Learn to Perform a Plank With Tactile Training and Introducing Martial Attitude

Author

Brandon
October 18, 2024

Happy Friday!

Welcome back to the Tactile Training Newsletter. Spooky season is in full swing and this week we are continuing to introduce tactile verbal descriptions to teach you how to perform a classic core exercise; the plank. We also have a ghoulish weekly challenge to put your newly learned exercises into practice. For this week’s community highlight, I am excited introduce a new friend and colleague, Mathias Alberton. I recently had the pleasure of being a guest on his podcast, the Martial Attitude. If this newsletter resonates with you or if you’d like to connect with me, reply directly to the newsletter email!

Tactile Training: Learn to Plank

Core strengthening exercises are vital to a healthy lifestyle. Having a strong core can improve posture, balance, stability, support your low back, prevent injuries, and so much more. Recently, we talked about the challenges that come with finding high-quality described fitness instructions for the blind and visually impaired community. In general, most descriptions of an exercise are lacking and leave an individual wondering if they actually are doing it right.

Today, we are going to learn how to perform the plank, an isometric core exercise. All you need is the ability to lay prone on the ground and get back up after performing the exercise. No equipment is required.

  1. Step One: Lay Down

    • To start, you will need to lay down on the floor in a prone position, meaning your stomach is in contact with the ground. Make sure you are lying on a solid surface such as the floor and have plenty of space around you.

  2. Step Two: Proper Alignment of Your Feet and Legs

    • Once you are lying prone, we will bring both of our legs and feet together until they are touching. You should feel contact between your big toes all the way up through your thighs.

    • Now, flex your toes towards your nose so the tips of your toes are in contact with the ground. You may feel the muscles in your ankles flexing. It is almost as if you are digging your toes into the ground.

    • Your knees should still be resting on the ground at this point.

  3. Step Three: Position Your Arms and Hands

    • Next, we are going to position our arms and hands to support our bodyweight.

    • Your forearms and open palms should be resting beneath you flat on the ground. Your elbow joint should be fully bent and both of your arms should be held tight alongside your body. This is somewhat similar to a pushup start position with the exception being that we want the forearms to rest on the floor as well.

    • Next, rest your forehead and nose lightly on the floor. With your open palms resting on the floor, slowly slide both hands inward towards your face until you feel both middle fingers lightly touch your nose. You may need to adjust your forearms and hand placement by sliding your arms downward towards your midline to adjust.

    • Once you feel your nose between your middle fingers, we know our shoulders and arms are in the correct place in respect to our torso. Now, slide both open palms on the ground away from your nose about six or so inches or half a hands width. It should feel as if your arms and hands are now in a straighter position resting on the ground and not pointing inward towards your nose.

    • You should now have your arms in proper position for our exercise.

  4. Step Four: Create Tension and Lift Your Knees

    • Now we will create tension through the body by squeezing your legs together as if you are trying to hold a penny or pencil between your thighs. Feel the tension between them.

    • Squeeze your glutes or buttocks muscles together. You should feel everything from your waist to your toes are now hugged together with your toes dug into the ground.

    • Next, brace your core muscles or stomach. You can do this by imaging how you’d react if someone is about to punch you in the stomach or if you are trying to suck your belly inwards. You should feel your belly muscles tighten up.

    • Now, you will lift your knees off the ground away from the floor. You are now ready for the final step.

  5. Step Five: Lift and Hold

    • Press downwards through your forearms, hands, and use your core to support your bodyweight as your lift your body upwards off of the ground. Your hands and forearms will remain in contact with the floor. Your chest, hips, pelvis, legs, and shins should all be off of the ground.

    • Your points of contact with the floor are your hands and forearms as well as your toes.

    • You should immediately feel your core muscles engage along with pressure underneath your forearms and hands as your support your body weight. If you feel your core muscles working to support you in this position, you are doing it right.

    • Hold this position for 15 - 30 seconds and then rest by lowering yourself back down to the floor gently. You can repeat this movement or increase the duration of the hold.

  6. Step Six: (Optional Regression) Kneeling Plank

    • If you find that this exercise is too difficult to hold for a minimum of 15 seconds, instead perform a regression of this exercise. A kneeling plank hold.

    • To do this, repeat steps 4 and 5. This time, you will keep your knees in contact with the floor in step 4 and during the hold. This will provide added support and reduce the overall weight you need to support during the plank.

    • This is a great way to build core strength if the full plank is difficult to start with. Build your endurance up over time and then progress at your own pace.

Tactile cues and descriptive movements such as this can be used to help make fitness more accessible. If you are interested in learning other exercises and ways to describe movements, let me know!

Weekly Challenge: Practice What You’ve Learned With a Workout

For the upcoming week, your challenge is to put what we’ve learned over the last two newsletters into practice. If you are an educator or parent of an individual who is blind or visually impaired, try this routine out for yourself and learn how the cues can help improve your form.

In our last newsletter, we learned how to perform a squat. We are going to combine the squat and the plank to create a home workout. If you’d like to revisit instructions on how to properly perform a squat, here is the link: https://tactiletraining.beehiiv.com/p/tactile-training-newsletter-october-4th-2024

As always, please consult a physician’s approval before beginning any new exercise program.

  • The workout is the following:

    • Perform 10 bodyweight squats

    • Perform a fifteen to thirty second plank hold based on your ability. (Kneeling Plank is optional if needed).

    • Rest 30 seconds and repeat three times.  

In the coming weeks, we will continue to build on this programming and introduce more movements. If you enjoy it or want to hear different workouts in the future, please respond to this email and let me know!

Community Highlight: Mathias Alberton and Martial Attitude

Mathias Alberton holds his Master of Science in Applied Sport Psychology Degree at St. Mary's University, Twickenham, London, UK. a phenomenal sport psychologist, massage therapist, and a new found friend of mine.

After conducting his Master’s Degree exploratory study on touch exchange, confidence and blindness, he is now researching the effects of training techniques derived by Kung Fu Wing Chun on visually impaired and blind people’s confidence levels, posture, and overall well-being. Mathias currently leads free workshops where individuals can sign up to learn Kung Fu Wing Chun with a partner. These workshops are hosted in London and participants have found tremendous benefits from his program. More information is available on his website which I’ve included below.

I recently had the pleasure of joining Mathias on the Martial Attitude podcast as a guest and had a wonderful time discussing Tactile Training and how our work intersect. If you are interested in learning more about Mathias, the amazing workshops he is leading, or want to connect with him; I’ve included his website and links below. Additionally, if you’d like to listen to our discussion from his podcast, the Martial Attitude, that link is below. Thank you again for having me as a guest, Mathias!

I hope you enjoyed this week’s newsletter! If you have any questions or suggestions for future newsletters or just want to connect, contact me at [email protected]. Until next time!

- Coach Brandon