Constant stress and lack of time in modern life encourages people to look for ways to support their overall health and bodies. It is a well-known fact that a healthy diet with regular workouts is the best way to strengthen your health condition and maintain optimal weight. Luckily, the wellness world can offer a variety of diets and exercises, suitable for all tastes. In this article we are going to tell you about one of the most effective workouts for your body – spiderman plank. So, what is a spiderman plank? How to perform it? What are the benefits? Read on!
What Is A Spiderman Plank?
You likely already know about an exercise known as the plank. It is getting more and more popular nowadays and helps people get slimmer and stronger with minimal time and efforts. It has a bunch of variations and modifications, and the spiderman exercise is one of them. This is a body-weight workout, meaning that it doesn’t need any equipment except for a mat. This is a pilates and calisthenics exercise that will help you to train your entire body.
How To Do A Spiderman Plank?
Start standing on your knees and hands. Get your body into a plank position, make sure it forms a straight line. You have two options – high plank and forearm plank. For some people forearm plank position is easier as it allows to lower the tension on the shoulders and helps to keep balance and stability. It doesn’t matter what type of plank you’ve chosen, just make sure you don’t drop your hips and avoid arching your back.
Now you should bring your left knee to the outside of your left elbow. Get back to the starting position and perform the same movement on your right side. Do this exercise slowly and carefully to avoid injuries and to get all the benefits. You should perform spiderman plank for 60 seconds. If you are a beginner, and it’s too hard for you, you can start from 30 seconds and increase this amount gradually.
When you perform this exercise, your breathing pattern is as important as proper technique of performance. Make sure to inhale when getting back to the starting position and exhale while bringing your knees to your elbows.
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Spiderman Plank: Muscles Worked
Spiderman crunches will help you to strengthen your core muscles, upper body, quadriceps and glutes.
How Efficient Is A Spiderman Plank?
You already know that this is a full-body workout and a plank variation. As such, it can offer you a bunch of benefits. It will not only target your core and upper body muscles, but will also improve your balance and help to burn extra calories, as it is a great cardio exercise.
What Are Spiderman Plank Variations?
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Spiderman Plank With A Twist
Spiderman plank is a more difficult modification of a standard plank. It requires more stability and endurance. But if you want to make your routine even more challenging, you can try this variation. So, how to do a spiderman plank with a twist? First you should do all the steps listed above to perform a standard spiderman plank. After that you should bring your left knee to your right elbow and your right knee to your left elbow. In this way you’ll make something similar to a “cross movement”. The sequence then is, left knee to the left elbow, right knee to the right elbow, left knee to the right elbow, right knee to the left elbow – that’s one rep.
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Spiderman Pushup Plank
This is another modification that will target your arms and shoulders. To perform this exercise, get in a high plank position. Then you should make a pushup and bring your left knee to your left elbow. Get back to the starting position and repeat the same with your right knee. This is a perfect way to tone your core muscles, arms and shoulders, as well as back muscles.
Why Should You Perform Plank Exercises?
You already know that the spiderman plank is a variation of a standard plank. So, what are the benefits of this type of workout and why should you include them to your routine(1, 2, 3, 7)?
Plank and its variations are one of the best exercises for your core muscles, so they will help you to get the abs of your dream. Strong core is a guarantee of a healthy back and improved balance and stability. By strengthening your core muscles, you’ll also make it easier to perform other physical activities, such as volleyball, tennis, biking and more. Basic daily activities that involve your core will be easier to do as well. Keep in mind that you cannot get a six-pack only by doing planks (even in high amounts). But by a combination of cardiovascular and strength exercises you’ll definitely achieve your goals.
Another benefit of plank exercises is that they will help you to improve and support your posture. Proper posture will help you to avoid injuries and the development of such a medical issue as arthritis. Your internal organs will be in a better condition as well. This means that your body systems will be able to function properly and stay healthy. You’ll also be decreasing your risks of back pain.
By performing planks, you’ll burn more calories than by performing other core workouts, as long as you exercise daily. And, in addition, as a nice bonus, you’ll look taller, as good posture increases your height.
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FAQs
What Part Of Your Ab Does The Spiderman Plank Work?
You already know that the spiderman plank crunch helps to train your core muscles, some parts of your lower body, and, of course, abs. You probably know that your abs include a number of various muscles. Rectus abdominis is the “basic” abdominal muscle, better known as “six-pack”. You also have internal and external obliques. Transversus abdominis is the deepest layer of your abs and one of its main functions is to help you to breathe (6). When you perform the spiderman plank, it mainly targets your obliques (4).
How To Add This Exercise To My Routine?
What are the most optimal ways to add this super-exercise to your daily workout routine? For instance, you can use it as a warm-up before your main exercises. It involves a number of major muscle groups and can prepare them for serious physical loads. Several sets of a spiderman plank are especially suitable to get your body ready for running, aerobics and other cardiovascular exercises.
Another option is to make spiderman plank a part of your core workout. That will be a real challenge for your abdominal muscles, but the results will impress you. However, make sure to make breaks between sets and rest days between your workouts. Rest days help your body to get rid of muscle pain and soreness, avoid injuries, build muscles and replenish its energy storages. Your mind and muscles will have time to have a rest (8).
You can also use spiderman planks to create short individual workouts, if you don’t have enough time in the morning or throughout the day, you can try to combine this type of plank with some other basic exercise to get a full body workout routine. The other exercises you can include to your routine depend on your fitness goals and fitness level. Just make sure you target all main muscle groups (legs, arms, back, abs and more).
Conclusion
In conclusion, as you can see, the spiderman exercise is a perfect tool to train your main muscle groups and improve your physique. Note, that this workout is more suitable for more advanced exercisers. If you are a beginner, it’s better to start from a standard plank and gradually and carefully make your routine more complex and challenging. When you get used to the spiderman plank, you can try its modifications to make your workouts more diverse.
If you already started performing such exercises and want to reach certain fitness goals, you shouldn’t forget about proper nutrition and sleep patterns. Make sure your diet is well balanced and your body meets its nutritional needs. You should sleep 7-9 hours in a dark room to stay healthy and energized (5). Necessary amounts of water throughout a day are vital as well. Remember that the way to health includes a number of healthy habits, and you can get desired results only by combining all of them. Take care of yourself and stay healthy.
DISCLAIMER:
This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not address individual circumstances. It is not a substitute for professional advice or help and should not be relied on to make decisions of any kind. Any action you take upon the information presented in this article is strictly at your own risk and responsibility!
SOURCES:
- 5 Benefits of Abdominal Strength & Endurance (2019, livestrong.com)
- 6 Benefits of Abdominal Workouts (2021, efm.net.au)
- 7 Health Benefits of Plank Exercises (+5 Plank Variations You Should Know) (2017, healthcorps.org)
- Abdominal Muscles Location and Function (2020, verywellfit.com)
- How Much Sleep Do We Really Need? (2021, sleepfoundation.org)
- The Effects of Deep Abdominal Muscle Strengthening Exercises on Respiratory Function and Lumbar Stability (2013, jstage.jst.go.jp)
- The real-world benefits of strengthening your core (2012, health.harvard.edu)
- When and how to spend a rest day (2021, medicalnewstoday.com)
