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Lower back, neck, hips, shoulders and wrists

Plank: Classic (+ Knees-Down)

Strengthens the muscles that prevent your spine from sagging under load: building the anti-extension stability that protects your back during daily activities.

Stability / Core20 to 45 seconds
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How to do it

  1. 1

    Come to hands and knees, hands under your shoulders

    Fingers spread wide, middle fingers pointing forward, arms straight but elbows not locked.

  2. 2

    Step both feet back into one long line

    Feet about hip width, so heels, hips, shoulders and head make one line. This is the full load version, with nothing on the floor but hands and toes.

  3. 3

    Press the floor away and keep your middle firm

    Push through the whole hand so your chest does not sink between your shoulders. Let your lower ribs settle down and your tail stay in the middle.

  4. 4

    Look at the floor slightly ahead of your hands

    That keeps your neck in line with the rest of your spine rather than craning up or dropping down.

  5. 5

    Hold 20 to 45 seconds, stop before the line goes

    Drop your knees to finish. To make it manageable, work with the knees down, come onto forearms or fists, or put the hands on a chair.

What to watch for

As the arms tire, the hips sink and the lower back quietly takes over the job. Drop your knees the moment the line starts to give, because holding on in a sagging plank is the part that causes trouble.

Ways to adjust it

  • Knees-down
  • Forearm
  • Chair
  • Gaze down
  • Reduce hold time
  • Forearm plank
  • Fists
  • Blocks

If this one is too much today

Try the gentler version instead. It asks less of you and does much the same work.

Other ways to do this movement

Every version below is the same movement set up differently, so one of them usually suits. See all Plank versions in one place, ordered from gentlest to strongest.

Before you try it

Move within a range that stays comfortable. Stop if this brings on sharp pain, dizziness, or symptoms that travel down an arm or a leg, and speak to a clinician before repeating it.

One movement is a start. A session is the thing.

A few questions about your body and how it is today, and Vinys builds a session around it, including which movements to leave out.

Start your first session

From the clinically authored Vinys movement library.