Plank exercise: Plank Pose (Phalakasana)

Pronunciation and meaning

Phalakasana: pah-luh-KAHS-uh-nuh. Four syllables before the asana, with the stress on the third.

The plank exercise holds the body in one long, firm line from the crown of the head to the heels, supported on the hands or forearms and the toes, like a board resting on two supports. In yoga it is Phalakasana, from phalaka, plank or board, and asana, posture.

How to do Plank Pose

1. Come to hands and knees with your wrists under your shoulders and your fingers spread wide, the middle fingers pointing forward.
2. Press the whole palm down, especially the base of the index finger, and gently draw the shoulder blades away from your ears.
3. Step one foot back and then the other, resting on the balls of the feet with the legs straight and about hip-width apart.
4. Lift the front of the thighs, press back through the heels and draw the lower belly lightly in, so the hips sit level with the shoulders.
5. Keep the back of the neck long and look at the floor slightly ahead of your hands. Hold for three to five steady breaths.
6. Lower the knees to the mat to come out, then sit back into Child's Pose and shake out the wrists.

Make it easier

• Lower both knees to the mat and keep a straight line from the knees to the head. The shape is the same, with less weight to carry.
• If your wrists complain, come down onto the forearms with the elbows under the shoulders, or roll the front edge of the mat under the heels of your hands.

Pregnancy and after birth

Pregnancy. Adapt. Keep the knees down or put your hands on a wall or a chair, and stop if you see the centre of the belly dome or cone as you hold. Hold for fewer breaths than you used to, and check with your OB or midwife that this kind of core work suits your pregnancy.

After birth. Adapt. Wait until your doctor or midwife clears you for core work, then start with an incline plank against a wall or a counter. Watch the midline of the belly and choose an easier angle if it bulges or pushes out.

For more on practising through pregnancy, see Joahnna Lee Yoga.

Common mistakes

• Letting the hips sag toward the floor so the lower back takes the weight. Lift the thighs and the lower belly to bring the line back.
• Piking the hips up high. That turns the pose into a half Downward Dog and switches off the work in the middle of the body.
• Placing the hands too far forward. Stack wrists under shoulders, or the shoulders end up doing all the work.

The plank exercise is one of the most familiar strength holds in any gym or home workout, and in yoga it is Plank Pose. Plank is the doorway between standing and lying down in most Vinyasa sequences, and it shows up in every Sun Salutation. It is a strength posture more than a flexible one, and the work is spread across the arms, the shoulders, the belly and the legs at once.

In a Vinyasa practice it is worth starting with the knees down, so the line is right before the shape gets longer. To practise it inside a flow, the sun salutation timer paces each round.

How is a yoga plank different from a gym plank exercise?

The shape is the same. The difference is mostly in the timing and the focus. A gym plank is often timed in seconds or minutes, usually on the forearms. A yoga plank is usually held on straight arms for a few breaths, then flows on into the next pose. Counting breaths rather than seconds gives you a built-in check: if the breath turns short, the hold is over.

Once Plank feels steady, turning onto one hand for Side Plank asks the same muscles to hold you on your edge, and turning face up gives you Reverse Plank, Purvottanasana, which works the back of the body instead.

Lowering halfway from here, elbows hugging the ribs, is Chaturanga, the low plank of a flowing class.