Front Plank

Set the forearms on the floor (elbows under shoulders), legs extended, weight on forearms and toes. Brace the whole trunk (bracing) and create a straight line from head to heels: ribs down, glutes (gluteus-maximus) squeezed, pelvis neutral (slightly posterior to avoid arching), neck neutral (gaze at the floor just ahead). Hold while breathing shallowly behind the brace.

The plank trains anti-extension core stability (see anti-movement-concepts): gravity pulls the hips toward the floor, tending to extend/arch the lumbar spine, and the trunk musculature (rectus-abdominis, transverse-abdominis, obliques) must resist that and keep the spine neutral (see spine-positioning).

Coaching:

• The most common fault is the hips sagging (lumbar arch) — reset or stop the set when form breaks.
• The second fault is hips piking up too high — keep the body in one line.
• Quality time-under-tension with good position beats long sloppy holds.

Progressions (see plank, balance-training-progression): increase hold time → reduce base (lift one leg or one arm) → add a "body-saw" rock → elevate feet → place forearms on an unstable surface → progress to side plank (exercise-side-plank) for anti-lateral-flexion. Regression: plank from the knees, or hands elevated on a bench.

• Forearm/toe hold, straight head-to-heel line, braced neutral spine.
• Trains anti-extension core stability (isometric).
• Faults: hips sagging (arch) or piking; stop the set when form breaks.
• Progress: longer holds → lift a limb → body-saw → feet elevated → unstable surface → side plank. Regress: from knees or hands-elevated.

• core-stability-vs-strength — flagship stability hold.
• anti-movement-concepts — anti-extension category.
• bracing — the technique that makes it work.
• exercise-side-plank — anti-lateral-flexion partner.
• plank — bodyweight progression methodology.