This Beginner-Friendly Plank Pilates Series Works Your Body From Every Angle

That’s why doing a Pilates workout for beginners at home might be useful: You’ll find a way to fireplace up all of the muscles needed to master the foundational exercises before jumping right into a more advanced class.

Every beginner Pilates workout goes to look slightly different. Some deal with perfecting your form. Others teach you the way to master Pilates respiratory so you possibly can develop a stronger mind-body connection and higher engage your muscles.

Something you could not have tried yet, nevertheless, is a plank Pilates series that works every angle of your body, allowing you to construct a robust foundation for tougher exercises.

“Front, side, and back—we’re going to get throughout,” says Brian Spencer, a Pilates instructor at East River Pilates, in a plank Pilates workout that’s a part of this month’s Well+Good Trainer of the Month Club series.

Why this workout is ideal for beginners

This plank Pilatesseries eases you into different varieties of planks you’ll end up in during a Pilates class—no long, unmodified holds included.

The workout is brief and sweet, too: According to Spencer, the 15-minute time-frame gives your body time to warm up and gently ease into the movements before you reach the tougher exercises at the top.

Because the main target is on planks, you’ll be activating multiple muscle groups directly: abs, arms, shoulders, back, hamstrings, and glutes. So yes, mainly your entire body will probably be feeling it.

Getting to know (and, in time, mastering) these exercises won’t just prepare you for harder Pilates classes—you’ll also construct up the bottom level of strength required for other varieties of workouts as well.

What to expect during this at-home Pilates workout for beginners

This plank Pilates series starts with some gentle stretching to warm up the spine, including downward-facing dog, then goes right into a straight-arm plank. One thing you’ll quickly notice is that this isn’t the sort of workout where you’re required to carry the plank for long periods—it’s more of a flow. You also can level up the planks with the progressions Spencer provides.

Straight-arm plank

If you’re on the lookout for a challenge, Spencer recommends adding toe touches in as you flow from plank to down dog.

1. From a downward-facing dog, lift your heels as high as possible and roll your spine forward pulling your shoulders over your wrists to come back right into a high plank.
2. Press down into your hands, keeping your arms straight and your back in a single line from head to hips to heels.
3. Engage your core by drawing your belly button back toward your spine. From there, rock your feet forward and backward.
4. Return to downward dog and repeat three more times.

Modified side plank with leg raises

Next, comes the side planks. “Side planking involves so many muscles. If you are like ‘side-planking is my nemesis,’ that is the rationale,” says Spencer. “It’s an enormous full-body movement; there’s loads of stuff that goes behind a robust side plank.” That’s why before diving right right into a full version, he eases in with side bends after which modified side planks on the knees with leg raises.

If you’re on the lookout for a challenge, add a full side plank after completing the modified version on either side.

1. Start kneeling on the mat. Extend your left leg straight out to the side.
2. Lean over to the precise and lower your right hand to the mat below your shoulder, extending your left arm straight up toward the ceiling.
3. Draw your shoulders back and down, flex the left foot, and lift your leg up off the ground (could possibly be just a couple of inches or all of the option to hip height) after which lower it back down. Repeat eight times.
4. Finish by holding your leg up and completing five small circles in each direction.
5. Repeat on the other side.

Back plank

Spencer wraps up the Pilates plank series with the back plank. “This is largely like once we do little warm-ups on all fours,” says Spencer. Only this time, the front of your body is facing the ceiling—not the mat. If you’re employed your way as much as a full reverse plank, you are in for a treat: “It’s so helpful for strengthening our back bodies and activating the posterior chain, from the top to the toes,” he says.

If you’re on the lookout for a challenge, Spencer adds in hip dips (either with bent knees or with legs fully prolonged) and leg raises.

1. Begin in a seated position along with your legs bent, feet flat on the ground, and hands on the mat behind your hips with fingers facing away from you.
2. Lift your hips up until your body creates a straight line from knees to shoulders and open your chest so that you’re in a reverse tabletop position.
3. Lower your hips back all the way down to the mat.
4. Repeat thrice.

The workout ends with a feel-good stretch—exactly what you’re going to wish in spite of everything that planking.

How so as to add this Pilates workout for beginners at home into your schedule

Aside from this plank series being an awesome Pilates workout for beginners at home, it will possibly even be done as a warm-up for any sort of workout. You’re activating and stretching every muscle in your body as you progress through the front, side, and back planks. But for those who’re in a rush and only have a small period of time to devote to your workout, even this entry level option can have you feeling the burn.