Once appropriately warmed up, follow the steps outlined below to execute a Copenhagen plank hold correctly. And this training can do you some good: Improving your core stability not only helps prevent injuries in your back, but it can also improve your athletic performance, she notes. This modified Copenhagen plank variation is aimed at beginners who need to strengthen their hip muscles but still dont have the strength required to perform the full version. The adductor strengthening programme prevents groin problems among male football players: a cluster-randomised controlled trial. They are mainly included in rehab programs for athletes who have suffered an injury in the groin area, but they are often also found in strength programs. How to Do the Copenhagen Plank: Technique and Popular Progressions Simply put, no other exercises have been shown to be as beneficial for targeting the groin region as the Copenhagen adduction exercises. Better yet, combine the two moves during a single set, as Ros demonstrates below. The human body doesnt cope with imbalances very well in fact, imbalances are a recipe for disaster when it comes to injuries. Its such a good exercise and I know I have to do it, but sometimes I'm like, I just wanna do a side plank because I know how hard it is.. EMG evaluations of hip adduction exercises for soccer players: implications for exercise selection in prevention and treatment of groin injuries. Copenhagen Plank - Olympic Weightlifting: Catalyst Athletics And yet, [the inner and outer thighs are] often neglected parts of the body, so some people have weak adductors without really knowing it, she explains. In addition to helping run RFS, he's also the head editor for The Copenhagen plank, also known as the Copenhagen adductor plank due to its target muscles, or the Copenhagen plank hold, is a more challenging side plank variation. The Copenhagen Plank, or the Copenhagen Side Plank, is a side plank variation that, in addition to training the abdominals, targets the adductor (groin) muscles. If you want to build more strength, muscle, & body control, the regular bodyweight dips might no longer be enough. Copenhagen Plank - Sweat See how to perform a Copenhagen plank perfectly with instructions by Sweat co-founder and personal trainer, Kayla Itsines. Based on the look of it, you can probably guess that the Copenhagen plank is a seriously challenging move. Losing weight can be a challenge, but its definitely doable. The exercise is isometric and involves a squeezing movement to keep your legs together. Mix the Copenhagen plank into your usual resistance training regimen and try holding it for 10 to 20 seconds at a time, doing three to four sets on each side, suggests Ros. Make sure to progress from the more accessible variations to the more challenging ones as you get stronger. The Copenhagen plank is a great exercise for a few reasons. This movement is an advanced exercise that also works your entire body. Fortunately, with side plank variations its not so difficult. As well as hip adduction, Copenhagen planks will also help develop overall core strength by engaging the abdominals and obliques. Once you have mastered the basic form of the Copenhagen Plank, you can progress to more advanced variations. Planks arent that easy to add weight to. You can make the exercise easier by resting the bottom leg on the floor, or positioning yourself closer to the bench. Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Dietitian/Nutritionist in NYC, Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist, WELLTECH APPS LIMITED, Karaiskaki 13, 3032, Limassol, Cyprus, How to Do the Copenhagen Plank: Technique and Popular Progressions, Copenhagen side plank: technique, tips, and progressions, 10 Core Yoga Poses for Abs, Hip, and Lower Back Strength (With Sequence), Rear Delt Fly: Technique, Muscles Worked & Variations to Try. This is a surprisingly big jump from regular Copenhagen planks and a great target for those looking to really leverage the benefits of the exercise. It is located on the islands of Zealand (Sjlland) and Amager, at the southern end of The Sound (resund). However, this could take away the focus from the adductors and shift it more onto the core and shoulders. Theyre one of the major muscle groups that help us move side to side. This will mean as you place your leg on the raised surface, and lift your hips, your back should naturally be nice and straight. Similarly, the ability to protect your hips with stronger adduction, will help with weightlifting too and this subsequently means you can lift or train more intensity during squats, deadlifts and other exercises, which will lead to increased strength in other muscles such as the quads, glutes and hamstrings. Even your abductors, the muscles on the outsides of your hips, seem to get a little bit of a boost from training this exercise. Our inner thigh muscles, called the hip adductors, are responsible for pulling our legs in toward each other. 2016;26(11):1334-1342. It is a difficult move that requires you to hold yourself up in an isometric contraction while focusing on firing the adductor muscles. While nutrition plays an important role, adding exercise into your routine improves the process of achieving your goal. Eccentric and isometric hip adduction strength in male soccer players with and without adductor-related groin pain: an assessor-blinded comparison. All rights reserved. For more information, please see our Coachs Tip Ensure you use a bench or raised surface that is roughly the same height as your head when you hold the side plank. Lift your lower leg off the floor so it hangs under the bench, unsupported. Focus on controlling your movements through the transition from one position to another, all while maintaining perfect form. A. All else equal I prefer this over the bent-knee variation because in real life the adductors contact with the ankle/foot as the contact point, so I think this transfers over to sports and real life better. If holding the Copenhagen plank is not sufficiently challenging, one option for progressing the difficulty is by adding hip movement, similar to the Copenhagen adduction exercise shown earlier. Previously, Kristen was the Chief Content Officer at aSweatLife.com, where she led content and editorial strategy. Strong adductors means stronger abs and vice versa, and both help us shift out of the extended posture that most of us live in. If youre still not comfortable with that, you may need to do side planks (from the knees is fine) to build up your core strength, and look elsewhere for adductor exercises. 2010;13(2):202-204. A Copenhagen plank is a side plank variation that involves resting your top leg on a bench or raised surface. The lower-body and core exercise is no joke. As the Copenhagen plank aims to strengthen the hips, it would be ideal to start by performing some hip mobility exercises to warm the muscles up and improve the range of motion. These adductor muscles include the: adductor longus, adductor brevis, adductor magnus, and gracillis. There are many studies out there demonstrating the link between weak groin muscles and the prevalence of groin injuries in athletes. The closer your body is to the bench, the easier the movement becomes. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); All Content Copyright Roman Fitness Systems 2019. Start with the top leg bent, and slowly move the bottom leg and body up and down. Ishoi et al in 2016 had 24 male soccer players perform the Copenhagen adduction exercise two times a week, while progressively increasing the number of sets and repetitions over the course of 8 weeks (starting with 2 sets of 6 each and ending with 3 sets of 15 each). In another study by Haroy and colleagues (2018), a group of male soccer players completed a 36-week long adductor strengthening program using the Copenhagen Adduction exercise. C. Then, lift left foot off the ground so it's hovering a few inches below right foot. Remember the Copenhagen keys: maintain stability and squeeze your glutes and shoulder blades while fighting off rotation in both directions. Copenhagen Planks for Strength and Reducing Risk of Groin Injury (Science-Based) E3 Rehab 26K views 2 years ago Adductor Mobility Flow [P]rehab 22K views 4 years ago 3 Core Exercises You Should. Combine Copenhagen Planks and Minibands for Multiplanar Ab Strength During an 8-week preseason, they performed multiple sessions a week (starting with 2 weekly sessions, 1 set, 3-5 reps per side), while progressively increasing the repetitions (working up to 3 weekly sessions, 1 set, 12-15 reps per side). Repeat on both sides for 10-15 seconds, rest for a few seconds, and do the exercise again. After holding the tuck planche, you must be excited to move towards the advanced tuck. Because we're going to work a lot of lateral stability in this plank, you're going to start to get a lot of hip effect, Samuel says. Do you suffer from toe pain? You can make the Copenhagen Plank harder by elevating your feet on a box or bench, lifting one arm off the ground, and using a resistance band around the legs. Ishoi L, et al. By avoiding common mistakes and progressing from basic form to more advanced variations, you can maximize the benefits of the exercise and get the most out of it. This will add extra tension and difficulty to the exercise, targeting your adductors more effectively. This variation is a Copenhagen plank progression, as it requires more strength and stability since there is the addition of weights. Place your top shin on the bench. If you want to make the Copenhagen plank more challenging, you can try the following progressions: Take a narrower grip with your hands while doing the Copenhagen plank to increase the intensity. Weve also included ways to progress and regress the movement to help adapt it to your current fitness level. These muscles are responsible for moving your legs to the center of your body. 1) Set up with your head perpendicular to a bench and facing away. How can I make the Copenhagen Plank harder? The Copenhagen plank is a unilateral exercise, meaning it targets just one side of the body at a time. We last saw Copenhagen planks in our rundown of the best bodyweight exercises that actually build strength. If thats you, the first thing to ask is whether you were in a straight line (no hips sagging) with your abdominals engaged. However, having very strong abductors, but weak adductors, wont create the overall stability around the hips that you need. To even out that disparity and keep injuries at bay, you can temporarily prioritize Copenhagen planks on your left side, along with other strengthening exercises that target those weaker muscle groups. What is the proper form for Copenhagen Plank? Copenhagen plank - Wiktionary Hary et al (2018). 2019;53:145-152. A few important technique points: make sure your body is in a straight line, so contract your glute max bring your hips forward and keep your abs engaged so you don't arch your lower back. Instead of planting your ankle on top of the bench, if you plant you knee if will shorten the lever, as they say in physics, making it easier. You set up a Copenhagen plank like a side plank, except you place your top foot on a bench while hovering your bottom foot in the air. Cookie Notice Due to these groin related injuries, there are a significant number of athletes being taken out of games, missing seasons, or even having to retire early. Then return to the starting position and repeat. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. You would simply position your upper leg on their hands and keep the bottom leg off the floor. The Copenhagen Hold, as shown below, is a unique plank variation that specifically targets the musculature of the inner groin. Check out .css-16acfp5{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.125rem;text-decoration-color:#d2232e;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:inherit;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-16acfp5:hover{color:#000;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;background-color:yellow;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}our entire Form Check series. This will increase the resistance on your deep core muscles, making it more challenging to hold the position for longer. Start with as much of your leg on the support as possible. No, you place one leg (your top leg) on a bench. Start by lying on your side, like you would for a regular side plank. If done correctly and youre really focusing on what it's targeting [read: the core and thighs], the Copenhagen plank is really hard to hold for even 10 good seconds, says Analisse Ros, C.S.C.S., a certified personal trainer and strength and conditioning specialist in Connecticut. The Copenhagen plank also works on core stabilization. Strengthening the obliques helps to better stabilize the torso and spine, helping to promote better posture, as well as rotational strength. Ahead, learn details on all the benefits a Copenhagen plank has to offer and find out how to do one with perfect form every single time no matter how you modify or spice up the move. This is called active rest.. This will allow you to scale your planks difficulty level. Performing squats build muscle strength, joint stability, and proper form. Lie on left side of body with left elbow resting on the floor directly beneath left shoulder, both legs extended out to right side, and right arm extended toward ceiling. Hip adductor muscle strength is reduced preceding and during the onset of groin pain in elite junior Australian football players. Remember to breathe normally throughout the exercise. Copenhagen, Danish Kbenhavn, capital and largest city of Denmark. By squeezing your legs together, you will engage your core muscles to keep yourself straight while holding the isometric contraction. You perform compound movements to train multiple major muscle groups at once, do HIIT workouts to get your heart pumping and muscles shaking, and use circuits to structure your workouts so you don't get distracted between sets. You can make the exercise easier by doing a regular side plank and make it more challenging by bringing your legs closer together. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. So building up the strength of those stabilizer muscles [in your legs and core] is important., Ready to give the exercise a shot? With the top arm, grab a light dumbbell or kettlebell and hold it up in the air as you do so. Subscribe to receive exclusive updates, deals, 10% off any program, and access to our private monthly research review. An interesting study that Physio-Network highlights in this article showed that groin injuries increased by 17 times when adductor strength was less than 80% of abductor strength. The Copenhagen plank is a practical adaptation of the Copenhagen adduction exercise, which involves a training partner holding the top leg (as opposed to resting it on a bench). Once you can hold a given position for about 30 seconds, you can increase the difficulty by moving the point of contact on your leg further down, which lengthens the lever and increases the demands on the adductors. Orthop J Sports Med. Furthermore, you must keep your body straight while holding the plank position. One major advantage of the Copenhagen plank is that theres little chance that you'll get bored. Copenhagen plank doesn't engage core? : r/bodyweightfitness Plus, the exercise works your shoulder stability, particularly if you perform the exercise on your palm rather than your forearm, which reduces the surface area youre balancing on, she adds. Obviously, this trains the adductor muscles. The Copenhagen plank hold, which is the static version of this exercise, is the main variation used in rehab programs targeting the groin muscles. David is a writer and strength coach and co-owner of Roman Fitness Systems. How (and Why) to Do Copenhagen Planks - lifehacker.com.au Thats why it can be particularly useful for finding correcting muscle imbalances, says Ros. This regression involves performing the side plank on the forearm rather than extending the arm fully to increase stability. Drive your right knee forward. Here are 3 progressions that I like: Option #1: Squat Progression Level 1 - Bodyweight Squat. If the variation with the top leg straight is too challenging, you can either rest the bottom leg on the ground or bend the top knee. They continued the program into the 28 week long season, keeping repetitions and intensity high, but reducing the training frequency (reducing to 1 weekly session, 1 set, 12-15 reps per side). Place yourself in a perpendicular position to a bench, in a forearm side plank position, Place your upper leg on top of the bench and keep the bottom one off the floor, Place a mat under your arm to provide more comfort to your elbow, Keep the core engaged to maintain the correct posture, Use a lower bench to further decrease the intensity and support your back, Bend your upper leg on the bench and use that knee as support to reduce the intensity and add stability, Place yourself in a perpendicular position to a bench, in an extended side plank position, Bend the bottom leg on the floor and use the knee as support, Use a mat to put under your leg to provide extra comfort to your knee. Imagine your heels, butt, and back of your head are all touching a wall and your body forms a straight line in order to get the most benefit out of the exercise, she suggests. This plank variation challenges even the strongest coreand gives runners an extra form boost, too. That's the most common mistake you see in a Copenhagen plank because it's so hard to maintain that anti-rotation, she explains. The groin is a loosely defined term and what we are actually going to focus on is the adductor group of muscles. Thorborg K, et al. Scand J Med Sci Sports. But what good does it actually do for you and your body? We suggest starting about two inches out. Copenhagen plank is a side plank variation that targets our adductors or inner thigh muscles. Why the Copenhagen Plank is a Massively Underrated - Reddit Its mainly used to strengthen the groin and hip muscles. Thats why she usually starts her clients off with their top knee bent at a 90-degree angle and their knee and calf fully resting on the bench (aka a short lever), she says. This banded adductor exercise is a good place to start, and you can also do single-leg movements like step-ups to work the adductors alongside other leg muscles. Along with those variations, you can also progress the Copenhagen plank by increasing the duration of the exercise. Try and hold the Copenhagen plank for as long as possible, repeated a few times a week. Or, try driving your bottom knee up so it's in line with your hips, keeping it bent at a 90-degree angle, suggests Ros. Once youre ready to tackle the Copenhagen plank, try one of the modifications below and progress through other variations as you build up strength and stability. But its an under-appreciated exercise, and deserves a spotlight of its own. Make sure to keep your shoulders and chest aligned throughout the exercise. How Long Do You Really Need to Hold a Plank? The knee-assisted plank simply requires you to use your knee as support to provide extra stability. This requires additional balance and stability to maintain the position. If your aim is to work on your hip and groin muscles, there are plenty of alternatives to the Copenhagen plank that also focus on the same muscles. If you cant do any of the versions above, even the one with your knee on the bench, one way to modify is to keep your free leg on the ground. It's mainly used to strengthen the groin and hip muscles. In team. Aside from the main variation, there are several options to progress and regress the Copenhagen plank. Here, you place your top knee on the bench and keep your bottom leg bent too. But once you master it, according to Mens Health fitness director Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S., and fitness editor Brett Williams, N.A.S.M., the Copenhagen plank will provide plenty of core-crushing benefits, especially if you're a runner. Remember to maintain proper form throughout the exercise and stop immediately if you feel pain or discomfort. This help increases the strength of your adductors and improves your overall hip stability and balance. These muscles consist of the gluteus medius and adductors.These muscles are often weak in people, which can lead to knee valgus (knock knees) and other issues. If you can nail those, you've just dominated the. How to do a Copenhagen plank 1. So you need to keep your workout progress with more advanced dip progressions. Youre almost there, but Samuel says theres one final piece to the Copenhagen puzzle. You should always seek medical advice from a health/fitness professional before starting any new fitness program. Due to the close proximity of the origin of the adductors and the insertion of the abdominal muscles, this further supports the use of Copenhagen plank variations in rehab or injury risk reduction programs for the groin. To do this exercise, lie on your side with your feet and legs stacked, then prop yourself up on one arm while keeping the other arm extended. As this move is already creating a ton of tension through your glutes and shoulder blades, keeping your free leg raised and in the proper 90 degree position is serious anti-rotation work for your core. In team. It worked: Programs including this Copenhagen adductor exercise made male soccer players adductors stronger, and while its not a silver bullet for preventing groin strains, it seems to help. To make the Copenhagen adductor plank even harder, you could also switch the support system to a suspended one. By strengthening one muscle group, we help shift into the posture that allows the other to contract as well, creating a positive feedback loop. Activate your core muscles and raise your hips, so your torso is perpendicular to the floor. This will engage and strengthen more muscles in your arms, shoulders, and core. The main technique for mastering the Copenhagen Plank exercise is to keep your core and glutes tight.
