Side Plank Raise

What is Side Plank Raise:

The Side Plank Raise is a lateral spinal flexion exercise, primarily working the obliques. It involves holding a side plank position and raising and lowering the hips in a controlled manner.

Key Benefits:

  • Size and Strength: Works primarily the obliques, promoting muscle growth and strength improvement.
  • Hip Mobility and Stability: The exercises use the hip muscles for stability, especially the hip abductors and adductors (when the top leg is also used for balance), strengthening these muscles and improving hip mobility.
  • Functional Strength: Improves lateral spinal flexion strength, spinal rotation strength, core stability, hip mobility, and overall fitness, improving performance in daily activities and sports.
  • Convenience: This exercise can be performed virtually anywhere without equipment, making it accessible and convenient for most individuals.

Variations:

  • Heel Tap: A simple obliques exercise that involves lying on your back and crunching your obliques by tapping your heels / lateral flexion.
  • Russian Twist: A core exercise that targets the obliques through controlled twisting motions of the torso.
  • Copenhagen Plank Raise: A similar exercise with differences in the leg position and more demand in the hip adductors.
  • Floor Windshield Wiper: A core exercise that primarily targets the obliques performed lying on your back and moving the lower body sideways, like a windshield wiper.

How to perform Side Plank Raises:

  • Starting Position: Begin in a side plank position with your arms straight or on your forearms flat on the floor, as well as with your feet stacked or staggered and your body in a straight line.
  • Execution: Relax your core and lower your hips towards the ground, then engage and raise them back up to the starting position, holding the top position briefly.
  • Repetition: Repeat the movement for your desired number of repetitions.

Breathing Technique:

Proper breathing is crucial for maximizing performance and maintaining stamina throughout the exercise. Experiment with what you're comfortable with and let you perform your best. For starters, you can try the following:

  • Inhale: Inhale at the starting position and at the relaxed/bottom position before starting the concentric phase.
  • Exhale: Exhale at the end position of each side.
  • Stability Issue: The point of the exercise is to challenge the obliques through spinal lateral flexions and not the instability of the body position. So, feel free to use your non-supporting arm and both legs to support your body if needed.
  • Scapular Engagement: Maintain scapular depression with neutral protraction/retraction throughout the movement to make the exercise execution more efficient.
  • Shoulder Rotation: Maintain slight shoulder external rotation for more efficient and safer exercise execution.
  • Pelvic Position: Maintain a neutral pelvic tilt for optimal core engagement and stability.
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    Additional Information:

    Ways to make it easier:

    • Decreasing the Range of Motion - partial reps, only go as far as you can handle
    • Doing it with your other hand on the ground or holding onto something for support
    • Elevating your upper body
    • Regressing to an easier variation/exercise

    Ways to make it harder:

    • Playing with the Tempo & adding an Isometric phase (pause/hold)
    • Contracting your obliques as much as possible
    • Elevating your feet until your body is horizontally aligned
    • Doing it on your elbow
    • Adding resistance - holding a dumbbell or something on your side
    • Progressing to a harder variation/exercise