Be Well Workout of the Week: Plank it Out

Shutterstock

This week: planks. You’ve got five round of exercises, each round separated by a minute-long plank. You’ll do each exercise for 30 seconds, then you’ll plank it out, for a total of five full minutes of planking. You’ll thank me later.

Round 1 (Do 30 seconds of each exercise)
Squats
Push-ups
Reverse lunge
60-second plank

Round 2 (Do 30 seconds of each exercise)
Push-ups
Reverse lunge
Lat pulldown (using a band)
60-second plank

Round 3 (Do 30 seconds of each exercise)
Reverse lunge
Lat pull down
Burpees
60-second plank

Round 4 (Do 30 seconds of each exercise)
Lat pull down
Burpees
Ski jumpers
60-second plank

Round 5 (Do 30 seconds of each exercise)
Burpees
Ski jumpers
Chest flies (using band)
60-second plank

Explanations of exercises: 

Squat: Stand with your feet just a bit wider than shoulder widt and your toes slightly turned outward. Keeping your weight in your heels, bending at the knees and lower until your quads are parallel to the floor. Keep your back as upright as possible. Straighten legs and come back to the starting position.

Push-up: Start lying face down with your chest on the floor, with hands facing forward and palms down in line with your shoulders; elbows should be pointing back. Push up until arms are extended (the inside of the elbow should be facing forward) and drop back down.

Reverse lunge: Start standing upright with your feet together. Take a wide step backward with one foot, sitting down into your hips and bracing your core. Push with your lead leg to return to center. (Do these faster by alternating your arms as you would when you run.)

Plank: Get in push-up position, resting on your elbows; keep back, hips, and legs in a straight line. Hold.

Lat pulldown with band: Holding the resistance band in each hand, pull your arms from overhead straight down. Return to start and repeat.

Burpees: Just like an up-down in football. Put your hands on the ground, jump your feet out behind you so you’re in push-up position, hit your chest to the ground, and bring your feet back in, stand up.

Ski jumpers: Start in a skier’s stance (like a squat, but bent forward at the waist slightly). Using your arms for momentum, jump up and to the left, landing on both feet. Jump to the right. Repeat.

Chest fly: Lying on your back on a bench, hold a dumbbell in each hand and extend your arms out from your body so you form a T; palms should be facing up toward the ceiling. This is your starting position. Without locking elbows, raise your arms so they meet together in front of you, knuckles touching, squeezing your chest as you do so. Lower and return to the starting position.

…………..

Audrey McKenna Hasse is the owner of A.M.Fit a personal training and healthy consultation business on the Main Line. You’ll find her workouts every Monday right here on Be Well Philly.