How to Perform a Perfect Plank
Planks are an essential exercise in healthy aging. They are the most effective way to strength your upper back to function from healthy posture.When performed from neutral spine alignment they strengthen your ability to break faulty loading patterns in the neck and shoulders.
The Problem:
Technology has us spending too much time in collapsed posture. Collapsed upper back posture causes forward head posture. Over time forward head posture progresses into head tilt posture. This is when the damn breaks. Head tilt posture can cause vertebrae to come out of alignment resulting in even stronger asymmetrical loading patterns through the neck, shoulder, low back, hips and knees. It is a vicious cycle that requires a complete strategy that addresses sitting posture as well as upper body fitness.
If you do a traditional fitness plank from collapsed upper back posture you will only be strengthening the faulty loading patterns that are driving the collapsed upper back and forward head postures that cause neck and shoulder pain.
The Solution:
If you are only strong enough to get into neutral spine alignment, you won’t be able to maintain it against the functional load challenges of your day. A complete neutral spine based functional conditioning program should include planks to get you stronger than you need to be to hold neutral throughout your day.
A good plank program should have 6 levels of progression minimally to allow your musculoskeletal system sufficient time to condition itself for healthy plank strengthening. We suggest starting with Shoulder Taps from all 4’s position (quadruped). We also suggest using a dowel stick to provide feedback on whether you are keeping your skull, rib cage and pelvis in neutral throughout your plank.
Summary:
Conditioning yourself to perform a healthy plank is an essential part of any functional fitness program. They are the most effective way to strengthen your ability to maintain Chest Lift® functionally. You cannot unload your neck or low back until you are in Chest Lift® posture.
We developed the Healthy Posture System to provide you with all the video resources to safely restore your ability to function from neutral spine alignment. There are many strategies you will learn as you progress through the program to help you keep your upper back stacked throughout the day. At level 4 of the program, you will be asked to add online coaching to your subscription to ensure you learn the more difficult exercises without faulty loading.
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