Side Plank

The Side Plank is a bodyweight core exercise where you hold your body straight while supported on one forearm and the side of one foot. It trains your obliques, glutes, and the muscles around your trunk and hips that keep your pelvis and spine stable.

Lie on your side with your legs straight and stacked. Prop yourself up on your forearm so your elbow sits directly under your shoulder. Place your top hand on your hip or rest it along your side. Stack your shoulders and hips so one side of your body faces the floor and the other faces the ceiling.

Push the floor away through your forearm and lift your hips off the ground. Keep lifting until your body forms one straight line from your head to your heels. Keep your shoulders and hips stacked, your hips high, and your glutes squeezed. Hold this position without letting your hips sag or stick out.

Breathe normally and brace your trunk as if someone is about to press into your side. To make the exercise easier, bend your bottom knee to 90 degrees and leave it on the floor while you lift your hips. To make it harder, raise your top leg a few inches or hold the position longer while keeping good form.

Fault: The hips sag or drop toward the floor. Fix: Lift your hips high, squeeze your glutes, and form one straight line from head to heels.

Fault: The shoulders or hips twist so they are no longer stacked. Fix: Keep your supporting shoulder over your elbow and your hips stacked one above the other.

Fault: The upper body sinks into the supporting shoulder. Fix: Push the floor away through your forearm and stay tall through your shoulder and trunk.