Ask a Yoga Teacher: Plank Pose
#2 in this series. Ask your yoga questions and I will answer them!
Plank pose/Phalakasana is one of my favorite yoga poses for so many reasons. For a relatively simple pose, there is a lot going on. You use your entire body simultaneously, and it’s an incredibly strengthening pose for the core, upper and lower body. However, there are a million ways for things to go sideways if you are not paying attention. In this discussion I will offer modifications and other related poses to help you feel Plank pose and do it with the body that you have.
Let’s break it down.
Plank pose/Phalakasana
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, all yoga poses are connected to other yoga poses. Plank pose is no different. Mountain pose/Tadasana and Table pose/Bharmanasana are both part of Plank pose. Plank is Mountain pose with a different orientation to the floor, and Plank is Table with the legs extended. You’ll apply many alignment principles from both Mountain and Table in Plank pose.
I’ve discussed Mountain pose here and here if you want to review. The highlights that you want to keep in mind are to engage the quads, glutes, inner thighs, pelvic floor, and lower abdominals, while feeling the top of the head and heels reaching away from each other.
Table pose relates mostly to the upper body with regard to Plank pose. In Table, you stack the shoulders over the wrists and spread the fingers out wide on the floor so that your entire palm presses into the mat. Your shoulder blades are neutral on your back, with your back flat. You don’t want to round your back for Plank pose, nor do you in Table. They are right in the center, neither pulling apart, pushing together, raised or lowered. Just in the center.
Moving into Plank pose
Start in Table pose, fingers spread, middle fingers are parallel to each other. Spin the elbow creases forward to feel your posterior shoulder engage (infraspinatus, teres minor, and posterior deltoid). Your shoulder blades are neutral.
Extend your right leg back and place the ball of the foot on the floor. Feel the quads and glutes turn on. Stand on your right foot to extend the left leg back so that you are in Plank pose. Feel the top of the head and heels pressing away from each other.
Your gaze (Drishti) is slightly forward of your fingertips so that your head is in line with your spine. If you look between your hands or at your feet, your neck is collapsing, and probably other parts of you are too.
Your whole body should be working, from your head to your feet. You don’t want to feel tense, just active. Hold 3-5 breaths, then rest in Child’s pose. Repeat, this time extending the left foot back first.
Things to keep in mind
I have seen many “variations” of Plank pose over the years. Hopefully by following the directions above you won’t make them, but bodies sometimes do things we don’t intend for them to do. Here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Make sure you are in a straight line, like Mountain pose, from your head to your heels. Your hips should be lower than your shoulders, but higher than your feet. Think about pressing your hips toward the floor while pressing your thighs toward the ceiling.
- Keep your spine flat, like in Table pose. You don’t want to round the spine or squeeze the shoulder blades together. You can press the shoulder blades slightly toward your waist to ensure you aren’t shrugging.
- Stack your shoulders over your wrists so that there is a plumb line from the shoulder joint through the wrist joint. If the arms are too far forward or backward it will be much more effort to hold yourself up. The plumb line allows you to use gravity in your favor.
- Don’t forget to use your legs. Plank becomes much heavier when your legs just dangle back there. As a reminder to use your legs, place a block or rolled up towel between your thighs. Plank becomes much lighter when you engage your glutes, inner thighs, and quads.
Modifications
There are many ways to modify Plank pose to make it more doable in the body that you have. If you have wrist or shoulder problems that you work with, you can take plank against the wall or use a chair to take some of the pressure off of the arms. Play with how far back you can walk your feet. The closer your feet are to the wall or chair, the easier it will be. As it gets easier, walk your feet further back from the chair or the wall.
You can also do plank on your forearms instead of your palms, making the forearms parallel to each other, palms pressing into the floor. Placing a block between your hands can help keep the proper outward rotation of the upper arms. This variation can also be done against a wall or on a chair.
If your wrists are okay but you lack the strength for holding a full Plank pose, take Half Plank with your knees on the floor (this can also be done on your forearms). This shortens your lever to take some of the weight out of the pose. Be sure to engage all the same muscles as Plank pose, while extending your head away from your knees.
Watch this video where I walk you through Plank pose and modifications!
Do you have questions about a yoga pose that you struggle with? Ask in the comments below or in the chat! Once a month I will break down a pose to help you find that pose in your body.
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Living Yoga: One Yoga Teacher’s Journey to Surrender is a book about the first 2 limbs of yoga, Yama and Niyama. Yoga is more than poses on the mat. Yoga is a science of how to live in the world with more peace and ease. Through self-inquiry, non-harming, gratitude, and other yogic principles, we learn to let go of our stories and feel more whole within ourselves.
Janine Agoglia is a GenX yoga instructor who has been practicing yoga since 1995. Yoga has helped her let go of perfectionism, anxiety, and depression, and navigate the challenges of life. Through honest reflections, humor, and owning her humanity, Janine shares her bumpy and unskillful journey to finding peace and surrender. Her explanations of these ideas are meant to help you live your yoga practice more fully and completely, and find peace and balance in your day to day life.
