How To Do a Reverse Plank: Tips, Technique, Correct Form, Benefits, And Common Mistakes

Reverse planks are a great way to strengthen your core and upper body and improve posture.

They're also easy to do, but you need to make sure you're doing them correctly if you want to get the full benefits of this exercise. Here's everything you need to know about reverse planks:

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Reverse Planks: Everything You Need To Know

Tips

• Keep your body straight: Don't let your hips sag (or drop) as you hold the position.
• Keep your core tight: Engage your abdominal muscles, and keep them flexed throughout the exercise. That will not only help prevent back pain but also improve posture and stability during this difficult move.
• Keep your back flat: Make sure there are no major deviations in the curvature of the spine—a slight curve on each side is fine. However, if it appears curved further toward one side or another, you may need to work on engaging those muscles to stabilise better during the exercise.
• Keep your hips level with the floor: You should be able to see both feet at all times while performing this exercise; otherwise, there'd be too much weight on one leg which could lead to injury due to overuse and imbalance between muscles groups supporting opposite sides of the body (for example quadriceps versus hamstrings).

So strive to maintain a parallel alignment between your hips and ankles while keeping your knees soft - not locked out - during the duration of the set.

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Technique and Correct Form

When you do a reverse plank, it's important to keep your back straight. Keep your hips lifted and core tight. Your neck should be in line with your spine, shoulders down and back (but not too far), and feet together.

• Keep your back straight. Your back should be in a neutral position, like when standing up. Your lower back should not be arched, and your tailbone shouldn't stick out as much as it does when you're in a standard plank.
• Keep your hips lifted. To maintain the correct form, keep most of your weight on the heels of your feet (don't point, or roll up onto the balls of your feeet). That will prevent strain on the lower back and injury. You can also modify that by putting one foot against a wall for support, if needed.
• Tighten up your core muscles by pulling them in toward each other (this is called bracing). That will help stabilise the body during exercise movements, like planks or reverse planks, where there's a lot of movement but not much actual force being applied directly upward through these muscles themselves.

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Benefits

Reverse planks have a number of benefits, including:

• Core and upper body strength - Reverse planks work the core muscles in your abdomen, back and shoulders. These muscles support your posture when you're standing or sitting up straight. When these muscles are strong and flexible, they can help you maintain good alignment over time. That means your back won't hurt as much when you bend down to pick something up or sit down for long periods of time.
• Posture - Good posture is important, as it helps with proper breathing by allowing air passage through the lungs more easily than slouching does. It also makes people look taller and thinner when standing from a side view perspective due to an elongated spine (instead of looking hunched over). In addition to this visual effect, there are also medical benefits associated with having proper posture, such as less stress on internal organs, like kidneys/liver/heart, etc, which reduce their workload, as they don't have as much pressure put on them due to bad posture habits like slouching all day long.
• Shoulder pain - Many people experience shoulder pain when doing exercises such as push-ups because these movements require excessive use of certain muscle groups while neglecting others. That might lead them into using too much weight at one point during each repetition cycle, leading to injury over time.

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Common Mistakes

There are many common mistakes that people make when doing the reverse plank. Here's a list of common mistakes and how to avoid them:

• Don't let your hips sag - If your hips sag, you'll be putting too much pressure on your lower back and not enough on your core. That can cause pain in your lower back over time. To avoid that, make sure you're keeping your core engaged throughout the exercise.
• Don't let your back arch - When performing a reverse plank, it’s important you keep a neutral spine position (flat back). Arching or rounding the spine can cause serious injury over time if done incorrectly during exercises like this one. To prevent that from happening, focus on keeping the core engaged while performing an exercise such as a reverse plank so that you aren’t arching or rounding at any point.

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Takeaway

Reverse planks are a great exercise to improve your core strength, upper body stability and posture.

They target the same muscles as regular planks but also engage your shoulders, triceps and back more than they would in other variations of this exercise.