Bear Down to Make Your Core Training Even More Ferocious
Your standard plank is slacking, but we’ve got a fix: the bear plank. Navy SEALs and elite athletes use this grizzly variation for greater muscle activation. Are you ready to shred your core?
Get on your hands and knees, hands below your shoulders, knees directly underneath your hips and in line with your wrists, and back flat. Squeeze your abs and lift your knees slightly off the floor. Hold for 20 seconds.
It’s a move that blasts more than your abs, supercharging your hips, quads, and shoulders, and it offers more carryover to daily activities. “It’s more functional and dynamic,” says trainer Joe Sakoda, C.S.C.S., better known as Da Rulk.“A firefighter often has to be in a crawling position. They have to be able to get down and hold the position, frequently while holding gear.”
By moving your hands and feet closer together, you create a stronger base while activating more full-body muscle. Your knees and hips are bent at right angles, mimicking the near-bottom position of a squat and firing up your quads and hamstrings. It’s a total-body iso hold that hones real world core strength in seconds.
Get off your couch and hold a 30-second bear plank to wake up a sleepy core anytime, or do three 20-second bear planks as an abdominal primer for an intense workout. The best part: You can learn the move in minutes. Just follow these cues.
Flat Back
Keep your back parallel to the floor the entire time, squeezing both ab and mid-back muscles. Imagine you have a glass of water on your back (or better yet: have a friend place one there). Shift the wrong way and it’ll spill.
Glutes Alive
A bear plank mimics a squat, and much like a squat, you need to squeeze your glutes. Doing so will also open your knees ever so slightly, placing you in a more athletic position.
Knees Off the Floor
Your knees should be an inch above the floor, shins parallel to the ground. This helps keep your back flat, and it also fires up your quads. Your knees should be directly under your hips, lining up with your wrists.
Relax Your Elbows
You might be tempted to lockout your elbows. Don’t. Bend them slightly and flex your triceps, letting your arms function as shock absorbers for your upper body. Wrists should be directly below your shoulders. This will also ready you to crawl forward (and yes, that can blast your abs, too).
Upgrade Your Bear Workouts
Once you’ve mastered the bear plank, take it up a notch with these moves.
Bear Cable Row
Set a cable pulley to a low angle and bear-plank in front of it. Grasp the handle with your right hand, arm extended. Tighten your core. Bend at the elbow and shoulder, pulling the handle to your right shoulder; pause, then return to the start. That’s 1 rep; do 3 sets of 8 to 10 per side.
Bear Renegade Row
Get in bear-plank position, hands resting on dumbbells.Tighten your core androw the left dumbbell up toward your rib cage; keep your back flat as you do this. Lower and repeat on
the other side. That’s 1 rep; do 3 sets of 8 to 10.
A version of this story originally appears in the October 2020 of Men's Health, with the title "Bear Down!".
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