A GOOD THING: Edition 1
EDITION 1: PLANKS BBS
Welcome to our new weekly blog, A Good Thing.
The first week of January was not an easy one. We want to remind you to be gentle with yourself, little peanuts. Life is so hard right now. Good Time Pilates has decided to take the pressure off this year. The goal is to embrace, accept, and learn about our bodies exactly as they are right now. We want to modify our relationship to movement and exercise away from Punishment and towards Nourishment. Give the power of physical knowledge a chance to shine past some of the darkness clouding our lives.
Our theme for the month of January is ‘New Year, Same Shit”. Each week, the GTP team will be highlighting an exercise we teach often and discussing the form, tips and tricks, and common challenges related to that exercise. No beating ourselves up over crazy goals or bold resolutions, just studying the favorites to help improve our at home practice, one day at a time.
First up: planks.
They always seem to arrive at the worst time in class. A sweat bead dripping down your cheek, you really want to wipe. You're shaking, praying for it to be over. Our first recommendation is to try not to make it worse than it is. Notice if you get into the plank already grumpy. See if you can start with a fake smile, a personal reminder you are strong as hell, and the belief that every plank is worth the fight. Changing your mindset can adjust an exercise dramatically.
The GTP team often chats about how pilates helps with everyday life activities, and plank is the perfect example. Everything revolves around your core. Standing up straight? Thanks core. Walking down the street? Thanks core. Getting off the toilet? Thanks core. As the star of the show, your core wants to have strength and endurance. Planks target core endurance, or the core’s ability to stay turned on and pulled in even though gravity is challenging it to relax and push out. Poor core endurance can lead to pain in your joints, back, and neck, which leads to not feeling like the badass you are!
Even though the core takes a lot of the heat, the entire body is working in our planks. There is a common error of letting our head drop forward and letting our butts lift high. Both of these mistakes show up most often when we are tired. Triple check that your butt stays low in line with your back, keep those eyes lifted towards the front of your mat, and feel that body work. When our body finds optimal alignment in our planks, it helps strengthen our standing/ sitting posture.Any chance we can check in with helping fix our “forward head” tendencies is a win!
Low back pain is extremely common in planks. When our core is still learning to fire correctly, it forgets to engage those lower abdominal muscles. If low back pain is something you feel in your planks, try these tips:
Lift your pelvis a little farther away from the floor, so it feels like it's closer to inline with your shoulders.
Really tilt your pubic bone toward your face.
Give that toosh a little squeeze.
If none of these things help enough, try placing the knees down on the mat and try tips 1-3 again.
Our wrists tend to be cranky as well. If your wrists bug you during planks, try these tips and adjustments to help alleviate that pain:
Make sure shoulders aren't farther forward than your wrist crease. It creates too much flexion at the wrist.
Press into the full palm print to ignite shoulders and upper back for support
Roll your yoga mat backwards, creating less flexion for the wrist
Come to fists flat on the mat
Come all the way down to forearms
Try incorporating some wrist circles into your day
Never be afraid to take any of these modifications, and always take breaks if the pain becomes unbearable. Join us in class this week. Deepen your relationship with your plank and move your bod because it feels good. Check back next weekend to find out next week's focus!
Love,
Sam and Meg
