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PLANKS with Osteoporosis
A common question I get is, “Are planks safe to do with osteoporosis?”
I want to answer that question here!
The most important part of doing a plank is knowing first how to properly activate your core.
To strengthen your core, you must first learn how to activate it.
Simply holding the plank position without knowing how to activate your core, will not strengthen your core.
The core is a muscle called the transverse abdominis as shown below.
The reason transverse abdominis strength is more important than abdominal strength, is because your core acts like a girdle.
When the transverse abdominus is activated, it squeezes all around to unload and to stabilize your spine.
Once you know how to activate the transverse abdominis, you can then strengthen your core by activating it while doing all exercises and daily activities.
Activating your core especially while doing upper body resistance training, will give you a core workout as well!! You will kill two birds with one stone!
But you can also add planks into your routine for extra core strengthening if you would like to! Make sure proper form is kept throughout and ease into longer times.
Since your spine is in neutral when performing a proper plank, they are safe for people with osteoporosis!!
SIDE PLANKS with Osteoporosis
Another form of plank, which helps strengthen, the obliques and hips is the side plank.
As with regular planks, side planks should only be done after learning to properly activate your core.
Since your spine is in neutral, the side plank is safe for people with osteoporosis!!
