Eli5: How does doing planks help with getting abs?
In: 7
It doesn’t. Having abs generally comes down to having a low enough body fat percentage. *Good* ab exercises can help people grow their abs and make them more visible at a higher body fat, especially if they are naturally skinny and have underdeveloped abs. But planks and circuit training are not good ab exercises.
In order to hold the plank position, you need to engage your core muscles. That’s what makes plank an effective core exercise. It’s not just for abs, it works a lot of core muscles
It doesn’t help “get abs” aesthetically. Like you won’t get abs doing that alone. It’s a supporting exercise to help make other core exercises more effective. By increasing endurance of all those core muscles, you increase how fast you can improve at other more “direct” sorts of exercises. It’s also just good for your back and posture in general. 100% worth adding to your routine at least occasionally
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