copenhagen plank origin

The Copenhagen plank hold, which is the static version of this exercise, is the main variation used in rehab programs targeting the groin muscles. If you want to build more strength, muscle, & body control, the regular bodyweight dips might no longer be enough. We may earn a commission through links on our site. Jeff Tomko is a freelance fitness writer who has written for Muscle and Fitness, Men's Fitness, and Men's Health. The Ultimate Test of Strength: The Copenhagen Plank. The Copenhagen is a little bit different, according to Samuel. No, you place one leg (your top leg) on a bench. Your email address will not be published. This regression involves performing the side plank on the forearm rather than extending the arm fully to increase stability. The exercise is isometric, which means you hold your body in one position while contracting your muscles. The reality is many people will naturally do movements and exercises that strengthen the hip abductors (the outside of the hips). Make sure to progress from the more accessible variations to the more challenging ones as you get stronger. Check out our Hip Resilience program! This pain can range from mild discomfort to outright agony and can be exacerbated by physical activity. Copenhagen plank, commonly referred to as adductor side plank, is a fantastic exercise to strengthen your hips, glutes, and core. After holding the tuck planche, you must be excited to move towards the advanced tuck. This will improve abdominal and adductor activation. Sign up for our newsletter and get automatically notified when we post new face-meltingly rad articles. This will create additional stability challenges, including challenging your shoulder stability like in a Turkish Get-Up. Strengthening the obliques helps to better stabilize the torso and spine, helping to promote better posture, as well as rotational strength. 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. While the Copenhagen adduction exercise has been shown to be extremely beneficial, it is considered an advanced variation and may not be practical for some (since it requires a partner to hold your leg). Even your abductors, the muscles on the outsides of your hips, seem to get a little bit of a boost from training this exercise. Far and away the most common complaint of this exercise is knee discomfort on the front leg. Similar to the Nordic hamstring exercise, the Copenhagen adduction exercise (CAE) is a bodyweight movement popularized by Danish researchers and sports therapists. As the muscles worked in the Copenhagen plank are mainly those in the inner thigh area. You can keep the bottom leg on the ground. Additional information: Adductor longus and pectineus will also contribute to hip flexion, while adductor magnus (posterior head) also contributes to hip extension. Simply put, no other exercises have been shown to be as beneficial for targeting the groin region as the Copenhagen adduction exercises. J Sci Med Sport. If youre coming off of a knee injury, or have a history of knee pain, try the regression variations first. This variation is a Copenhagen plank progression, as it requires more strength and stability since there is the addition of weights. The body and leg then lower, so the foot just gently touches the floor, and then is repeated for desired repetitions. From here we are going to raise our hips up by contracting our adductors until are hips are in a straight line. Why Mastering the Pistol Squat Should Be Your Next Fitness Goal, 6 Triceps Extension Variations to Strengthen Your Arms, No Matter Your Fitness Level or Abilities, The Best Exercises for Sculpting Your Glutes, The Z Press Will Challenge Your Upper-Body and Core Strength Heres How to Do It, The 10 Best Hamstring Exercises to Strengthen Your Lower Body, How to Improve Your Flexibility with Stretching Exercises, How to Do Dead Bugs to Strengthen Your Core, The Kettlebell Windmill Is the Stability Exercise Your Core and Shoulders Need Heres How to Do It. This plank variation challenges even the strongest coreand gives runners an extra form boost, too. Short Lever Copenhagen Plank - YouTube 0:00 / 0:21 Short Lever Copenhagen Plank The Active Life 9.6K subscribers Subscribe 8.6K views 2 years ago Active Life has helped more than 10,000. Popular with Strength Coaches and Physical Therapists alike, the movement can help improve lumbopelvic stability, core strength, and healthy hip function. 1. We will start with the easiest progression and work our way up to more advanced variations. 2016;26(11):1334-1342. This variation will target the core muscles more intensely than the regular side plank. The science has shown that when you have an imbalance between adduction or internal rotation strength of the hip and abduction or external rotation strength of the hip then you are likely to experience groin pain - basically the adductor group isn't as strong as it needs to be to counteract the strength of muscles like glute medius which want to turn your knees outwards. The closer your body is to the bench, the easier the movement becomes. and our This will allow you to scale your planks difficulty level. Build abs, obliques, and shoulder strength with the Copenhagen plank delt raise. 2014;2(2):2325967114521778. Furthermore, you must keep your body straight while holding the plank position. The suspension trainer isnt stable like a bench, so it will wobble and move. If you dont have that stability and anti-rotation [capacity] in your core, your body would just continue going the way that it's going and you wouldn't be able to change directions super quickly, says Ros. While holding the plank position, the stabilizer muscles in your core will need to work extra hard to keep your body which is being supported only by the foot resting on the bench in place. And trust us, youll first need to make adjustments. The FIFA 11+ program is popular for reducing a wide range of injuries, however it has not been shown to be successful with groin injuries. Forget counting your reps in minutes. 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. The Copenhagen plank comes with a range of variations that can either decrease or increase the intensity and help you progress in your adductor strengthening program. You'll need a bench or a stable object to perform the Copenhagen plank. For non-athletes, the exercise can simply help to create better hip stability, which is associated with reduced risk of back, hip and knee injuries as well as better posture. Start with as much of your leg on the support as possible. Similar to a standard side plank, your obliques are required to help create stability as you hold the position. Haroy J et al. prohockeystrength.com., the official website of the Strength and Conditioning Association of Professional Hockey. Remember the Copenhagen keys: maintain stability and squeeze your glutes and shoulder blades while fighting off rotation in both directions. By working mainly on the groin muscles in our legs, the Copenhagen plank benefits the hips and adductors by making them stronger and decreasing the risk of strains and injuries. Adductors bring your legs in toward your midline; the two letter Ds in the middle may help you remember that they bring the legs together.). To progress, straighten the top leg and perform the same movement. Many of the muscles in this group are thin and can be prone to tears or strains (pulls), so the researchers used this exercise to strengthen the adductors. tl;dr: https://youtu.be/XeCF_sWfBTk Sauce: https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/48/14/1089.short https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0363546510375544 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2325967114521778 https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2021/03/09/bjsports-2020-102606.abstract, Why the Copenhagen Plank is a Massively Underrated Calisthenics Leg Exercise, https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/48/14/1089.short, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0363546510375544, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2325967114521778, https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2021/03/09/bjsports-2020-102606.abstract. Below we list all the variations you can apply, from easy to hard, so that you can pick the right one based on your skill level. The exercise is isometric, which means you hold your body in one position while contracting your muscles. This help increases the strength of your adductors and improves your overall hip stability and balance. And since it is so challenging, its best to make this your first move of your core workout. Copenhagen Plank Variations. In this article, we will discuss the progressions for mastering the bodyweight dip from complete beginners. However, instead of your feet on the ground, place the top foot onto a chair, bench or another stable surface, while holding the bottom leg off the ground. The Copenhagen Plank Will Upgrade Your Ab Workout, 8-Minute Ab Workouts Won't Build a Six-Pack, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. To increase the challenge of the Copenhagen Plank, you can wrap a resistance band around your legs while doing the exercise. Begin by lying on your right side with your shoulder, elbow, and forearm stacked in a. Normally when we think side plank, we prioritize bracing our entire core. No need to be a hero and set the bench in contact with the thigh. Before moving forward, it should be noted that a majority of the research looks at the use of the Copenhagen adduction exercise, an eccentric variation involving a partner and no equipment. Eccentric and isometric hip adduction strength in male soccer players with and without adductor-related groin pain: an assessor-blinded comparison. The human body doesnt cope with imbalances very well in fact, imbalances are a recipe for disaster when it comes to injuries. How are we going to fix it? Move it out more, and the lever becomes longer and more challenging. If you do it right, you should be giving everything you have for seconds. A great alternative is the Copenhagen plank: a version you can do at home, does not require a partner, and has multiple levels of progressions for various skill levels. 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. This means you need to use the inner thigh muscle on that top leg to hold yourself up. However, it can also be used as a full body conditioning exercise, as it also requires the engagement of the core and, to some extent, the shoulders and back. Your #1 site for all things sports rehab, sports performance, and orthopedic rehabilitation is: https://www.sportsrehabexpert.com/http://www.annarbor.physio . Once the static version becomes to hard, we can simply introduce some movement and perform the copenhagen plank for reps instead of time. You would simply position your upper leg on their hands and keep the bottom leg off the floor. Watch Ros demonstrate the move below. A kettlebell or dumbbell work fine, but for just like TGUs I find the kettlebell to work a little bit better. Clam shells, for example, along with lots of glute exercises, will help strengthen these outer hip muscles which is undoubtedly important. Sure, it's a simple movement that doesn't stir much excitement when you see someone holding the position in a corner of the gymbut if you level up to one of the toughest variations of the exercise around, the Copenhagen plank, you won't be so quick to snub your nose. If youre performing the exercise with your right arm on the floor, for example, youll fire up your right sides obliques and left legs adductors and abductors, she adds. We last saw Copenhagen planks in our rundown of the best bodyweight exercises that actually build strength. Additionally, be careful not to overexert yourself start with more accessible variations and work your way up as you get stronger. The Copenhagen plank is a unilateral exercise, meaning it targets just one side of the body at a time. 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. According to experts, squatting is one of the most effective exercises for improving athletic performance. This will mean as you place your leg on the raised surface, and lift your hips, your back should naturally be nice and straight. Countless studies have shown that the Copenhagen adductor plank is second-to-none when it comes to developing adductor strength. Check out some of our other similar blogs: Adductor Strain,Groin Pain Rehab, Nordic Hamstring Curl. Furthermore, it was also shown to elicit the highest activation of the external oblique and rectus abdominis. These should be performed slowly and with control. As the Senior Fitness Editor at Shape, Kristen oversees the Fitness category and covers workout trends, exercise tips, recovery, and more. Whether youre an athlete, a fitness enthusiast, or simply looking to enhance your hand strength, these exercises will help you achieve your goals. 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. To make things harder, you can also include a dynamic hip movement by lowering and raising your hip to the ground or using a suspension trainder instead of a bench. Copenhagen Plank - Exercise demonstration video and information for Olympic weightlifting - The Copenhagen plank is a simple exercise for adductor strength and hip stability. Engage core, grounding through left elbow and side of left foot, and lift hips and knees off the floor. If youve worked up to 4 breaths fo 10 seconds each side and youre not feeling challenged, you can add some weight. Return the hips to the floor under control. Once you have mastered the regular two-leg Copenhagen plank, try doing it on a single leg for an extra challenge. Many people find it challenging to hold this position for 30 seconds or more, but it is a great way to see how strong your leg adductors are! For runners, this position reinforces the posture you want when you run. Privacy Policy. Think about squeezing both shoulder blades and glutes. Youll also notice that youre actually set up in a position that mirrors a runner's stride, so be aware of reinforcing a good, high-knee position, and make sure you can own it in the sagittal plane. Stronger adduction means you can move your leg with more power and precision. EMG evaluations of hip adduction exercises for soccer players: implications for exercise selection in prevention and treatment of groin injuries. Underrated and underused (and maybe initially overwhelming on first attempt), the Copenhagen plank without question is one of the most challenging plank variations out there. 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. 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). Start with 10 seconds, then, as the move becomes easier, slowly add a few more seconds at a time, says Ros. BJSM. Don't let your chest collapse, so keep the top hand on your hip, or extended towards the ceiling. 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. Cookie Notice If you can nail those, you've just dominated the. We suggest starting about two inches out. Doing Copenhagen Plank is a great way to strengthen your core, improve stability and reduce injury chances. 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. Focus on controlling your movements through the transition from one position to another, all while maintaining perfect form. This is called active rest.. However, having very strong abductors, but weak adductors, wont create the overall stability around the hips that you need. This means your core and adductors have to work extra hard to maintain stability. Bracing your core and keeping your obliques and abdominals tight, lift your hips off the floor so your back is straight. Copenhagen plank is a side plank variation that targets our adductors or inner thigh muscles. Lift your lower leg off the floor so it hangs under the bench, unsupported. 2017;45(13):3052-3059. Make sure to keep your shoulders and chest aligned throughout the exercise. our rundown of the best bodyweight exercises that actually build strength, made male soccer players adductors stronger, Dipping the hips toward the ground and back up, repeatedly (This can be done in either position. 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. Similar to a side plank, start on your side with the forearm on the ground, hips and shoulders stacked, and legs straight. 6) Lift your bottom leg up so its parallel to the ground. Welltech. This will challenge the stabilizer muscles in the core and strengthen your shoulder muscles, making it an excellent alternative for Copenhagen Plank. It involves a squeezing movement to keep your legs together. Once you have mastered the basic form of the Copenhagen Plank, you can progress to more advanced variations. The Copenhagen plank is a unilateral exercise, meaning it targets just one side of the body at a time. Plus, they'll be challenged to prevent you from rotating forward, says Ros. You want to be able to plant your feet and quickly turn to move in the opposite direction of your opponent. Press into side plank position. By clicking Accept All Cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Say you notice that its much easier to do a Copenhagen plank on your right side than your left, a potential sign of a muscle imbalance. If you're performing the exercise with your right arm on the floor, for example, you'll. The Copenhagen plank is a unilateral exercise, meaning it targets just one side of the body at a time. Rotating your shoulders forward will cause you to lose balance, so keep your shoulders in line with your chest throughout the movement. Gaze forward and maintain a straight line from head to heels. Strong adductors means stronger abs and vice versa, and both help us shift out of the extended posture that most of us live in. The basic idea is to support your upper body on your forearm or hand, while your leg is supported on a bench or another object. With the top arm, grab a light dumbbell or kettlebell and hold it up in the air as you do so. Having weak groin muscles is huge contributor to groin injuries. 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. To start, youll need a bench, or ideally a raised platform that doesnt have a back on it, like an ottoman. I like to say [hold the plank for] five breaths because that way people actually breathe., While the Copenhagen plank can be an ideal exercise for optimizing lower-body strength and core stability, you should consult your health-care provider if you're experiencing any knee pain during the move, which may occur if youve had an injury or surgery on the arae in the past, says Ros. 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. Every time you take a stride, you're essentially on the one leg, she explains. 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. Here are 3 progressions that I like: Option #1: Squat Progression Level 1 - Bodyweight Squat. Gently tap your butt to a chair and stand back up. All rights reserved. This exercise requires extra balance and stability, as youll need to maintain your balance while waiting on the unstable surface of the Swiss ball. The Copenhagen plank is a great exercise for a few reasons. Just like the abdominal muscles, they often work in everyday life as stabilizers, not necessarily movers. 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. 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. Its mainly used to strengthen the groin and hip muscles. The Copenhagen plank primarily targets the adductor muscles of the hip. That's the most common mistake you see in a Copenhagen plank because it's so hard to maintain that anti-rotation, she explains. When it comes to the Copenhagen plank, the more surface area of your leg that rests on the bench, the easier the exercise will be, says Ros. Promise, a little bit goes a long way with this bodyweight exercise. Position your elbow directly under your shoulder as if you were doing a side plank. 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. Place right foot on top of a bench and rest left toes gently on the floor. While nutrition plays an important role, adding exercise into your routine improves the process of achieving your goal. This particular exercise you can do 1-2 times per week for 2-3 sets, and that will have you well on your toward stronger adductors, better posture, fewer injuries, and some compliments on your inner thighs. Copenhagen Planks build eccentric strength in the groin as well as core stability. An individual starts by lying on his or her side with the forearm supported on the floor and the top leg being held by a partner at either the ankle or the knee. For more exercises to target your adductors, use a fitness app to help you build the perfect inner thigh workout. Hip adductor muscle strength is reduced preceding and during the onset of groin pain in elite junior Australian football players. Not enough exercises really focus on developing groin strength. However, jumping from tuck planche to advanced tuck is quite an enormous task ahead. Compared to a side plank where I definitely do after about a minute of holding. In 2017, Haroy and colleagues demonstrated that adding a Copenhagen plank variation into a FIFA 11+ program led to a significant increase in eccentric hip adduction strength. 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. For this progression, you will hold the same side plank position but move your chest toward the ground in a slow, controlled movement. How to Add the Copenhagen Plank to Your Routine, How to Train In All 3 Planes of Motion and Why It Matters, Modification: Copenhagen Plank with Short Lever, Progression: Copenhagen Plank with Kettlebell or Knee Drive, 7 Abs Exercises to Tighten Stomach Muscles for a Strong Core, The Best Inner-Thigh Exercises That Reach Those Hard-to-Target Adductors, How to Strengthen Your Hip Flexors Plus, 5 Exercises to Try, The Best Core Stability Exercises to Level Up Your Workouts, How to Do a Curtsy Lunge to Build Your Booty, How to Do the Bear Crawl Exercise to Boost Strength and Coordination, 7 Hip Thrust Variations to Build Lower-Body Strength at Any Fitness Level. Serner A, et al. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Here's why you should be mixing Copenhagen planks into your routine and how to do so with perfect form. 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. Lift the hips up until your body is in a straight line with the lower leg off the floor and hold. If thats you, the first thing to ask is whether you were in a straight line (no hips sagging) with your abdominals engaged. Keep your core engaged and stable during the exercise by contracting the muscles in your abdomen. The Copenhagen plank is an excellent exercise to test your core strength, stability, coordination, and balance. Hold this position. However, there are many more for every skill level and available equipment. This can be achieved by positioning yourself further away from the bench, or closer if you want to decrease the intensity. Our website content, services, and products are not intended to serve as medical advice and are intended for informational and educational purposes only. This requires the adductor muscles to contract isometrically. Its essential to be aware of common mistakes when doing the Copenhagen Plank exercise: Make sure to squeeze your legs together correctly when doing the Copenhagen Plank. We may earn a commission from links on this page. 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.

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