Boards Aren’t Everything, so You Can Do Push-Ups
Within a (thankfully) hot minute, the boards reached viral status as everyone tried to board ridiculous surfaces. In fitness, theplank is a normal abdominal exercise , but there is no need to think of it as “one ab exercise that drives them all.” You might be better off doing push-ups, which are basically a bar with a lined bar.
The plank is effective for activating many abdominal muscles and increasing overall stability, but Born Fitness’s Adam Bornstein is banking on a very popular ab exercise: he essentially echoes the opinion of many fitness trainers that if your goal is abs on the cover of a magazine … , the boards alone will not get you there. He notes that they are not always included in a person’s training for the right reason.
Martin Rooney , another highly respected strength coach, contributed to the discussion by stating that the plank is not as effective or difficult as it could be. He continues:
Wherever I go in the world, when I have people doing push-ups, which are essentially a bar with a lot of upper body muscle engagement, people sag at the waist and cannot use the most important equipment they have. : your own body.
So, instead of mindlessly holding onto a bar for a few minutes, why not try push-ups at the same time instead? You are doing the same basic job, but at the same time you gain strength, burn more calories, increase mental resilience and at the same time create the confidence that comes with it …
In other words, you can get more out of your push-ups: work on your core set and improve upper body strength.
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