The “Superman Plank Hold” is a bad ass variation of the plank. This is a KILLER ab, core, trunk, or whatever you want to call it exercise. It’s a great exercise to start adding into your own routine, not only because it’s great for your core/trunk but it’s SUPER easy to implement, meaning you can literally do this anywhere- hotel, apartment, crowded gym etc… , it’s a great progression or change up from the regular plank, and you look like a bad ass when you do it!
How to:
Place your hands on to a stable object then slowly walk your feet. The only caveat is to make sure you’re on a surface you won’t slip on…otherwise…
Adjustment:
To make this a bit easier, you can do a few things:
- Have a partner stand behind you and press into your foot. This will give you a stronger stable surface = easier to stay up.
- Don’t go as low. Pretty simple 🙂 After a few training sessions, start to decrease the height and you’ll be looking like superman in no time!
Programming:
Depending on your focus, I would recommend to have a minimum of 20 sec of 3-6 sets for this exercise. If it’s initially too tough you can break it up into clusters, ex: 3×10(3) with a 5sec rest. This means 1 set will be executed like so, superman plank 10 sec, rest 5sec, superman plank 10 sec, rest 5 sec, superman plank 10sec, now you’ve completed ONE set, take the allotted rest time and then start your second set.
Programming Placement:
Typically I like to add in any trunk stabilization exercise at the end of the workout. Mainly because we don’t want to tire out the trunk before or during compound exercises like the squat, deadlift, power clean, jerks, etc… Doing so will limit the efficiency of the movement and pre-fatigue your core before a big lift = unsafe and decreases performance levels.
Example Strength Workout:
- Hang Above the Knee Power Clean 4×3
- Back Squat 4×5
- Bench+ Rows 3×10
- Push Ups + Inverted Rows 3×15
- Waiter Walks 3x20yards
- Superman Planks 4x30sec
- ESD (8 mins)
Go out and give this a try and let us know how it went!
Train smart,