How to Do a Plank
A plank is a core exercise where you hold your body in a straight line on your forearms and toes. Brace your abs and squeeze your glutes so your hips do not sag. It trains the abs and obliques, with the shoulders and glutes helping. Most people do 3 holds of 20 to 60 seconds.
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How to do a plank
- Lie face down on a mat with your forearms on the floor, elbows under your shoulders and toes tucked under, feet hip width apart.
- Brace your abs as if someone is about to poke you in the stomach, and squeeze your glutes.
- Tuck your pelvis under slightly, so your lower back does not arch.
- Lift your hips and knees until only your forearms and toes touch the floor. Your head, hips and heels form one straight line, and your eyes look at the floor just ahead of your hands.
- Breathe in short, steady breaths and hold. End the set when your hips start to drop or rise, not when the clock says so.
How long to hold a plank
The standard plank is a light effort for your muscles. In one EMG study it drew under 45% of a maximal effort in every muscle tested, a level suited to endurance more than strength (Ekstrom 2007). Holding longer keeps that effort the same, so past a minute or two you add time, not challenge. Harder versions raise it. Moving your elbows forward and tucking your pelvis raised abdominal activity over a standard plank (Schoenfeld 2014), which is the idea behind the RKC plank. Spine researcher Stuart McGill programs core holds as short efforts of about 10 seconds, repeated. No study has compared training with long holds against short, harder ones.
Muscles worked
Plank claims the research does not back
Four claims that most plank guides repeat, including our old one:
- Draw your belly button in toward your spine. Hollowing raised oblique activity in one plank study (García-Jaén 2020), but in a lab model a full brace made the spine 32% more stable than a hollow, and hollowing added nothing mechanical (Grenier and McGill 2007). Brace all the way around your waist instead.
- Tilt your pelvis forward. The opposite. Tucking your pelvis under raised external oblique activity over a standard plank (Schoenfeld 2014), and it stops your lower back from arching.
- The longer the hold, the better. A standard plank drew under 45% of a maximal effort in every muscle tested (Ekstrom 2007). Harder versions raise that: a longer lever with a pelvic tuck (Schoenfeld 2014), an unstable surface such as a ball (Snarr and Esco 2014), or a suspension strap (Calatayud 2017).
- Planks burn belly fat. Six weeks of ab exercise, 5 days a week, did not reduce belly fat or waist size (Vispute 2011). Visible abs come from lower body fat.
Plank vs side plank vs dead bug
| Attribute | Plank | Side plank | Dead bug |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resists | Your back arching | Your trunk bending sideways | Your back arching as your limbs move |
| Works most | Abs, shoulders | Obliques, glute med | Abs |
| Make it harder | Elbows forward, a plate on your back | Raise your top leg | Straighter legs, a weight in your hands |
| Easy to cheat by | Sagging hips | Hips drifting back | Lower back lifting off the floor |
Do the plank and the side plank, since they resist bending in different directions. The side plank drew enough oblique and glute med activity to count as strength work, and the front plank did not (Ekstrom 2007). The dead bug suits anyone whose shoulders or back do not tolerate a plank. We found no study comparing it with the plank.
Sets, hold time and progression
Plank 2 to 3 times a week, at the end of a session. Do 3 holds and end each one when your hips start to drop or rise.
Add 5 to 10 seconds a week. Once you can hold 60 seconds cleanly on every set, move to a harder version, such as the RKC plank or a plate on your back, and drop back to 20 seconds.
Common mistakes
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Sagging hipsYour lower back arches and takes the load. Tuck your pelvis, squeeze your glutes, or drop to your knees.
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Hips piked upThis takes the load off your abs. Lower your hips until your shoulders, hips and heels line up.
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Head hanging or craning upYour neck bends out of line. Look at the floor just ahead of your hands.
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Sinking between your shouldersYour upper back sags toward the floor. Push the floor away with your forearms.
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Holding your breathKeep the brace and breathe in short, steady breaths.
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Holding past good formOnce your hips sag, your lower back takes the load. End the set when your hips start to move.
Plank variations
Questions people ask
How long should I plank as a beginner?
Do 3 holds of 10 to 30 seconds with a minute's rest, and end each one when your hips start to drop. Add 5 to 10 seconds a week. Once 60 seconds is easy, switch to a harder version rather than holding longer.
What is the average plank hold time for men and women?
In 471 college students tested to failure, men averaged 124 seconds and women 83 seconds (Strand 2014). What lifters log is shorter. On Gravitus, as of September 2026, the median longest plank logged is 60 seconds for both men and women, and the top 10% have held 2 minutes or more (10,000+ men, 4,800+ women). Logged holds are training sets, not max tests.
Does planking build muscle?
Not much on its own. The plank drew under 45% of a maximal effort in every muscle tested, a level suited to endurance (Ekstrom 2007). To build your abs, add a loaded crunch, and make the plank harder with a longer lever or a plate on your back.
Is plank better than crunches?
They do different jobs. The plank trains your abs to stop your spine from moving. The crunch trains them to bend it, under a load you can keep adding to. Use both.
Does planking burn belly fat?
No. Six weeks of ab exercise, 5 days a week, did not reduce belly fat or waist size (Vispute 2011). A plank strengthens the muscles under the fat, and lower body fat is what makes them visible.
Why do planks hurt my lower back?
Your hips are sagging, so your lower back arches and holds the load. Tuck your pelvis, squeeze your glutes and end the set when your hips start to drop. If it still hurts, plank on your knees.
Why do planks hurt my shoulders?
Your shoulders hold up your upper body for the whole set. In one study, 47% of people ended their plank because their shoulders or arms tired and 41% because their abs did (Devorski 2022). Keep your elbows under your shoulders and push the floor away.
Log every set and Gravitus charts your reps, times and records from week to week.
Get GravitusRelated exercises
- Ekstrom, Donatelli and Carp 2007. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 37(12):754-762.
- Schoenfeld et al. 2014. Sports Biomech 13(3):296-306.
- Strand et al. 2014. J Hum Kinet 40:93-102.
- Devorski et al. 2022. J Sport Rehabil 31(1):31-37.
- Grenier and McGill 2007. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 88(1):54-62.
- García-Jaén et al. 2020. Int J Environ Res Public Health 17(20):7410.
- Snarr and Esco 2014. J Strength Cond Res 28(11):3298-3305.
- Calatayud et al. 2017. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 96(10):694-699.
- Vispute et al. 2011. J Strength Cond Res 25(9):2559-2564.