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Lower back, hips, shoulders and wrists

Side Plank: Wall

The gentlest introduction to lateral core activation: the wall supports most of your body weight so you can safely learn to engage your side-body muscles.

Stability / Core20 to 60 seconds
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How to do it

  1. 1

    Stand side on to a wall, an arm's length away

    Feet together, the wall on one side of you.

  2. 2

    Place your hand on the wall at shoulder height

    Arm straight, palm flat. If the straight arm is uncomfortable, put the whole forearm on the wall instead.

  3. 3

    Walk your feet away until your side wakes up

    The distance from the wall sets the difficulty, so move in small steps. Close in is very light, further out asks for more.

  4. 4

    Hold one straight line from heel to head

    Ribs stay lifted, hips stay in line rather than sagging towards the wall.

  5. 5

    Hold 20 to 60 seconds on each side

    Step your feet closer to the wall at any point to make it easier without coming out.

What to watch for

How far your feet are from the wall sets the entire load, so adjust that first instead of gritting through. If your hips push in towards the wall or your ribs collapse down, you have walked out too far.

Other ways to do this movement

Every version below is the same movement set up differently, so one of them usually suits. See all Side 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.

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From the clinically authored Vinys movement library.