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Planks are one of the best and most intense exercises for your core- in fact they work nearly your entire body all at once! But when you think of plank, you normally think of facing the ground. Not always the case! Have you ever tried a Reverse Tabletop Plank? If you’ve never even heard of it, follow our 2 simple steps to learn how to do a Reverse Tabletop Plank and you’ll work your arms, shoulders, core, and even give those glutes and quads a little burn as well!
This exercise gets its name from the popular yoga pose- Tabletop. Traditional tabletop is usually just for stretching or even used as a resting position in between other poses, but we’ve turned it around-literally, and now tabletop can be a strength move, too!
This exercise is done as an isometric exercise, meaning your joints don’t move as you do it! Once you have raised yourself into Reverse Tabletop, just hold your body still, squeeze your glutes and abs and pretty soon you’ll feel the burn!
If you have tight shoulders, you will DEFINITELY feel this exercise and you’ll get an added stretch as well as the strengthening aspect of this exercise!
Make sure to keep your hands and feet about hip/shoulder width distance, and make sure not to over-exaggerate the bend in your back as you lift up! Your back and spine should remain fairly neutral throughout the exercise.
You should focus on lifting with your arms and legs rather than pushing your belly button up towards the sky. In fact, do the opposite! Keep that belly button pulled into your spine so your core remains engaged.
Reverse Table Top Plank Exercise Instructions
- Start seated with bent knees and feet on the floor directly under knees. Place hands behind your hips slightly wider than shoulders with fingers pointed towards your body.
- Lift hips and torso off the floor and gaze up towards the ceiling keeping your neck relaxed. Keep your knees, hips, and shoulders parallel to the mat as you hold your plank squeezing your glutes and core.
Targets: arms, shoulders, core
