hips too high. It should be in a straight-line form. Your core muscles should be activated so that they hold your body weight, and your spine should be neutral. Your body should be in the form of a straight line, head to toe.
- Keep an eye on your progress and try to hold for a longer time. Start with a basic plank for 20-30 seconds for a week with as many repetitions as possible. When you feel that you are ready, try holding the basic plank for 40- 50 seconds.
- Experts suggest holding plank exercise for 60 seconds for 3 repetitions to lose abdominal fat.
- Upscale your repetitions and the time you hold from there. There’s no specific time that you need to aim for. However, if you can hold the plank position for 2 minutes, it is a sign of building core strength.
- Apart from abs, the plank challenge is a great way to tense your glutes. So squeeze your butt and engage as many muscles as possible while doing the plank exercise. A full plank is a great way to engage your posterior chain and build strength.
How Much Weight Can You Lose Doing The Plank Challenge?
How much weight can you lose doing the plank challenge depends on how fast you get to improve posture while doing plank exercises and the amount of calorie burning. It also depends on body weight and excess fat, metabolic rate, and muscle to fat ratio. However, planking exercise can burn between two to five calories a minute.
Here Is What I Did Along With The Everyday Plank Challenge
So, here’s what I did besides doing planks. I cut on sugars and junk. I was on an intermittent fasting diet. I took natural supplements like Glucomannan and CBD. Yes, you read it right. You can lose weight with the help of CBD. Glucomannan is a soluble fiber. It is a root extract of the elephant yam. It contributes to the feeling of fullness and restricts the number of calories you consume. This reduces calorie intake and helps in losing weight and it also improves the gut-friendly bacteria and reduces cholesterol levels. Hence, it makes this one of the safest weight loss supplements. Furthermore, glucomannan will not have any effect unless taken before a meal. Recommended timing ranges from 15 minutes to an hour before having your meal. You can take from 1 to 3 grams a day[3].
Final Words
Every day plank challenge is one of the most effective compared to other exercises. However, mastering planks can take some time. So, I Included specific exercises like sit-ups, mountain climbers, russian twists, and boat pose to activate different multiple muscle groups. This helps shed more calories and burn fat. You are just a few planks away from achieving a tighter tummy or maybe even six-pack abs and healthy living. Make sure to give your muscles adequate rest. But continue doing other exercises on a day-to-day basis to burn more calories.
