Martial Artists Shouldn't Plank

[Steve Rowe]

Martial Artists shouldn't plank!
Why not?
Because we need a functional core.
Planking stiffens it.
Don't lay down to crunch, stand.
Open your body and lean back bowing the spine and stretching the core,
Then slowly close pulling from the deepest muscles until you are bowing forwards, squeezing and crunching.
Twist the head, shoulders and waist, then 'claw' at the deepest muscles with around 3 inches of movement repetitively.
Bow the spine sideways and do the same.
Roll the shoulders and ribcage bowing spine and core forwards and backwards with the movement.
Feel how the core is alive and powered up?
Now grapple and strike using feet to core to arms bending, twisting, stretching, crunching and opening.
THAT's how you train the core for martial arts!
Don't be a plank, don't isolate, use muscles functionally!

[Pennykid]

I like all of the exercises you mentioned but I'm not going to throw out the plank. I haven't met too many serious yogis with a stiff core.

[Steve Rowe]

Never met anyone that could fight with yoga either. Met a lot of very stiff unconnected gym plankers and martial artists training the wrong way though.

[jonathan.bluestein]

I concur with Steve. I don't think he meant 'stiff' as 'hard' but more in terms of 'less conditioned to help the body move about in space under the circumstances' and 'makes you used to holding the body in a given position'. Better to do mobile movements.

[GrahamB]

I'm constantly amazed at the lengths internal martial artists will go to to justify not actually working out

[MaartenSFS]

I agree with Steve. My master can kick some serious arse and hasn't taught us anything like that. If by working out you mean inefficiently doing exercises that have no direct martial application, then no, we don't. Doesn't stop us from sweating up a storm whilst training...

I know other masters that do, though they also chain smoke and have other bad habits. There's more than one way to do things. My master is almost sixty and still regularly spars. I think I'll follow his advice.

[Steve Rowe]

You get good at what you train at. As martial artists we need functional strength, mobility, spatial awareness and kinesthesia, the best way to do that is with exercise with those qualities in mind. Planking doesn't help, we need mobility connecting feet, through the core to the hands. Travelling around doing seminars I'm amazed at how many martial artists are big muscly lumps yet have no connection or core mobility.

[Steve Rowe]

I take it you're a planker then Graham?

[RobP2]

All the guys in my last clip plank - or at least our variation of it . Like anything, it's not what you do it's how and why you do it,what you understand about it and what else you do alongside it. By the same criteria an hour in zhang zhuang doesn't do much for mobility

[Steve Rowe]

I don't think standing for long periods is good training but short periods (up to 20 mins) with transitions does help with connection and internal awareness.

[RobP2]

I don't think standing for long periods is good training but short periods (up to 20 mins) with transitions does help with connection and internal awareness.

Yep - which is how the plank and other static positions can be trained too

[kenneth fish]

Planks and planche are fundamental gymnastic exercises - and most gymnastic training requires both strength and extreme flexibility. Shaolin training also includes plank type exercises - without any loss of flexibility. I am wondering what it is that you have seen that leads you to your conclusion.

[Steve Rowe]

It's anecdotal, I teach a lot of people on seminars that rely on gym strength training and particularly a lot of planking for core training. They miss out on the functional training and although 'fit and strong' by their definition lack the core skills for their martial arts.

[Fa Xing]

So you're saying in short-order that they lack the sport-specific strength found in martial arts training? I think they are fundamental to GPP (general physical preparedness) which is important for any type of general strength development. I think you're throwing the baby out with the bathwater, however. Does planks, or any other strength training (yoga included), make you better at martial arts (specifically I define this as being able to apply yourself in a fight)? No, but nothing truly does, but it can help build attributes which could contribute to the process, as long as one is not overly focusing on planks or any other area. I personally don't plank, I like kettlebells and bodyweight movements (a lot of which come from Tim Cartmell, Scott Sonnon, and other grappling teachers). However, it's a little a extreme to say that martial artists shouldn't plank, they just shouldn't plank all the time.

[Bhassler]

Like anything, it's not what you do it's how and why you do it,what you understand about it and what else you do alongside it. By the same criteria an hour in zhang zhuang doesn't do much for mobility

Rob has cored teh correct.

Baseline for competence in planking is usually given as around 2 minutes-- much longer than that and usually the time itself is the goal, rather than any specific benefit (i.e. a challenge for the sake of a challenge). So even if you do it every day, you have 2 minutes of planking vs. 23 hours and 58 minutes of not planking. Causality is questionable.