Have you try a planks? A great alternative to crunches, planks can help improve core strength and stability. Here’s everything you need to know about planks to help keep your tummy tight and your core strong.

Low planks

Lower down to your forearms, maintaining the same positioning and form as the high plank.

High planks

Get into the top or start of a pushup position. Keep your palms and toes firmly planted on the ground, your back straight, and your core tight. A saggy back or bottom during a plank can result in lower back pain later on, so be sure not to compromise your form. Do not let your head sag.

Planks Benefits

• Planks activate more muscles
• Planks can help improve your posture
• Planks can help increase your flexibility
• Planks are easy to modify

Plank is one of the best calorie burning and beneficial exercises. A plank hold engages multiple muscles at once, thereby benefiting the core strength of your body. Not just burning the fat around your abdomen area, they also work by giving you an improved posture, flexibility as well as a tighter tummy. It might look simple but requires a lot of resilience and balance.

This way, the longer you are able to stay in the plank position, the better it is. To lose belly fat, experts suggest that you stick to the goal of holding a plank for about 60 seconds for a minimum of 3 times.

Holding a plank for 60 seconds gives the best results. If you are a beginner, sixty seconds can be a big challenge but you should work on that. In a similar way, even if you are a pro at doing planks, there really is no point holding on to the plank position for more than a minute (unless you are looking to break a record). The idea behind the 60-second hold is that you do the perfect plank hold instead of doing the bare minimum (or too much) for the sake of it.