With a Master of Science in Dietetics and Exercise Science, 11 years of experience in fitness, and 5 years in nutrition, Hollee Mohni is a professional dedicated to improving individuals' health and confidence through sustainable habits.
Many people online and offline are singing the praises of doing planks every day. Therefore, many fitness experts and gurus have introduced daily plank challenges to encourage even more people to get on board with doing planks daily. The promise is that by doing this exercise for at least a minute every day, you can get washboard abs.
As a lot of people are yearning for a six-pack, they immediately dive straight into such challenges. A question arises: can planking for a minute or so every day really help with achieving a six-pack? Let’s find out!
For many, getting ripped abs is their ultimate fitness goal. Such people are willing to do any exercise that supposedly guarantees such results. As a result, the plank exercise has become quite popular everywhere. You can find people doing planks every day for at least a minute in the hopes of getting ripped abs, but are these the actual results they reap from planking?
In this article, we take a comprehensive look at both the benefits and drawbacks of doing planks every day. We’ll also provide you with a guide on how to properly plank in order to reap the benefits. The goal is to equip you with essential knowledge on this exercise before you do planks every other day.
Many of us may give in to such a challenge due to the fuss surrounding it. When you find your colleagues, partner, or family members doing planks and crunches every day, you’re more likely to tag along for the social aspect of it.
Although it’s nice to exercise, such a challenge is the wrong way to go, as you don’t have an attainable goal behind doing planks every day. You may start the challenge just to impress your partner or support your sister or brother. However, you might later end up throwing in the towel.
This could happen because you don’t have an achievable goal that will motivate you to keep up with the challenge. Knowing this, you should take the time and dig deeper into why you ought to start up such an exercise program. In most cases, your goal will align with the benefits of doing the exercises. Let’s analyze the benefits of doing planks every day for a month.
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When most people think about doing planks, they immediately think of getting a six-pack. This is perhaps the most common reason why people do these exercises. However, planking has more health benefits than simply sculpting your abdominal area. Here are some plank benefits:
Of course, we’ll start with the benefit that most people are familiar with and that’s getting ripped abs. When it comes to ab exercises, planks rank among the best (2). Many people compare crunches to planks when it comes to training the abdominal area for a six-pack.
According to WebMD, doing crunches for a lean midsection is an excellent idea. However, according to these fitness experts, you’ll have to quickly progress to another ab exercise if you want crunches to define the muscles in your abdominal region (2).
In light of this, experts recommend doing the plank exercise. This is because it works most of your abdominal muscles, which include your internal and external obliques, transversus abdominis, and rectus abdominis (2). The rectus abdominis is the top abdominal muscle layer, while the transversus abdominis is the deepest abdominal muscle (2).
However, it’s important to remember that you can’t get refined abs simply by doing this exercise. Good nutrition is essential, and this is why you must watch your diet. Eating a balanced and healthy diet that helps you maintain a calorie deficit can help you shed fat around your abdomen. As a result, your diet will shorten your road to getting a six-pack (10). Talk to your nutritionist to get more insight on the best meals to help you shed fat or maintain a calorie deficit.
Don’t be fooled by the name. There’s nothing to love about love handles. They are the fat deposits that sit around your waistline. Some people refer to them as muffin tops. They’re associated with various health problems, which is why we recommend reducing overall weight, including around your waistline.
The Mayo Clinic acknowledges that an expanded waistline is linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, abnormal cholesterol, and breathing problems (3).
To avoid the risk of getting these conditions, the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) suggest maintaining an appropriate waist size. Women are advised to keep their waist size or circumference below 35 inches (7), while men are advised to keep it below 40 inches (7).
Doing planks can be one of the components that helps you trim down to such a waist size. The most effective plank variation to help reduce your love handles is the side plank. This targets the muscles along the sides of your body, which are better known as your obliques (9). Talk to your fitness coach before you progress to doing the side plank variation rather than the regular plank.
Medical News Today also acknowledges that doing the regular high plank every day can help improve core strength (11). The exercise targets all your core muscles, including your erector spinae, transversus abdominis, rectus abdominis, lumbar multifidus, internal and external obliques (11).
These core muscles need to be strengthened as they help support other body functions, such as (11):
Another study also acknowledges that core strength can protect the spine from excessive force generation during sporting activities (4). This may explain why athletes are often advised to add planks to their workout programs. Please note, you can only improve your core strength by doing planks in the correct form (12), so you should take your time and learn how to plank correctly.
Read more: Doing Planks Every Day: What Should You Expect?
Improved overall health and fitness are also advantages of doing planks every day. These exercises target various muscle groups, which makes them particularly effective for improving your overall fitness. The regular plank targets your back and core muscles. Others, such as the side plank variation, target your butt, hips, and abdominal muscles (13).
Planks tend to give all of these areas a good workout, which explains why this exercise can help tone the body. When combined with a full exercise routine and healthy diet, you can also shed body fat, which is linked to a reduced risk of obesity and other fatal health conditions, including various cancers, type 2 diabetes, congestive heart failure, hypertension, stroke, coronary artery disease, osteoarthritis, and pulmonary embolism (6). As doing planks as part of an exercise routine will help reduce your body fat and obesity risk, it also reduces your risk of these obesity-related health conditions.
By doing planks every day, you can improve the functionality of your daily activities. Remember that your arms, shoulders, and neck are also engaged while doing a plank. Your arms and shoulders are extensively involved in supporting your body weight.
Doing these gives these body parts a great workout. It also increases their strength, which helps you perform better in your daily activities, particularly those that involve lifting.
Doing planks every day can also improve your metabolism. That being said, it doesn’t rank high on the list of metabolism-boosting exercises. You’re advised to incorporate exercises such as burpees and mountain climbers for a much more enhanced metabolism.
Despite this, it cannot be denied that this exercise plays an important role in improving your metabolism. If you want to enhance your metabolism without changing your exercise program, Medical News Today suggests you pay close attention to your diet (8).
Start by eating portion-controlled meals at regular times. Your body relies on regularity and balance (8). This means that when you eat at standard times, it can help maintain hormonal and metabolic balance. You can also further boost your metabolism by drinking enough water. Water is essential for optimal metabolism (8).
Incorporating planks into your daily routine can also help improve your posture. Many of us are battling poor posture due to the nature of our jobs. We spend most of our time behind a desk, which affects how we position our backs, shoulders, and necks.
In many cases, we end up arching our backs and having our shoulders in front. You may have been told once or twice to pull your shoulders back and straighten your back. Poor posture happens when you spend most of your time sitting.
Doing planks can help you develop better posture. Although you’re doing this exercise in a horizontal position, you must remember that working the same muscles allows us to stand tall. It works your back muscles and helps them stay straight. This is done by engaging your glutes and lumbar spinae, which prevents any back arch.
Consistently doing this exercise will help you maintain good posture.
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Before delving into doing planks every day, you must first understand how to plank correctly. There are numerous variations of the plank, but beginners are advised to start with the basic or standard plank.
Some people refer to it as the traditional or regular plank. Regardless of what you call it, the process of correctly doing a plank is as follows (13):
This move appears pretty easy to do, but it’s pretty challenging. There is a possibility of injuring yourself if you don’t learn the correct form.
Work with an instructor first before you decide to take on this plank challenge. Once you master the technique, you can do planks daily and try more challenging variations.
As seen from the results of planking every day, there are numerous benefits you can reap from doing this exercise. However, some people can do this exercise every day but still not see results. They may also end up reporting injuries. Here are some tips to help you avoid such injuries and reap the benefits of planking:
If you’re looking to get a six-pack, get rid of love handles, and reduce the risk of several diseases through this exercise, you must learn the correct technique. Many people make the mistake of wrongly placing their arms and arching their back while planking.
Wrongly arching your back can lead to back pain and low activation of the abdominal muscles. The correct form is placing your arms directly underneath your shoulders. Make sure that the two are aligned(13). When it comes to your back, make sure you keep it straight throughout the movement.
If you’re looking to reap the results from doing planks every day, start with the basic plank. This is particularly ideal if you’ve never done a plank exercise before.
Don’t start with complicated plank variations such as the side plank, bicycle crunch, side plank rotations, or the bent-knee side plank. Although they’re quite effective and rewarding, they’re not suitable for beginners.
Start by familiarizing yourself with the regular plank, and then you can try other plank variations as recommended by your instructor.
So much goes into getting a six-pack or reducing love handles in addition to doing planks every day. Nutrition is one factor. As much as you’re getting involved with planking, it’s important to remember to also pay attention to your lifestyle.
You’ll not lose your muffin tops or belly fat if you continue drinking alcohol excessively or eating junk or processed foods. Such behaviors only compromise your efforts of losing fat when you’re doing planks.
With that in mind, you should also work on changing your lifestyle for the better. Try to limit your alcohol consumption, eat mindfully and healthily, and get good rest (5). Such behaviors can shorten your road to losing love handles and belly fat.
Even if you’re only doing planks, remember to warm up before you perform this exercise and cool down afterward. The majority of people who do one single exercise tend to ignore warming up. Warming up helps loosen tight muscles and prepare them for the upcoming activity.
Your warm-up routine doesn’t necessarily need to be extensive, but it must be effective. A short and effective warm-up routine stokes your blood flow and prepares your body for the plank exercise program (14).
You’ll find that your muscles respond quickly to the workout as they’re loose and warm. Warm up to avoid injuries that may result from forcing tight muscles to exercise. You can seek the help of a professional to help you create a meaningful warm-up routine that lasts between 5 and 10 minutes (14).
Remember to cool down after you’re done with your planks. This will help prevent the sudden reduction or drop of both your heart rate and blood pressure (14).
For this routine, you need to incorporate exercises that allow you to stretch and relax. Don’t add vigorous activities as they’ll only increase your heart rate, further telling your body it’s continuing with the exercise routine.
Read more: Planks For Back Pain: Another Reason Why This Go-To Bodyweight Exercise Will Never Go Out Of Fashion
Planks can get you in shape by strengthening your core muscles, which include the abdominal muscles, lower back muscles, and obliques. This means that doing planks on a regular basis can help improve your posture, stability, and overall core strength.
Getting in shape is not just about having toned muscles and a slim figure. It’s also about having strong core muscles that support your body and help prevent injuries. Planks are a great exercise for targeting these important muscles (1).
In addition, planks can help improve your balance and coordination. As you hold the plank position, your body must work to maintain its stability, which helps strengthen your balance and coordination.
Unfortunately, basic planks do little for cardiovascular health, so it’s important to incorporate other forms of exercise into your routine for a well-rounded fitness regime. Mixing in some cardio activities, such as running, swimming, or cycling, can help improve your heart health and overall endurance.
Performing a 1-minute plank a day may not be enough to see significant changes in your body. While it may help with maintaining core strength, a single 1-minute plank does not provide enough exercise for all the major muscle groups in your body.
Furthermore, it may not be enough to meet the recommended amount of physical activity for maintaining good health. It is important to add in other forms of exercise and vary your plank routine to see better results.
In our Beginner’s Wall Plank Guide, we recommend starting with 30-second planks and gradually increasing the duration as you increase your strength and endurance.
Planks will not directly give you a flat stomach as fat reduction requires a significant amount of calorie burning throughout the body.
As planks don’t increase calorie burning as much as other forms of exercise, they may not be the most effective for achieving a flat stomach. However, planks can help tone and strengthen your abdominal muscles, which makes them more defined and gives the appearance of a flatter stomach.
One of the benefits of doing planks every day is they can help improve your posture, which can also make your stomach look flatter. Ideally, you’ll use other forms of exercise, such as cardio and strength training, together with planks to get a flat stomach.
You should do planks at least 3-4 times a week to see results. Every time, you should focus on perfecting your form and increasing the duration of your plank.
Perfecting your form means keeping your body in a straight line from head to toe, engaging your core muscles, and avoiding sagging or arching the back. As you become stronger, gradually increase the duration of your planks. Starting with 30 seconds and working up to 1-2 minutes is a good goal for many people.
We’ve compiled 5 Plank Wall Exercises in this guide to help you take your plank routine to the next level. These variations will challenge your core muscles in new ways and help keep your routine interesting.
Planks don’t reduce waist size in the way calorie-burning exercises can, but they can help tone and strengthen the abdominal muscles. This means that as you lose overall body fat through a combination of healthy eating and exercise, your waist may appear smaller and more defined due to the toned muscles underneath.
It’s important to keep in mind that genetics also play a role in where we store fat, so planks alone may not impact your waist size significantly.
Doing planks every day to lose weight may lead to burnout and potential injury. Instead, do planks every other day together with other forms of exercise and a balanced diet.
Check out our Flat Tummy Workouts Guide to learn which other exercises and changes in lifestyle can help you achieve a flat tummy.
Doing planks every day is beneficial as it can be a great component to getting ripped abs, losing your love handles, and reducing your obesity risk. Similarly, performing this exercise every day can help improve your general health, fitness, posture, and daily functioning.
You should talk to your doctor and trainer before you start this exercise program. You should also maintain a healthy lifestyle, use the correct planking technique, and perform warm-up and cool-down exercises. These behaviors promise to maximize your benefits.
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