No matter how pressed for time or space I am, I always find ways to exercise (of course, for my back health as well but for my mental health as well). An easy way you can get exercise is doing planks! During the most difficult times in my life, I always relied on doing planks for mind, body, and strength.
Wake up your whole body: Planks pretty much work your lower body to the upper bod.y Doing planks strengthens your spine and your rhomboids (upper back muscles) and trapezius ( the muscle that runs from your neck, along your spine to about mid back) and your abdominal muscles. One of the great side effects of doing planks are that you can get a great posture from being consistent.
Planks are body weight exercises. These exercises are gaining popularity in the fitness world due to the practicality and simplicity of getting in shape using your own body weight. Especially with the aging population (aka: me), we loose bone mass as we age and we need exercises with any low impact. Of course, using weights is always a plus but planks are one form of bodyweight exercises that will never go out of fashion.
While planks are a great exercise you can do at home, I also believe they are one of the most mindful and peaceful exercises you can do. Here are the reasons why:
1. You’ll improve core definition and performance of your overall body.
2. You’ll decrease your risk of injury in the back and spinal column. A healthy back is so important for you as you age!
3. You’ll significantly improve your posture. Good posture make you look and feel younger!
4. You’ll improve your overall balance. As we age, our balance isn’t quite what it was when we were younger. Balance is so important to maintain as we age so we don’t fall!
5. You’ll witness a mental benefit. Because when you do planks you need to concentrate. I choose a drishti or focal point. It can feel quite meditative. (If you haven’t checked out my meditation blog post you can do that here. I walk through how you can improv your mental health during times of crisis).
While today’s blog post is relatively short, I truly hope these simple plank excercises will make a difference in you health and well-being. As I age, I try to be more mindful of what type of exercises work for me and what don’t and planks are one of the exercises that I’ve kept with since younger.
I would love so much to hear from you what simple exercises you are doing for your health and well-being! I can’t wait to learn what you do!