Lower back, neck, shoulders and wrists

Plank: Forearm

Provides the same spinal stability challenge as a classic plank while removing all load from your wrists, making it ideal if your hands are sensitive.

How to do it

1. 1

   Set your forearms down with elbows under your shoulders

   Forearms parallel to each other, palms down or hands lightly clasped. Nothing here rests on the wrists, which is the reason this version exists.

2. 2

   Step your feet back into one long line

   Feet hip width, heels, hips, shoulders and head in a line. The demand through your middle is the same as the hands version.

3. 3

   Press your forearms down and stay broad

   Push your elbows and forearms into the floor so your chest lifts away rather than sinking between your shoulders.

4. 4

   Hold for 20 to 45 seconds, then lower

   For less, drop the knees while keeping the forearms down, or put the forearms on a chair seat. Reducing the hold time is a real option, not a compromise.

What to watch for

The chest sinking between the shoulders, which is comfortable to miss because the forearms make such a wide, comfortable base. Keep pushing the floor away, and come out when the shoulder blades collapse together.

Ways to adjust it

• Knees-down forearm
• Chair
• Reduce hold time

If this one is too much today

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

• Plank: Incline Chair

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.

• Plank: Classic (+ Knees-Down)
• Plank: Incline Chair
• Plank: Wall

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.

From the clinically authored Vinys movement library.