Otaku Moves: Week 1 Day 1

And so Monday 9th January has rolled around and as such it is day one of Otaku Moves! To start with how about we start easy with a simple challenge? Below I have listed what the challenge is, how to accomplish it and also why we should be loving this move.

The Challenge:

Do 10 reps of standard Straight Arm Planks.
Holding the straight arm plank for 30 seconds each rep!

How to do a Straight Arm Plank:

Get into the plank position by supporting your body weight on your hands and toes. As if you had just done a push up.
Your hands should be placed directly under your shoulders.
Keep your abdominal contracted and your back straight with your eyes ahead of you.
Hold for 30 seconds

Tips For the Perfect Straight Arm Plank:

Keep your back flat and don’t let it round or arch.
Don’t let your hips sag down to the ground.
Look down at the ground.
If you find hard time to lower your butt and flatten your back, try to bent your knees slightly.
To make the exercise easier on shoulders put your hands at your eye level not straight below your shoulders.
When your form begins to suffer, terminate the exercise.
If you experience lower back pain, stop!

Try to avoid these common Mistakes:

Not focusing on fully contracting your abdominal muscles.
Arching and rounding your back.
Lifting your butt up too high.
Keeping your head up.
Sagging your shoulders.

I know it is so easy to do these, but try avoid them as they can lead to injury.

Why do a Straight Arm Plank?

This core exercise builds the abdominals and back muscles. A Straight Arm Plank helps to improve a posture, prevent or reverse postural deficiencies, strengthen core and tighten up a midsection. Holding the plank position recruits a lot of muscles in your body. Excluding the abs, other muscles are also working hard to hold the straight arm plank position such as your legs, arms, shoulders and back.

By the way, if you google anime plank looking at images you will find some awesome ones as well as some really weird and disturbing ones…

Any who, good luck with the challenge and remember to record your progress and share it with the #OtakuMoves! How did you find this challenge? Was it easy peasy, harder than you thought or meh?