Does Plank Help In Weight Loss

Aayushi, a 24-year-old girl from Mumbai, is on a constant lookout for some quick weight loss tips to get a slim figure to fit into her dream wedding lehenga. Even after trying different weight loss pills and gymming techniques, she only shed half of her excess weight.

Given this frustration, Aayushi consulted her friend Shreya, a gym instructor, and asked for some weight loss tips. After listening to Aayushi’s plight, Shreya informed Aayushi about planks being an excellent and effective workout for quick weight loss.

So let us now understand what planks are precisely and how do planks help in weight loss. 

What Is Plank?

Before understanding how do planks help in weight loss, it is crucial to understand what precisely a plank is. A plank is a transcendent isometric physical workout that helps strengthen your core muscles by sweating the transversus abdominis muscle. This muscle is accountable for stabilizing and supporting your torso during isometric contractions.

Also, a plank is a well-known bodily exercise that strengthens your core and abdominal area. In addition, a plank can readily assist in improving your posture and reduce the odds of back injuries and lower back pain problems. This exercise not only targets your core area but also helps strengthen your leg and hand muscles.

These planks are pretty well-known as most exercise plans have to include either the traditional plank position or one of its modifications. Mutations of the plank are usually for people who have learned the art of doing the standard plank, and they feel like making their plank a bit more sweating and challenging to burn more calories.

How Long Should You Hold Your Plank Position to Lose Weight?

It might not be wrong to say that the longer you hold a plank position, the more calories you can burn. However, you must note that only doing plank is not enough, and you must likewise know the correct plank position to get the best results. Planks are not the easiest of workouts, and just like any other bodily exercise, you get more skilled at it the more you practice it.

Also, according to various health experts, the duration of your plank hold can vary from 10 seconds to 60 seconds. While it can be challenging for every beginner to remain in a plank position for an entire 60 seconds, you can start with a smaller duration and work yourself up the ladder.

In addition, when planking primarily for weight loss, your butt should never remain in a place higher than the posterior or a manner similar to the downward dog when performing planks. Doing this will prevent your body from engaging your core muscles which is pretty crucial while doing planks.

Hence, it might not be wrong to say that the principal purpose is to keep your butt and back in a line to ensure your abs remain engaged. Moreover, always keep your head straight while planking and never drop your head as it might lead to poor body posture.

How to Effectively Perform a Plank?

It is crucial to understand how to perform a plank accurately as it allows you to relish all the advantages associated with this workout. Also, like any other bodily exercise, maintaining the correct posture while doing a plank is essential to prevent various injuries correlated with performing it wrong. Mentioned hereunder is the accurate way to do a plank hold:

• Begin by kneeling on a yoga mat to prevent elbow injuries.
• Next, place your elbows on the yoga and keep your legs hip-width apart.
• Ensure that you keep your head straight and neck, back, and hips in a straight line to keep your core engaged.
• Hold this plank position for around 10 to 20 seconds.
• To effectively lose weight, you must do three plank sets of 10 to 20 seconds.

What Are the Advantages of Performing a Plank?

Many people who usually question ‘Does plank help in weight loss‘ also remain unaware of other health benefits of a plank. Hence to help you understand this workout better, we have listed some of the top benefits of performing a plank:

• Planks boost your core’s performance. 

Planks are a powerful workout that engages all your core muscles, including your abdomen, glutes, and oblique muscles. Also, having a stable core muscle helps you with various movements and enables you to stabilize, balance, and power your body during several physical activities. Apart from this, a strong core also makes daily activities like resting on the desk all day, standing, or putting on your shoes easy.

• Plank helps in building strength.

Planks are an excellent way to boost strength and improve your muscles’ resistance. Apart from this, a plank can also help you improve your body posture and have a better spinal and upper back alignment.

• Planks reduce the risk of spinal and back injuries

Planks are such excellent isometric exercises that can help you develop muscle all over your body while also ensuring you never put a lot of stress on your backbone and back. Moreover, planking routinely helps build posterior muscles, and these muscles form a stable support for your entire spine to prevent pain and injuries.

Who Should Not Perform Plank Holds?

Even though plank is a transcendent exercise for everyone, certain people must not attempt it. Some of those people are:

• Pregnant women 

While would-be mothers are usually advised to do some physical exercises, they must never attempt doing planks. This is because plank might cause a pregnant woman to lose her balance and fall, adversely affecting her baby.

• People with injuries 

If you are suffering from a new or existing shoulder injury, you must steer clear of planks. Performing planks during an injury can make it worse, leading to permanent damage.

The Bottom Line

After looking at the points above, you might have very well got an answer to your question – does plank help in weight loss. Also, to sum up, we can say that plank for weight loss is an effective exercise that can help you strengthen your core muscles and increase your resting metabolism.

However, while doing a plank hold, always remember to maintain a correct posture and never overdo a plank as it might lead to injuries. Moreover, if you have some existing injuries, you must only perform planks after taking advice from your healthcare experts.