- The Isometric Row Plank Exercise for Men Over 40
- Get a dumbbell and a bench and challenge your abs
- How to do an abdominal plank well
- Plank exercise: the ultimate challenge that will test your abs and core
“Basketball is the sport I grew up playing in the 1970s. But these days, whenever I play with a group of 40+ (what I call the ‘potbellied generation’), I see very little mobility “There’s a lot of pushing and little play. Why? Because they don’t have the agility and core strength that they had when they were younger, and that I still have,” says trainer Kirk Charles. And one way to improve that is anti-rotation exercises that help you stay tight and strong. “As we get older, those kinds of exercises are key for us to safely participate in all kinds of sporting activities and even simple movements like opening a door or carrying grocery bags or milk.”
And plank is a great way to build core strength, but you can take it up a notch by adding a pulling component. The plank overhead row adds the anti-rotational dimension to this movement because your body is continually challenged by gravity and the weight and motion of the dumbbell row. Being unbalanced forces your whole body to activate to execute the exercise with good technique. The best exercises for your abs and core.
The row plank exercise for men over 40
- To perform this exercise, grab a dumbbell that you can comfortably row and use a bench. Get into a one-arm high plank position using the bench as a platform, with your feet slightly wider than a typical plank and about shoulder-width apart. Your other arm should be hanging down holding the dumbbell in your hand in a neutral position. Once you’re in the plank position, engage your core and glutes and keep your body in a straight line. This is the starting position.
- Brace your back to row the dumbbell, lifting the weight up to your ribcage. Hold as you count, then lower back to the starting position. That’s a repeat.
The key to the high plank row is to keep your balance throughout the reps. As you row with your right arm, you’ll feel the right side of your body under tension as you fight gravity to maintain the position. The tendency will be to compensate by turning the right side up to maintain stability. You must fight against that inertia and stay grounded by continuing to squeeze your glutes, core, and back muscles.
To add more challenge and increase focus on anti-rotation, you can perform an isometric hold at the top of the row. As your time under tension increases, you will have to fight those forces even more. The great thing about this exercise is that you’ll get more of a burn in your core and abs as your entire body struggles for balance and stability. This variation requires a complete focus, even with light weights.
Try this exercise without weights to warm up. Then take a light weight to row and suffer in the iso hold. Once you’ve mastered the technique, try the exercise with heavier weights and work your way up to longer iso positions.
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