RKC News - August 2014

The plank is a fundamental exercise in kettlebell training as well as in weightlifting, calisthenics, MMA, and many other sports.

A plank is essentially like a piece of wood, straight and stable; when you shake it, it only moves as a whole. This is how a training plank should look. Someone whose trunk, that is, the core or body center, is under tension can hardly be thrown off balance. Someone who cannot build tension in the core can be easily moved out of the way.

The plank is both an independent exercise and an important component of many other exercises, such as push-ups, deadlifts, kettlebell swings, military press, cleans, and many more. In hardstyle kettlebell training as well as in weightlifting, the standing position should ALWAYS be a plank, in this case, a standing plank.

Dan John even goes a step further when he says "every exercise is a moving plank."

What does a plank feel like?! And how can you learn to do a plank correctly.

Start with a floor plank!

Lie on your stomach. Your elbows should be under your shoulders (and stay there). Your forearms and hands should be pointing straight ahead. Your feet should be together. Now come up onto your toes.

Now, feel as if you are pulling your elbows towards your hips; also, feel as if you are pulling your kneecaps of your locked knees upwards towards your hips. Squeeze your glutes together as if you want to crush a walnut between them; this helps you position your hips correctly and fire up your abdominal muscles. Look straight ahead at the floor. Your back/spine should take a neutral, relatively straight position. Try to tense your abdominal muscles as hard as you can.

Imagine you want to keep the distance between your pubic bone and navel as short as possible. Hold the position as long as you can. Don't forget to breathe!

Now transfer the floor plank into the standing position of your kettlebell training and learn to build explosive tension. This will not only increase stability, strength, training safety, and power output but also help prevent injuries.

MMA fighters, just like weightlifters, use kettlebell exercises such as swings to increase their hip explosiveness.

Fighters see this as an opportunity to improve the energy transfer of their lower extremities into kicks, punches, or throws and to build explosive power faster.