by Josh Henkin, CSCS
It is one of the most fundamental differences between the concepts of functional training versus bodybuilding. That is having one exercise that builds upon another, something very unique to functional training. Far too often, we see one exercise that builds a quality and only think of it in isolated terms. Which is a trap that makes functional training sometimes fall along the lines of more of a bodybuilding mentality.
What’s a great example? There is few better than I could think of than the classic plank. Obviously the plank is not new or novel to pretty much anyone. Ask most fitness professionals to the point of the plank and you will get a range of answers ranging from, “core stability”, to “teaching tension.” Neither are these are bad reasons to perform planks, but if we dive deeper we see a much greater purpose to the plank.
Building Healthier Shoulders
A benefit to planking that most never realize is the impact in building stronger and healthier shoulders. How could that be? Whether it is teaching how to create strength in pretty much any pressing movement, or improving mobility in commonly problematic areas like the thoracic spine, the lessons we gain from proper planking become very important.
How does that work? One of the easiest answers is using the PNF concept of “proximal stability for distal mobility”. The idea that the more stable our body finds our the trunk protecting our spine, the more “permission” our nervous system gives in moving the hips and shoulders in greater ranges of motion.
Part of the stability comes from the full body tension or “bracing” that spinal expert, Dr. Stuart McGill, states is a foundational goal of the plank. The bracing helps create that spinal stability and the full body tension links all the kinetic chains of the body. Think about most pressing activities, since the shoulders sit upon our trunk, hips, and even lower body, if these areas of our body are not integrated, we lose the foundation from the shoulders to perform.
Additionally, we know that glutes are connected to the trunk via the thoracolumbar fascia to the opposing lats to create the Posterior Oblique System (POS). Since the lats have a direct relationship with our shoulders, it makes sense that connecting this chain in the plank will help us develop greater strength of our shoulders.
Planks Aren’t Just For The Ground
With all those important attributes of the plank, it seems like a no brainer to implement and spend time teaching properly. However, most fitness professionals run into several issues even though you probably already knew planks were important.
The greatest issue for most professionals is that their clients don’t come in with a level of fitness that allows them to properly plank on the ground. That leads to people either compensating with high hips or inappropriate shoulder positioning and not getting the benefit of the plank, or they take people to a position like the knees where they can’t develop the proper tension.
The answer lies in how we can use tools like a suspension trainer to manipulate the intensity and loading of the plank while helping us teach the important full body tension. During such drills we can even use small progressions to help teach qualities that will have a direct carry over to correct pressing technique.
As we build such a plank, we want to take those lessons and increased fitness to more dynamic actions. The whole reason I am emphasizing pressing, especially overhead pressing, is because such movements are simply extended planks. Taking a weight overhead requires us to develop ground tension, stability through the hips and trunk all to develop a stable platform for the shoulders to demonstrate their strength.
We don’t move from having a plank to complex pressing drills though. Having a system of progression allows us to incrementally move people into environments and positions that reinforce the concepts of the plank as we build that press. What we cover in this month’s Metabolic Stability is going through the cues and progressions that allow us to produce so much more success and greater results in our training.
Being intentional with these movements helps us have clients understand what these exercises teach in using our body smarter. They don’t become JUST another core exercise, or upper body drill, they become far more valuable in how we deliver a greater experience to our clients.