Side Plank
Muscles Worked: Side Plank
The Side Plank mainly works your abs, especially the obliques on the side closest to the floor. Those muscles brace hard to keep your hips lifted and stop your torso from tipping or twisting. Your deeper midsection muscles help keep your body in a straight line, while the shoulder on the support side helps hold you steady. Side plank variations place substantial demand on the side of your waist, especially the external oblique, and keeping your hips stacked can increase that demand (Devorski et al., 2023).
Technique and form
How to perform the Side Plank
- Lie on your side with your legs extended and feet stacked on top of each other.
- Position your elbow directly beneath your shoulder with your forearm perpendicular to your body and hand flat on the ground.
- Contract your core muscles and lift your hips off the floor, creating a straight line from your head to your feet.
- Extend your top arm straight up toward the ceiling or place it on your hip for balance.
- Breathe normally while maintaining tension throughout your body, especially in your core and glutes.
- Keep your head in a neutral position by gazing straight ahead, not down at the floor.
- Hold this position while maintaining proper alignment and avoiding any rotation in your hips or shoulders.
- To exit the position, slowly lower your hips back to the floor with control.
Important information
- Make sure your supporting shoulder stays pulled back and away from your ear to prevent unnecessary neck strain.
- Keep your body in a perfectly straight line – avoid letting your hips sag or pike upward during the hold.
- If the standard position is too challenging, modify by bending your bottom knee and keeping that leg on the floor for additional support.
- Squeeze your glutes throughout the exercise to enhance stability and prevent lower back compensation.
Is Side Plank effective for endurance?
Yes. The Side Plank is more of a core endurance exercise than a muscle-building one because your obliques have to stay switched on for time instead of producing short bursts of force. Research on side plank work shows it has been used in clinical settings where the goal is better trunk positioning and side-to-side control (Sarkisova et al., 2019).
- Side-core focus — Unlike a regular front-elbow-plank, the Side Plank puts much more stress on the muscles that stop you from collapsing sideways. That makes it especially useful if your core work is too front-heavy.
- Time under tension — Because you hold one position, the challenge comes from how long you can keep your hips up, ribs down, and body straight. That makes it great for building the kind of core endurance you need for carries, running, and big lifts.
- Low equipment, easy progression — You only need bodyweight, but you can still make it harder by extending the hold, raising the top leg, or moving into drills like front-plank-to-toe-tap when basic holds get too easy.
- Posture and control — The exercise teaches you to resist twisting and side bending instead of creating movement. That skill carries over well to daily life and sport, and side plank training has been used to improve trunk control in clinical settings (Sarkisova et al., 2019).
Programming for endurance
Do 3-4 sets of 20-45 seconds per side with 30-60 seconds rest. Train it 2-4 times per week. Start with shorter holds you can keep perfectly straight, then add 5-10 seconds over time. Once you can own 45 seconds per side without your hips dropping, move to a harder variation instead of just holding longer forever.
Side Plank Variations
Alternative Exercises
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FAQ - Side Plank
The Side Plank primarily targets your obliques and transverse abdominis, while also engaging your quadratus lumborum, gluteus medius, and adductors as stabilizers. Your shoulders, particularly the deltoids, also work to maintain proper upper body alignment throughout the hold.
Beginners should aim for 20-30 seconds per side, while intermediate exercisers can target 30-60 seconds. Focus on quality over quantity - it's better to perform multiple shorter holds with perfect form than a single longer hold with compromised technique.
The most common errors include allowing your hips to sag toward the floor, rotating your torso forward or backward, and shrugging your supporting shoulder toward your ear. Maintain a straight line from head to heels, keep your body stacked vertically, and create space between your ear and shoulder.
Perform the exercise with your knees bent at 90 degrees instead of legs extended, reducing the lever length and overall difficulty. Another effective regression is placing your bottom forearm on the ground instead of just your hand, creating a more stable base of support.
Include Side Planks 2-3 times weekly as part of your core training, allowing at least 48 hours between sessions for recovery if you're performing high-intensity variations. For optimal results, alternate between left and right sides, gradually increasing hold time as your strength improves.
Workouts with Side Plank
Scientific References
Side Plank Pose Exercises for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Patients.
Sarkisova N, Andras LM, Yang J et al. · Global advances in health and medicine (2019)
Optimizing normalization methods of the external oblique: A cross-sectional study.
Devorski L, Skibski A, Fukuda DH et al. · Journal of back and musculoskeletal rehabilitation (2023)
Sources are peer-reviewed academic publications from PubMed.
Side Plank
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