Plank issues

[nutbar]

I did planks for the first time yesterday and they hurt my back very badly. My spine, right at the back of my waist, burned like heck.

I can do all kinds of ab stuff without problems and am fairly strong in that area so is this just muscle weakness in my lower back? Are there exercises I can add in in order to build up this area? Cuz, man, it did not hurt in a good way. I did keep straight as a board (hubby watched me) with no movement (until I gave out completely) so I assume I wasn't doing too much wrong. 30 seconds was the longest I could go and that only one time. The rest had to be done in 15, 10, and 5 second spurts.

I hate feeling pathetic. LOL

[fengshway]

oh diane, so pathetic that you deadlift more than my weight for reps. girl! you better quit with the self verbal flogging. planks are about total core strength, and sometimes there are muscle imbalances just like quad dominance versus ham dominance--abs can be stronger than obliques or back, etc. hopefully lisa and julie will chime in with the real story. but gosh, don't push through bad pain. back off and do shorter bouts but more of them and build slowly.

[rixatrix]

Haha, yeah, that pathetic feeling sucks right now, but remember this - you make faster gains when you start something new than you do when you've done something for a while. So I'll bet your plank will improve rapidly - you'll be up to a minute in no time. That is, if they don't hurt you.

When you say your back was burning, what do you mean exactly? Did it feel sore from another day? Or was it a fresh hurting?

[kfisherx]

Yeah I agree. It is a core strength thing. Happens to be an area that is easy for me. But I cannot deadlift my weight yet. Have you ever done Pilates? I did Pilates 2x a week for 1.5 years to get my core strong and I truely believe that is why Planks are not so hard for me.

[nutbar]

When I say my back was burning, that's exactly what I meant. LOL Like someone took a red-hot poker and shoved it into my spine. Yep, I've done Pilates (but not consistently) as well as other core work for a couple of years. I did planks last year (not terribly often, though) and didn't have this problem.

So, just a guess here: It might just be an overlooked, formerly-unnoticed weak spot of mine and maybe I tweaked something just enough during my "rest" week (ended yesterday) that's now bringing it to my attention. My back doesn't hurt at all, only when I did the planks.

Or not. Who knows? LOL Regardless, I'm going to keep on keeping on with the planks, as well as try to find some exercises that could further strengthen that area.

[Lisa~]

You should never feel planks in your low back, ever, not during execution or afterward in DOMS. It's a sign that technique was off. Even though you stayed "straight as a board" you were not in correct pelvic tilt from the get-go. You were in anterior pelvic tilt. If you know what I mean, I can probably stop there. Let me know if I need to explain further.

Set up in a posterior pelvic tilt for the plank and maintain that position throughout. You should feel your rectus abdominis first, then you'll find your obliques, then finally your serratus (under your arm pits). If you ever feel anything in your back, then you've changed your body position and you need to either correct it or, if you can't correct it, terminate the set.

[nutbar]

Originally Posted by Lisa~

You were in anterior pelvic tilt. If you know what I mean, I can probably stop there. Let me know if I need to explain further.

Set up in a posterior pelvic tilt

You're a stinkin' genius. I was so busy trying to keep myself straight that I paid no attention to that. I just did an easy 30 seconds without any cussing. Thanks once again, Lisa!

[baffled111]

Could you explain, Lisa? I've noticed that I start feeling planks in my lower back about 30-40 seconds in. I thought it was just that my abs were giving out and so my lower back was jumping in to help out. I'm wrong? What should I be doing differently?

Thanks!

[Lisa~]

Originally Posted by baffled111

Could you explain, Lisa? I've noticed that I start feeling planks in my lower back about 30-40 seconds in. I thought it was just that my abs were giving out and so my lower back was jumping in to help out. I'm wrong? What should I be doing differently?

Thanks!

Well, you're right that your abs were giving out and your lower back was jumping in to help out, but we don't want to allow that to happen. When you feel yourself unable to maintain posterior pelvic tilt, you either have to correct your pelvic position or terminate the set.

Does that answer your question? Or do you want me to go into a long explanation of what anterior/posterior pelvic tilt is?

[baffled111]

Sorry. I don't know what you mean by pelvic tilt, except that I assume you mean that my pelvis is tilting the wrong way. Can I have the longer explanation? (Sorry!)

[Lisa~]

Originally Posted by baffled111

Sorry. I don't know what you mean by pelvic tilt, except that I assume you mean that my pelvis is tilting the wrong way. Can I have the longer explanation? (Sorry!)

Mike Robertson does a great job of explaining the importance of maintaining a neutral pelvic position in his must-read article Hips Don't Lie: Fixing Your Force Couples.

The goal for all your time outside the gym and for perfect posture on most lifts is neutral pelvic alignment. The only exercises where we don't want neutral posture are abdominal exercises. In the plank, we want to flatten the back just slightly by moving into posterior pelvic tilt and maintaining that pelvic position throughout the timed set. Cues to get you into that position might be sucking your belly button in and/or tucking your tailbone under.



After you read the article, let me know if you've got any further questions.

[Sparkly*Serenity]

^^ Totally agree w/ Lisa and before you posted that, that was exactly what I was thinking.
Thinking of ant tilt as "cow"/arching and post tilt as "cat"/rounding if that helps. Try setting yourself in more of a tucked in "cat".

It sounds like some of your paraspinals were working overtime instead of your deeper Ab muscles kicking in. And with all the "back" exercises you do, it sounds like an Ab "thing". It's still a "core" issue.
I would recommend to someone less experienced to feel the correct posture on knees first, but I'm like you and want to PUSH IT. (but not always; I did knee-down side planks for years before I decided to try full planks and w/in weeks I'm doing full "yoga" expression of leg and arm up as well )

Hey, look at you! 30 seconds is a GREAT, 100% improvement.

[Lisa~]

Originally Posted by Sparkly*Serenity

I would recommend to someone less experienced to feel the correct posture on knees first, but I'm like you and want to PUSH IT.

Planks or side planks, or even push-ups, from the knees are frequently recommended, but I rather see someone use an inclined version of these movements instead of shortening the lever arm by doing them from the knees. The "feel" of the movement is really different when you do them from the knees vs from the feet.

The book shows front planks with your elbows on a bench (p. 212). You can do side planks that way too. And just like the 45-degree push-up (rather than a push-up from the knees), it'll get you to the full version sooner.

[Sparkly*Serenity]

Abs-solutely!!! (yeah, pun intended. I'm so funny)

[Bonnie]

Originally Posted by Lisa~

Set up in a posterior pelvic tilt for the plank and maintain that position throughout. You should feel your rectus abdominis first, then you'll find your obliques, then finally your serratus (under your arm pits). If you ever feel anything in your back, then you've changed your body position and you need to either correct it or, if you can't correct it, terminate the set.

Lisa, should I apply this posture to pushups as well to solve a similar problem, only with pushups?

The weakest point of my pushups is my lower back. If I do them on the floor my lower back hurts, and then it starts clicking and popping (my hips, too) and I have to stop the pushups. This problem goes away when I do them on a low counter.

By the way, I'm doing extra weeks of Stage 1, mostly because I was really out of shape when I started and had problems with form on some exercises, like pushups and deadlifts. So that's why I'm still doing pushups and not planks yet. I would like to do at least 8 pushups on the floor without my lower back hurting.

[Lisa~]

Originally Posted by Bonnie

Lisa, should I apply this posture to pushups as well to solve a similar problem, only with pushups?

Yes.

[Bonnie]

I read those articles and I'm pretty sure I've got an intense anterior tilt thing going on. So I tried your recommendations, Lisa, and was able to do pushups at bathtub level without any popping or clicking or pain in my lower back. Thank you!

I've been focusing on posterior tilt (mostly from sucking in the gut, heh) even in my standing and sitting postures all weekend. I cannot believe how much better my lower back in general is feeling just from a few days of practice.

[Lisa~]

Bonnie, that's great news. Good for you.