Planking Mistakes You Don’t Know You’re Making – And How To Fix Them

Walk into any gym and you’ll find several people doing the same exercise with a variety of different techniques. Stance changes, limb movement angles, and breathing patterns tend to be three big variables. With this, it’s sometimes hard to know which technique is correct, especially as a beginner.

The plank exercise is a simple movement requiring you to hold your body in a prone position facing the floor. However, it’s easy to get wrong if you don’t follow the correct technique cues.

Correct technique is important as it ensures target muscle engagement and reduces injury risk. To keep you on the right track, we’ve put together a guide on improper plank form. We’ll look at ten common mistakes and describe how to fix them. Whether you’re an experienced plank holder or a total beginner, we’re sure there’ll be something here to help you!

Improper Plank Form — 10 To Look Out For

If you want to achieve some of the many benefits of planks, take note of these common mistakes. Here’s what they are and how to fix them. 

Arching Your Back 

If we had to pick the most common plank mistake, this would be it. As your core starts to fatigue during the hold, it’s common to bring the lower back into an arched position. 

This takes your body out of a straight alignment and reduces core activation. Furthermore, it increases lower back stress and injury risk as your lower back works harder to maintain the correct position. 

Holding Your Breath

Oxygen is a vital nutrient needed by our muscles and brains during exercise. It’s provided when we breathe in and out. 

When bracing your core, holding your breath is a common mistake. As you inhale, your abdomen should expand. As you exhale, your belly button should go towards your spine and your ribs should come down to create tension.  

Not breathing properly may cause you to feel faint, take away muscle engagement, and cause injury. 

Hiking Or Sagging Your Hips

Holding a straight plank position requires your core to work against gravity. During the hold period, raising your hips or letting them sag is a common way to give yourself a rest. This can often happen without you realizing it. 

Doing this reduces core engagement and puts more stress on your upper body. This unstable body position may cause imbalance and increase injury risk. 

Hiking Your Butt

Raising your butt into the air is a common mistake that results from poor core strength or possibly lazy form. It’s quite similar to hiking your hips, but instead, your butt is the highest point. When this happens, your butt sticks up in the air to form an inverted V-shape. 

Similar to hiking your hips, this can cause reduced exercise focus and increased lower back stress.

In a recent challenge, I looked at the plank benefits after 30 days. Not hiking my butt in the air was something I often struggled with towards the end of each set. 

Sinking Your Shoulders

Performing the plank correctly requires full body coordination. This means your upper body position is just as important as your lower body position. Think of your body as a whole, interconnected unit. 

Shoulder injuries account for 7.4% of all weightlifting injuries. Because of this, focus should be placed on their position during all exercises, including the plank. 

Sinking your shoulders occurs when your shoulder blades come towards the floor. This may happen if you fail to maintain upper body stability or try to readjust your position during the hold.  

Doing this increases shoulder stress and reduces the stable trunk position. This can cause possible shoulder injuries if not suitably addressed. 

Locking Your Knees

Maintaining a straight line is one of the main technique cues when holding the plank position. This means that your head, hips, legs, and feet should be in line with each other. 

As part of this, your knees should be straight enough to allow a straight leg position without overextending or locking. 

Locking your knees occurs when your legs are too straight during the hold. This places more stress on your knee joints which may cause injury. Alongside this, it can reduce core engagement as you take more tension in your lower body rather than your core. 

Looking Up Or Down 

Proper plank form requires you to keep your head and neck in a neutral position. This means that they should naturally follow the line of your body.

Looking up or down are two common examples of incorrect head and neck positioning. This is one of the most common examples seen alongside an arched back. This tends to happen when straining to maintain the correct torso position.

Bringing your head up or down causes your neck muscles to strain to maintain the position. This increases neck stress and the risk of neck strain and injury. 

With the high prevalence of desk-based jobs and technology, the neck and head are already under increased stress. Examples of common postural conditions include forward head posture.

Because of this, maintaining the correct head and neck positions during exercises such as the plank is vital.

Poor Hand Or Elbow Placement

When performing the plank, you have three main contact points. 

For your lower body, your feet will always touch the ground. Your upper body contact points can be your hands or your elbows. This depends on whether you’re performing the high plank or elbow plank, respectively. 

Your hands or elbows are your main upper body contact point. Where you place them determines the stress placed on your body. 

Placing your hands or elbows too far in or too wide is a common issue. This causes an unstable body position and takes focus from the core. In some cases, it may also place unnecessary stress on the shoulders.

Incorrect Leg Positioning

Your legs are one-half of your body, making up a large proportion of the plank position. They’re also the main contact point that always stays constant in most plank variations. 

Placing your legs too far out reduces the balance requirement and, therefore, core activation. This might be an option for beginners or as an easier variation, but not for normal performance. 

Planking For Too Long 

Plank challenges are a great way to enjoy exercise and challenge yourself. I performed one myself not too long ago. However, it doesn’t mean to say that you need to plank for longer and longer periods. 

Generally speaking, quality should always be prioritized over quantity. This applies to resistance exercises alongside other aspects of life.

Holding a plank for too long will inevitably lead to poor form. As discussed above, this takes away focus from the primary movers and increases injury risk. 

If you can hold a plank for long periods without form breakdowns, it’s time for a harder variation. 

We cover how long you should hold a plank in a separate article. Have a read and put the information together with these handy tips. 

Tips To Maintain Proper Plank Form

• Use The Help Around You — Exercising with a partner provides added enjoyment and motivation. Use them to check your plank form after learning the common mistakes above. Alternatively, use a mirror and check your form if you’re training alone. 
• Record A Video — If you don’t have access to a partner or mirror, set up your phone and record a video. Watch the video and check for any of the common mistakes listed above. Work on correcting them and film yourself again to check your progress. 
• Place A Foam Roller Or Stick On Your Back — One of the technique cues is to keep a straight line from your head to your heels. Place a foam roller or stick on your back and keep it from rolling off. This may help to fix several of the common problems listed above. 
• Use A Mat With Alignment Marks — Using a mat with alignment marks can provide handy reference points to learn the correct form. Practice like this before transitioning to no marks. During this, slowly take marks away and monitor form. 
• Think About The Muscles You’re Working — Your core muscles are the primary movers when holding the plank. Thinking about activating them as you plank helps to increase muscle engagement. This is known as building a mind-muscle connection. 

Conclusion

The plank movement offers several useful benefits when performed correctly. These include better core stability, improved posture, and enhanced elements of sports performance. However, these won’t occur if you don’t use the correct form. 

The ten plank mistakes discussed below are the most common ones to look out for. Suitably addressing them can help to improve muscle engagement and reduce injury risk. 

With this, we hope that these mistakes and tips have been beneficial for you to learn. The plank is an amazing movement when you learn the correct technique. Put these tips into action and have a go yourself! 

Frequently Asked Questions